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#jobs-discuss
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2021-07-27
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West16:07:09

Anybody know the company Freshcode?

West16:07:58

I just got an email back from them! Super excited!

❤️ 2
West18:08:35

So I just had a bit of an interview. Talked about the projects that are available to work on, salary expectations, some logistics of how things will be done remotely, an overview of each stage of the interview process and onboarding, stuff like that. So right after they send this email.

redacted
Now, are take-home assignments of this scope common? They also didn’t give a deadline which I find strange. I just wanted to share to make sure I’m not being bamboozled into giving free labor.

naomarik18:08:14

looks ultra basic to me to be considered anything useful as free labor

seancorfield19:08:39

Seems like a reasonable take-home assignment for a junior ClojureScript developer. I don't like these sorts of tests at all but a lot of companies use them.

p-himik19:08:48

Also note how it's not only basic but also generic. You can substitute "financial accounting" with "trip planning", "birthday management", "gift organizer", etc. If you have never done anything like it, it will be a useful experience. If you're happy with the result, you can publish the source code publicly and just send it as a single link the next time someone asks for something similar.

ndonolli19:08:04

I've generally regretted sinking time on take home assignments so my personal policy is to not do them, but each person and situation is different of course. I haven't gotten take home assignments that I were suspected were free labor, but have gotten some that were fairly complex, had vague and large requirements, and required full test coverage. None of them led anywhere in the end. This assignment does seem pretty basic but depending on how deep you go it could be a few hours to a whole day to really refine it. If you are willing to put for the effort, I say go for it, but definitely timebox yourself to be respectful of your own time.

ndonolli19:08:52

@U2FRKM4TW makes a good point. I typically prefer to talk through someone's portfolio when interviewing them and vice versa. It would be more worth your time if in the end you had a mini project to show to future interviewers

p-himik19:08:15

Just to tickle your imagination, if you like programming in your free time, you can gradually expand the project to include extra things, like: • Authentication • Authorization • Complex querying • Offline editing • User-defined charts The list is virtually unlimited.

naomarik19:08:47

I'm trying to hire someone now. If someone had a project like what @U2FRKM4TW just described and it look neat and polished it would be a lot more to show than nearly everyone I've interviewed.

😎 3
West19:08:54

Ok, thanks everyone.

Jakub Šťastný20:08:34

Why was the email redacted? I'd like to know what the assignment was, I do not think it's an unreasonable thing to share and discuss.

solf01:08:03

I’ve recently refused a take-home assignment. It was for a crypto startup and I don’t have any experience in that particular field. They knew that and it wasn’t a requirement. The take-home test was a basic clojurescript frontend app that integrates with some crypto api. My issue is that: • I’ll have to spend at least a day learning about crypto and that specific API • The send me the test before any technical interview (just a quick 10 minutes chat with a non-technical HR) Expecting me to spend so much time before even the first interview feels wrong. Or at any point, really. If something is not a requirement for a job, don’t try to force people to learn it before they get said job.

seancorfield01:08:19

A lot of companies are lazy about interviewing and no one seems to bother training even engineering managers in "how to interview". Throwing out a substantial take-home test like that is "work avoidance" for them. And then people wonder why so many of these companies are dysfunctional and don't have people who know how to communicate and collaborate. Makes me despair... I'm just glad I'm near the end of my career these days and probably won't have to deal with any more of that BS! I think if I encountered this sort of behavior from companies decades ago, I would have given up software as a job altogether...

Jakub Šťastný02:08:28

Yeah it's pretty horrible and not at all useful I'd say. These assignments are not real world projects and so are out of context, so everyone's expectation about the implementation will be inherently very different (which is not the case when dealing with real production code, it inherently HAS context).

Jakub Šťastný02:08:36

Hiring is bloody difficult though, I've been on both sides of the table and it really is a very complicated thing. Even if you do have eye for people, there are many constraints coming from the company and have the thing turning well is really bloody difficult.

😮 3
seancorfield16:07:28

They are a Ukrainian operation and they've been interviewing a number of Clojurians and running surveys to better understand the community and they want to do things to help spread Clojure usage. I've spoken to them at length -- they seem decent folks.

West18:08:35

So I just had a bit of an interview. Talked about the projects that are available to work on, salary expectations, some logistics of how things will be done remotely, an overview of each stage of the interview process and onboarding, stuff like that. So right after they send this email.

redacted
Now, are take-home assignments of this scope common? They also didn’t give a deadline which I find strange. I just wanted to share to make sure I’m not being bamboozled into giving free labor.