How to handle a take home test
When to do it, how long to spend, and what is actually being assessed.
Take home exercises are common and widely resented. Used well they are the fairest stage in a process. Used badly they are unpaid work.
Decide whether to do it at all
Reasonable: a scoped exercise of three to five hours, with a clear brief, after at least one conversation. Unreasonable: an open ended build, something suspiciously close to their actual roadmap, or a test sent before anyone has spoken to you.
It is fine to ask how long they expect it to take and to say you will spend that long and no longer.
What is actually assessed
Rarely whether the solution is optimal. Usually: does it run, did you follow the brief, is it readable, did you test anything, and can you explain your decisions afterwards.
The explanation matters more than the code. Most processes include a follow up call, and that call is the real assessment.
Write the readme
A short note saying what you built, what you left out and why, what you would do with more time, and what you are unsure about. It takes fifteen minutes and it is often the single highest value part of the submission.
Do not gold plate
Spending fifteen hours on a five hour exercise is not rewarded and sometimes counts against you, because it suggests you cannot scope. Stop at the time limit and say where you stopped.
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