[pixiemagic]

I definitely agree that the second issue is tricky to get right.

But for your first point, that wouldn't seem to make much sense given the time investment from the company as well. It takes time to review take home tests, much more time than it takes to review a resume or even for a recruiter to have a quick phone call with the candidate. So why would they send out a test to someone first?

I've usually seen something more like this, which I think generally works fairly well:

1. Initial resume screening 2. Quick phone call with the recruiter 3. Usually some kind of technical call/interview with developer(s), engineering manager or similar, at the very least some discussion of experience and background 4. Send out the test, review it, call the candidate back in to discuss if they want to 5. Probably some other stage at the end

[Siira]

Home tests can be scored automatically with test cases.