[tn_]

I never hand out assignments like this (or have in-person interviews w/ a similar task while having the internet at their disposal too) unless the person's already sent in their CV/Resume, had a phone-screen and they seem like a good prospect.

Regardless, you're going to have to put in time unless you're already trusted by one of the seniors/leads/managers.. if that's the case then there's no coding assignment.

If you're interviewing at 20 companies concurrently you should probably not interview at so many companies at one time and narrow down who you would most likely want to work for.

[crdoconnor]

>I never hand out assignments like this (or have in-person interviews w/ a similar task while having the internet at their disposal too) unless the person's already sent in their CV/Resume, had a phone-screen and they seem like a good prospect.

If they seem like a good prospect then you can signal your seriousness by granting a face to face interview / test.

By throwing out homework assignments (which cost you 0) you are signaling either that they do not seem like a good enough prospect to be worth your time or that you simply view their time to be worth vastly less than yours.

[tn_]

> If they seem like a good prospect then you can signal your seriousness by granting a face to face interview / test.

Yup, that's what I will do occasionally too. If the phone-call goes well, I'll invite them onsite for that coding task... no algorithms. I like being flexible with them, if they are more comfortable doing it at home due to scheduling, they can hack away at home.

>By throwing out homework assignments (which cost you 0) you are signaling either that they do not seem like a good enough prospect to be worth your time or that you simply view their time to be worth vastly less than yours.

I generally stick with working at start-ups. I need to know that the engineer I'm bringing on can handle high-pressure situations when we have to deliver milestones. Which I can totally understand why some potential employees that I've handed this assignment to become upset / flustered. But it's a good indicator if they don't complain at all and do an exceptional job, that they'll generally do well and at the very least be open to critique so they become a better engineer.

These requirements are absolutely not appropriate for more established/larger corps just as start-ups aren't for everyone.