[PeptoKelpto]

This is my gripe with take homes. I have spent a week on a take home before and got glowing reviews on how awesome the tests were etc. only to be rejected down the line without any feedback whatsoever. If I apply for a job now and they give me a takehome I kindly ask for an in person interview or decline to proceed with the process.

[janephilipps]

This is tough - I've had similar experiences. I think the main issue here is that the company didn't give you any feedback, so it's hard to know what happened. I've submitted a take-home challenge, but had hiring needs change in the time it took me to complete it, so the company passed. Though I think there are a ton of things you can do to make your self stand out as a candidate with a take-home challenge vs. a whiteboarding interview, they are not for everyone.

[anonydsfsfs]

I'm pretty sure no feedback is the norm, not the exception. I've done two coding challenges. One was reasonable and lead to an interview, but I was rejected with no feedback.

Second was kinda ridiculous: implement a stripped-down version of their website, with tests (and production-ready, of course). They claimed it could be done in 4 hours, which is probably true for all the devs that work there, since they already know exactly what's involved. I spent ~8 hours on it and submitted something that worked but had problems, which I documented thoroughly. Again, rejected with no feedback.

[Shorn]

Were you interviewing in Brisbane, Australia? Sounds very similar to a recent experience of mine.

[cyberpunk0]

More and more it is becoming "standard policy" to give zero feedback. It's quite pathetic to be honest

[kasey_junk]

I have fought the “zero feedback” policies at companies going back ~12 years now. I think it’s terrible but I always lose.

But here is why. For every personal story you have of working with a dev that can’t program, your recruiting staff has 3 of bad/lawyer invoking instances of dealing with crazy candidates. They are being honest with you when they tell you any other policy is too expensive.