This is why you should say no to a coding home task for a job

This blog has been in my draft since last summer when I was looking for a job change. I was frustrated with how companies were sending me piles of tasks to solve as a part of their recruitment process. In many cases, the task was sent immediately after the initial recruiter screening. At that stage, I barely knew anything about the nature of the job, the nature of their team, and the overall picture of what my possible future workplace looks like.

Surely I had read their job descriptions but the robotic texts barely tell anything much about what working in their company looks like. I found it extremely humiliating that I have to spend hours doing tasks without even knowing whether I will want to work in that company or not. Yes, I know I was the one who initiated the application but that does not mean I have to suffer alone and spend hours just to get to the next round. In some cases even an in-bound head-haunt had the same pattern.

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To me, working in a company means much more than just 9–5 work to earn money. I am going to spend the most active and productive part of my day with my teammates. We spend more time with our teams than with family and friends. So it is equally important that the company should invest in grabbing my interest towards them and show why I should call them my next family.

As the tech industry continues to grow and evolve, more and more companies are turning to coding home tasks as a way to assess a candidate’s technical skills during the hiring process. However, there are several reasons why developers should say no to these tasks.

1. Lack of Relevance: Coding home tasks do not accurately reflect a developer’s actual technical knowledge. Often, candidates can complete these tasks with the help of friends or by copying solutions from the internet. This does not give employers a fair assessment of a candidate’s abilities.
2. Time Constraints: For full-time developers, there is simply not enough time to allocate for coding home tasks. It is unrealistic to expect someone to complete additional work outside of their normal work hours, especially when they are already being paid for their time by some other employer.
3. Unethical Demands: Asking full-time developers to complete additional work outside of their normal hours is unethical. They should either be completing this work during their paid hours (by someone else) or using their evenings to spend time with their family.
4. Wasted Time: Coding home tasks often require a lot of time and effort to set up the necessary development environment. This is a waste of time for developers and does not provide any value to the hiring process.
5. Unrealistic Representation: In a real work environment, there are many factors that go into completing a task, such as estimation, discussions with team members, and collaboration. Doing a task alone does not reflect the reality of a developer’s work.

But, we can not just hire anyone! So how to test them then?

Well, this is a valid question and I do agree that the company has full right to test whether the candidate has the required skills or not. And there are several alternatives to home tasks.

First of all, tasks should not come as an early step immediately after recruiter screening. Candidate should be given enough information about the job, teams and how working in the company looks like. To be fair, this also decreases the chances of chosen candidate accepting the offer from somewhere else. Imagine spending a lot of time to finally find a good candidate and sending them an offer after all recruitment rounds just to hear “Sorry but I decided to take offer from somewhere else”.

Instead of relying on coding home tasks, companies can opt for a live technical interview. This approach has several benefits. Firstly, it shows that the company is also investing its time in the interview process. Secondly, it reflects the actual collaboration that takes place in a real work environment. Additionally, a live technical interview lets the developer talk to another developer in a friendly way, allowing them to showcase their technical abilities in a more natural and relaxed setting.

In conclusion, coding home tasks are not a reliable or fair way to assess a candidate’s technical abilities. Developers should say no to these tasks and focus on showcasing their skills in a more realistic and relevant way, such as through a live technical interview.

However, in certain cases, such as for interns or beginner positions, home tasks can serve as a way to measure a candidate’s skills and motivation. For candidates who have not worked on real-life projects, a small 2–3 hour task can give a good understanding of their abilities and drive towards the job. But even in these cases, it is important to ensure that the tasks are not unrealistic to the actual working environment and do not require excessive time spent setting up the development environment.

I hope this was useful for you. If you believe in yourself then you should learn to say no. If you do not value yourself no one else will. I would love to hear your feedback and comments. If you enjoyed reading this article, support me by clapping and following. Additionally you can connect me via Linkedin.❤