[heavenlyhash]

Counterpoint: I'm AOK with these ideas.

I love take-home style interviews. They're without exception the most informative for both the interviewee and the company: much more can be conveyed than in a hour face-to-face, and it's less stressful both to produce and to review, and just plain less painful to schedule.

Doing it before the in-person stage is a little unusual (maybe after the first phonecall, to confirm it's not a waste of time for a position that's already filled, etc, would make more sense?), but I respect the idea.