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Please stop the coding challenges

(blackentropy.bearblog.dev)
261 points CrazyEmi | 1 comments | 15 Nov 24 15:32 UTC | HN request time: 0.207s | source
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itake ◴[15 Nov 24 16:06 UTC] No.42148135[source]▶
> What companies often ignore is the extra time candidates invest beyond the “suggested time” for these tests.

This is a feature not a bug. Companies are testing if you can focus and complete a hard uncomfortable challenging task, because at your job you’re expected to do things you don’t want to do, but will be rewarded for doing.

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cle ◴[15 Nov 24 16:13 UTC] No.42148213[source]▶
Requiring a huge time investment like that will filter out a lot of the non-desperate folks…probably exactly the folks they don’t want to filter out!

Also do they really want to set the tone that “I expect you to intuit what I want and I won’t tell you directly”? Sounds like an awful place to work, right out of the gate.

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1. kstrauser ◴[15 Nov 24 16:52 UTC] No.42148597[source]▶
That's a perfectly fair and reasonable tone to set because that's how approximately 99% of non-junior jobs work. My boss says he has a problem he'd like me to solve. He might not have all the details so it's on me to investigate the options, identify the gotchas, and clarify the ambiguities.

I never deliberately snuck ambiguities into coding challenges. I've used it in oral sessions for senior and above devs though. "I'm a product manager who wants to add a new feature. I don't really know what's involved but I want you to implement it. Feel free to ask me a million questions and we'll talk it through!"