All industries and professions have the same problem - how do you know your new hire is right for you?
So you think that a 6 hour unpaid assignment is unfair. What do you think the alternative should be?
Many of the posts here point out that 'take-home-tests' aren't common in other professions, but completely miss how many free hours other professionals have to do to prove their suitability for potential employers.
Here are some examples:
- Designers, photographers and writers spent countless hours putting together and updating portfolios.
- Anyone part of a professional association (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, engineers, architects, pilots, etc...) spend many hours studying for and writing exams (for free), and then every other year spend hours documenting all of the professional development they have done to maintain their credentials (also for free).
- Many higher responsibility jobs, especially in public institutions and government, require months-long application processes complete with multiple interviews, essay questions, and personality tests.
- Consultants can spend 40 hours or more crafting proposals for every new contract they go after.
- Academics and researchers require regular publications and often do regular peer reviews for free.
I doubt anyone gets a job of any importance based on a resume and a quick coffee unless of course there's nepotism or greek letters involved.
So how should programmers prove themselves to a potential employer? Would you rather have a professional association? or standardize on coding portfolios? Or perhaps you want to go back to the days of three essay questions and a personality test?
So you think that a 6 hour unpaid assignment is unfair. What do you think the alternative should be?
Many of the posts here point out that 'take-home-tests' aren't common in other professions, but completely miss how many free hours other professionals have to do to prove their suitability for potential employers.
Here are some examples:
- Designers, photographers and writers spent countless hours putting together and updating portfolios.
- Anyone part of a professional association (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, engineers, architects, pilots, etc...) spend many hours studying for and writing exams (for free), and then every other year spend hours documenting all of the professional development they have done to maintain their credentials (also for free).
- Many higher responsibility jobs, especially in public institutions and government, require months-long application processes complete with multiple interviews, essay questions, and personality tests.
- Consultants can spend 40 hours or more crafting proposals for every new contract they go after.
- Academics and researchers require regular publications and often do regular peer reviews for free.
I doubt anyone gets a job of any importance based on a resume and a quick coffee unless of course there's nepotism or greek letters involved.
So how should programmers prove themselves to a potential employer? Would you rather have a professional association? or standardize on coding portfolios? Or perhaps you want to go back to the days of three essay questions and a personality test?