[mjfisher]

I think the scenario you describe sucks for all kinds of reasons, but it doesn't have to be like that. If the coding challenge is for an early stage screen, you should be looking at about 30mins worth of work. If it's more in-depth than that, it's not like the hiring company will have time to properly review them all at a screening stage anyway.

I'd support more complicated take home skill assessment tests later on in the recruitment pipeline, as long as they add real value for both the candidate and the company, and they're only given to well qualified and screened candidates. I'd also be concerned at a twelve hour test - that sounds like something very poorly scoped.