Ask HN: What's your take on companies that send technical test before interview?
But over the past few weeks, I've had maybe 5 or 6 companies asking me for a technical test before any kind of interview.
I did it twice, the first took 2-3 hours, followed by 3 interviews, and I did not get the job.
The other was like a 15 minutes test, which seems more acceptable, but still annoying.
The last one was asking for a relatively big feature, with no time limit, and vague requirements, it's up to me to decide how far I want to push it, I'm hesitating to write even a single line of code...
A while ago I would have never tolerated this kind of process, but given how the market is at the moment, I wonder if I should just put up with it.
Do you see this as a red flag from companies that won't respect or value you and your time? Or is just the new "normal" and we should adapt?
I'd rather do a technical test for a couple hours and not get it than do weeks of fruitless job hunting.
If you're doing 3 or 4 technical tests and still not getting it, then that's another matter. You need to pick your prospects better and talk to them well enough to understand whether they're actually going to hire you if you pass.
Or perhaps they're just messing around with applicants for whatever reason (going through the motions to keep their boss happy, trying to look good to their investors/board, trying to fill an interview quota, trying to get free work out of applicants, etc).
Capitalism baby!