[collyw]

I hate the assumption that "this should take 2 hours", as I have been given tests like that. It involved setting up a oAuth token for Instagram or some similar service. I wasted two hours trying to get that done only to be told that I would have to wait a week for it to be approved.

I am sure half of these things are never thought through. In Python setting up a new project and downloading dependencies may involve needing to install a load of other crap and often takes more than two hours. Some libraries are incompatible with others.

If you are making assumptions that the test will take two hours, make sure that it involves minimal dependencies on third party stuff.

[lbatx]

Hate it all you want. In this case, it's true. There are no hidden factors in my description. There was no token and it was a public API.

I'm sorry you've been burned, but that doesn't mean there aren't tests that actually take < 2 hours. I can't speak to every language, but what modern toolset can't open an input file, make an http(s) call, and write to a file?

I also don't understand why we shouldn't figure out how long something takes before administering it. Several people took the test and the time ranged from 15 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on language and experience level. I will say that if someone couldn't do it in 2 hours, they wouldn't have been a good fit for the team. If several team members took it, of course we're going to make an assumption about how long it takes.

Furthermore, since we didn't prescribe a specific language, there's no reason why someone wouldn't have all of the tools pre-installed. Even so, if you had to install your favorite development environment, you'd have been fine. That also wouldn't have been part of the two hour time frame (which wasn't a limit, BTW, just how long it ended up taking competent developers).