Tech companies are famous for coddling their workers but after mass layoffs the industry's culture has shifted. Engineers say that getting hired can require days of work on unpaid assignments.
you can build a to do list app in a handful of minutes if you know your way around
No you can’t. You’re mistaking a “hastily thrown together prototype”, for an “actual app” with all its requirements, tests, multiple target support, hundreds of tiny features, QA for all that, then deployment, and ongoing support.
Depending on where on the scale between “prototype” and “final product” you look at, it’s going to be anywhere from less than an hour, to a full team working for years.
Now, arguably, showing whether you know the difference, can be the real test.
This could very well be a test to see if the applicant has an idea of how a project scales or how they need to interact with other departments. It could also test the applicant’s ability to provide a sanity check to a boss’s idea before they pitch something that the team can’t actually do
No you can’t. You’re mistaking a “hastily thrown together prototype”, for an “actual app” with all its requirements, tests, multiple target support, hundreds of tiny features, QA for all that, then deployment, and ongoing support.
Depending on where on the scale between “prototype” and “final product” you look at, it’s going to be anywhere from less than an hour, to a full team working for years.
Now, arguably, showing whether you know the difference, can be the real test.
I mean, if you argue that way during the interview I’d pass… Nobody thinks you’re asked to do all that in a one-day interview.
Why should the interviewee assume that?
This could very well be a test to see if the applicant has an idea of how a project scales or how they need to interact with other departments. It could also test the applicant’s ability to provide a sanity check to a boss’s idea before they pitch something that the team can’t actually do