Ask HN: Companies That Use Take Home Projects for Interviews?

[shk88]

I'm an experienced developer (previously worked for Microsoft) who left to pursue building a SAAS business. Unfortunately things aren't going as well as planned and I've been looking for work over the past few months. I've had several interviews but no offers. Although I used to be pretty confident in my interviewing skills, I seem to be tripping up on the technical portions of the interview. Usually on things I wouldn't struggle with.

I've seen discussions about companies that give project based interviews, but have never seen one in the wild. I'd be happy to complete a small project to show I'm competent, I just don't know which companies to target.

About me: All professional experience with .NET stack (willing to learn others, if given the chance) Located in Seattle (Remote would also be an option).

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

[MichaelCrawford]

I have come to regard them as unpaid labor and so refuse to participate in them anymore.

My resume is truthful it would be easy to look up any of the projects I mention.

[gjmulhol]

After an initial screen, we do a paid project for hires. 2-4 weeks (or longer or shorter as appropriate for us and the candidate) at a fair rate that we all agree on -- usually equal to or at a slight premium to what the FT salary of that person would be. Our goal is to get something somewhat useful out of it, and more importantly for our engineering team to see what it is like to work with the candidate, what kind of questions the candidate asks, and to have the candidate demonstrate that s/he can deliver a fully formed package. It has been a great screening mechanism. It is slow, but so far it has been worth it.

[shk88]

I understand this train of thought. But, when it comes down to write this algorithm on the whiteboard or build something small but non-trivial, I'd much rather do the latter.

[MichaelCrawford]

I have a hard time with whiteboards too. What works well for me but is uncommon, is to be left alone with a pencil and paper.