take home assignment interview questions

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Owing to the ever-changing work environment, skill assessment platforms have rightfully gained popularity.

The reason being?

Many companies have expressed discontent with hiring a bad employee due to their inability to identify the right candidate.

HR leaders began leveraging skill assessment tools to make more objective and fair methods to make hiring decisions. These tools help recruiters and hiring managers to assess an applicant's ability to execute specific skills or skill sets, providing an unbiased evaluation of potential candidates.

Undoubtedly, skills assessments have been proven to be three times more effective than relying on gut instinct when assessing CVs. Despite this, some hiring managers have expressed concern that these assessments might confine them to identifying candidates' theoretical knowledge rather than their practical skills.

If you are one of those recruiters, then make use of take home assignments in your hiring process.

Take Home Assignments are one of the most effective ways for hiring managers to find out how candidates tackle different problems that they will most likely face on the job.

Let's take a deep dive and learn what a take home assignment interview is, what it entails, and how hiring managers could utilize it.

Let's get started!

So, what is a Take Home Assignment Interview?

Take home assignment interview, as the name suggests, are interview questions designed to assess the job readiness of candidates with the help of real-world scenarios.

Take home project interview questions are not standardized questions you can use to assess people from different backgrounds. Contrary to that, these interview assignments are specifically crafted to evaluate the skills and abilities required to succeed for which you intend to hire.

Instead of asking applicants to respond to questions on the spot, this form of interview assignment offers flexibility to candidates. It allows applicants to think critically and formulate logical solutions to the problem.

Recruiters introduce this interview question after the initial screening process to gauge a candidate's technical knowledge.

These types of questions generally contain the following:

• A detailed description of the task
• Instructions for candidates
• Guidelines that need to be followed
• Submission data

What is the goal of the take home project interview?

The goal of take home project interviews is to provide candidates with more time and flexibility to think, as opposed to being constrained by a set number of minutes. It helps the hiring team identify candidates who can formulate exceptional work and better meet the organization's needs.

In other words, the goal of the take home project interview is to:

• Evaluate the candidate's skills in-depth
• Simulate professional developer's flow
• Hire project-based candidates
• Better replication of the on-the-job experience

Take home coding assignments differ from other technical assessments because they allow candidates to showcase their abilities in a more realistic setting. Its main objective is to understand how a candidate solves problems, approaches challenges, and works in general.

Many skill assessment platforms available in the market, such as iMocha , allow you and your candidates to code freely and naturally – with the features you expect to have in your IDE.

What are the benefits of take home interview assignments?

Take home interview assignments come with a variety of benefits for companies as well as candidates.

For organizations

• It allows you to see the qualities of a candidate that would be difficult to investigate in standard interviews.
• It enables you to assess how applicants handle unfamiliar problems and their strategy for solving them.
• It lets you quickly move quality candidates through the hiring funnel and avoid developer/interviewer burnout.
• It allows you to assess applicants' algorithm-building abilities.
• Utilizing this tool, you can set deadline-based take home assessments.
• It assists you in evaluating applicants based on their hands-on project management skills that go beyond textbook knowledge, algorithms, and syntax.
• It simulates real-world scenarios to assess potential recruits for practical abilities and promptly onboard project-ready individuals without additional training.

For candidates

• Take home technical assessments give applicants an idea of what technology the company might be utilizing at their potential workplace.
• It allows applicants to showcase more skills than responding to interview questions, such as writing, presenting, critical thinking, etc.
• It enables candidates to hone their research abilities and expand their knowledge of applied topics beyond facts and memorization.

How to include take home technical assessment in the recruitment process?

Before moving on, let's assume you have shortlisted a few software engineer candidates. You are planning to assess their hands-on experience and suitability for the desired role.

You crafted an in-depth take home coding assessment with clear objectives and steps that you expect candidates to complete. However, it is possible that some applicants might feel overwhelmed and choose to withdraw from the hiring process.

The likelihood of that event happening is steep. It has often been observed that candidates tend to remove themselves from the recruitment process if they feel the assignment parameters are unclear or consider it too burdensome due to the overwhelming amount of work required.

To help you avoid this, iMocha offers project-based assessment functionality.

iMocha is a skill assessment software trusted by more than 500 fortunate companies that help enterprises make skill-intelligent decisions to obtain job-fit talent faster. It provides powerful tools for coding interviews , technical recruiting, university recruitment, lateral hiring, and diversity hiring , helping organizations improve the quality of their hires.

iMocha's Project-Based Assessments provide an extensive list of simulators to help evaluate a job candidate's aptitude for the desired role.

That means no time is wasted on manual evaluation, and you can get detailed reports on candidates' skills, competencies, and weaknesses with the click of a button.

Also watch: iMocha projects video on Simulated Assessments on Real-World Scenarios .

These test cases provide a reliable framework for assessing each candidate's qualifications, allowing for a fair and impartial evaluation process. It ensures that everyone who applies for a job has an equal opportunity to demonstrate their ability to meet the required criteria.

• Compare each candidate with a standard baseline.
• Allow applicants to learn more about the desired solution.
• Evaluate each prospect thoroughly.

Tips For Creating Candidate Friendly Take Home Assignments

To create candidate friendly take home assignments, keep four crucial tips in mind.

• Utilize a variety of tasks: Include a wide range of tasks in your take home assignments to keep candidates involved and motivated.
• Set clear deadlines: Give your applicants a set amount of time to finish the project. It will help them stay on track and complete the project on time.
• Provide clear instructions: Ensure that the assignment instructions are clear and concise, so prospects understand what is expected of them.
• Customize the assessment based on the job role: Make sure your project assessments are narrowed down to effectively evaluate the relevant skill set of employees and competencies in the specific role.

What factors should a hiring manager consider for a take home project interview?

Listed below are some essential factors to consider as a hiring manager for take home assignment interview:

• Quality over perfectionism: Take home assignments are an excellent way for the company to determine how candidates would address a real-world business problem. Still, expecting even the most qualified candidates to present a solution they could effectively implement would be unreasonable.
• Time management: Rather than focusing solely on the candidate's technical abilities, take advantage of this opportunity to evaluate how long it took the applicant to complete the assessment, ensuring that they could manage their time effectively and complete the task within the time frame specified.
• Ability to follow instructions: You can also use it to assess an applicant's ability to follow instructions, ensuring that they understand the assignment's criteria and can finish the task as outlined.
• Attention to detail: Pay close attention to the assignment details and ensure their code is properly formulated.

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Understanding talent analytics is vital for your organization's growth. stay ahead of the curve with imocha's insights., subscribe to our blog, related posts, top 12 skills tracking software 2024.

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Cracking the Code: Mastering Take-Home Assignments for Product Management Interviews

Navigating a product management interview, especially with the added challenge of a take-home assignment, can indeed be daunting. However, with the right strategies and preparation, you can approach these assignments with confidence and excel. This comprehensive guide aims to provide you with actionable tips and insights to help you tackle your product management interview assignments effectively. From understanding the assignment requirements to organizing your approach and delivering a polished final product, each step of the process will be covered to ensure you are well-equipped to succeed. Whether it's analyzing case studies, presenting solutions, or demonstrating your problem-solving skills, this guide will empower you to showcase your abilities and make a lasting impression on potential employers. So, fear not! With this guide as your companion, you'll be ready to ace your product management interview assignments and take the next step in your career with confidence and poise.

What's the purpose of Take-Home Assignments?

Take-home assignments serve as an integral component of the interview process for companies seeking to assess candidates' suitability for product management roles . These tasks are designed to provide hiring managers with insight into candidates' problem-solving skills, product thinking abilities, and approach to real-world scenarios. By completing the assignment, candidates have the opportunity to showcase their capabilities and demonstrate their thought process in addressing complex challenges. This practical demonstration allows recruiters to gain a deeper understanding of candidates' potential as product managers, beyond what can be gleaned from traditional interviews alone. Ultimately, take-home assignments serve as a valuable tool for evaluating candidates' readiness and suitability for product management roles within the organization.

Let's take a look at 9 key points to remember for you to master Take-Home Assignments:

1. Decoding the Assignment

Deciphering the assignment begins with a meticulous examination of the brief provided. This involves dissecting the problem statement, objectives, evaluation criteria, and the anticipated deliverables. Paying heed to any specific requirements or constraints outlined in the assignment is crucial as they serve as guiding parameters for your approach. Understanding the nuances of the assignment ensures that you embark on the task with clarity and purpose, setting the stage for a well-structured and targeted solution.

2. Time Management is Key

Efficient time management forms the backbone of successful completion of a take-home assignment. Crafting a realistic timeline is paramount, allocating adequate time for each phase of the task, from comprehending the problem to research, brainstorming, execution, and refinement. Prioritizing tasks based on their significance and potential impact on the final output is essential to ensure that no aspect of the assignment is overlooked or rushed. By adhering to a well-planned schedule, you maximize productivity, minimize stress, and optimize the quality of your solution.

3. Research and Immersion

Delivering a compelling solution hinges on immersing yourself in the intricacies of the product domain, target audience, and user personas delineated in the assignment. Thorough research acts as the cornerstone of informed decision-making, providing valuable insights into user needs, market dynamics, competitor landscape, and industry trends. The depth and breadth of your understanding directly influence the strategic soundness and relevance of your solution, making comprehensive research a non-negotiable aspect of the process. By delving deep into the subject matter, you equip yourself with the knowledge and perspective necessary to devise innovative and impactful solutions.

4. Define Your Approach

A well-defined approach serves as the roadmap for navigating the complexities of the assignment and devising a structured solution. Begin by articulating the problem statement succinctly, ensuring a clear understanding of the task at hand. Breaking down the assignment into manageable components facilitates a systematic approach, allowing you to tackle each aspect methodically. Establishing key milestones enables you to track progress, maintain focus, and ensure timely completion of the assignment. By delineating a coherent and strategic approach, you demonstrate your analytical prowess, problem-solving acumen, and ability to navigate complex challenges effectively.

5. Prototype and Iterate

Prototyping serves as a powerful tool for refining and validating your solution iteratively. Don't hesitate to translate your ideas into tangible forms through sketches, wireframes, or basic prototypes. Prototyping enables you to visualize concepts, test hypotheses, and gather feedback early in the process. Iterating on your design allows you to identify and address potential shortcomings, refine features, and fine-tune the user experience. By incorporating user-centric design principles and feedback loops, you enhance the efficacy and usability of your solution, ensuring alignment with user needs and expectations.

6. Presentation Matters

Presenting your solution effectively is as crucial as the solution itself. Structuring your response in a coherent and logical manner ensures that your ideas are conveyed clearly and comprehensively. Utilize visual aids, such as charts, diagrams, and illustrations, to enhance understanding and highlight key insights. Craft a narrative that guides the evaluator through your decision-making process, rationale, and the strategic considerations behind your solution choices. By articulating your thoughts with clarity and precision, you facilitate a deeper understanding of your solution and its potential impact.

7. Seek Feedback

Seeking feedback from mentors, peers, or industry professionals after submitting your assignment can provide valuable perspectives and insights. Constructive feedback helps identify blind spots, areas for improvement, and alternative approaches that you may not have considered. Embrace feedback as a learning opportunity, leveraging it to refine your skills, enhance your approach, and broaden your perspective. Engaging in dialogue with others fosters a culture of continuous improvement and personal growth, positioning you for success in future assignments and professional endeavors.

8. Stay Authentic

While demonstrating your skills and expertise is essential, it's equally important to stay true to your authentic self in your solution. Let your unique perspective, creativity, and passion shine through, as they are valuable assets that set you apart from other candidates. Authenticity fosters genuine connections and resonates with potential employers seeking individuals with integrity, originality, and innovative thinking. By staying authentic, you build trust, credibility, and rapport, laying the foundation for a successful career in product management .

9. Practice, Practice, Practice

Mastering take-home assignments requires consistent practice, refinement, and honing of your skills . Engage in mock assignments, simulate diverse scenarios, and challenge yourself to think critically and creatively. Actively seek opportunities to apply your problem-solving skills and iterate on your approach based on feedback and experience. With each practice session, you'll gain confidence, proficiency, and a deeper understanding of the nuances of product management. Embrace the iterative nature of learning, remain open to experimentation, and commit to continuous improvement to excel in tackling take-home assignments and succeeding in your product management career.

Approaching take-home assignments for product management interviews may seem daunting at first, but with the right mindset, preparation, and strategy, you can excel in showcasing your potential as a product leader. By understanding the purpose of the assignment, managing your time effectively, conducting thorough research, defining a structured approach, and emphasizing presentation and authenticity, you'll be well-equipped to crack the code and impress hiring managers with your innovative solutions.

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Take Home Interview Assignments

6 tips for managers and interviewers to do them right.

With a new year, many of us are looking for that new role. The Great Resignation of 2021 continues to accelerate, and I expect we’ll see lots of people and jobs in motion.

(want to listen to the podcast version of this newsletter? check the link below)

Maybe you’re interviewing now. Maybe you have roles to fill on your team. Maybe you are looking to switch jobs or companies. On either side of the table, whether interviewer or interviewee, take home assignments may play a part in the decision. This goes for many roles, from UX to product management to engineering and beyond.

We covered this topic (among others) in a recent Product by Design podcast.

But I want to dive a little deeper into tips for creating good take home assignments. This goes for interviewers and managers creating the work, as well as candidates who are given the assignments.

Take Home Assignments

Take home assignments include anything you ask a candidate to do outside of your actual interviews. It includes specific prep work that you may have a candidate do for an interview or round of interviews.

I’m generally a fan of take home assignments. I like them when structured correctly. They give managers the ability to see aspects of a candidate that may otherwise be difficult to explore in standard interviews. They give candidates the ability to showcase more skills than just answering interview questions, whether that is writing, presenting, critical thinking, etc.

Take home work also allows for some flexibility and time to think. Rather than trying to answer questions on the spot, a candidate can think through it and prepare. I personally value that as a candidate, since I’m better at preparation than on-the-spot answers. I also value it as an interviewer because I get to see the best of someone, rather than potentially a flustered version of them.

All that said, it is important we structure take home assignments in the right way to get the most out of them and not to burden candidates.

So how do we do that?

Tips For Creating Take Home Assignments

Make it clear.

First, make the expectations for the assignment clear. If you want a candidate to create a presentation, tell them that. If you want them to prepare 3 wireframes, then tell them you are looking for 3 wireframes.

There may be some value in leaving work open-ended, so candidates can approach however they like. But that should also be clear.

When I was hiring for a UX designer, we created a take home assignment for our candidates with a specific problem area and a deliverable of 3-5 mockups they could walk us through. We tried to be very clear about what we hoped to see and what the purpose was. And it worked well.

As a candidate, if you feel like something is unclear, ask about it. Remember, hiring managers are people too, and often really busy. So they may have overlooked something or just not taken enough time to flesh out the details. Don’t assume that asking questions will hurt your chances. If something is unclear to you, it’s probably unclear to others, so don’t go away and get to work if you don’t feel like you understand. It will be a massive waste of your time and everyone else’s.

I struggled early in my career to ask enough questions. I felt like I should always understand, and if I didn’t, it was my fault. But that’s not necessarily the case. Don’t be afraid to ask questions!

Make it Appropriate for the Role

As a hiring manager, you should ensure that what you’re asking candidates to do is appropriate for the role. Meaning that a junior UX designer shouldn’t have to create a design system. Or a product manager shouldn’t create a strategy presentation for a new product you’re thinking about.

Those may be good tasks for a potential head of product or UX lead, but they are too much for more junior roles. Make sure that the ask is congruent with the role.

Make it Timeboxed

Along the same lines as ensuring that the take home work aligns with the role, you should also ensure that there is a way to limit the work as well.

This involves really thinking through the structure of what you’re asking. Since you can’t actually dictate how much time a candidate spends on a task, you need to be really thoughtful about what you’re asking someone to do.

Because, let’s be real, even if you said that you don’t expect something to take more than an hour or two, those Type A personalities who demand perfection of themselves will likely spend an order of magnitude more time on it, especially for opportunities they really want.

I know, because I’ve done that.

I recall an assignment I received several years ago. It involved preparing a presentation around a potential new product. It wasn’t supposed to be more preparation than an hour or two (yeah right). I spent several hours each night for a week working on that. And then at least 8 hours the final day before I sent it over. All told, I probably spent 20-30 hours working on it. An order of magnitude more than I should have.

I did a tremendous amount of research into the industry. I created not only a pitch, but an entirely new business model. I refined all the transitions and made the entire presentation really eye-catching and professional. It was absolutely insane.

By the end, I was not only convinced on the product, I was ready to pursue it whether or not I got the role I was interviewing for. I was almost ready to go raise funds and create my own company.

I didn’t though. And didn’t get the role either. Which worked out just great because that company ended up not creating the new business line, and doing a massive amount of layoffs shortly after we had spoken.

Regardless, the level of effort I put in was far too much. That is partly on me, but also on the manager for not structuring the assignment in a way that limits the time spent.

In my own interviews, I intentionally limit what I ask. Like I mentioned above, that may include limiting the number of wireframes. For product managers, I may ask for a one-page document, a half-page answer to a question, or a three-slide presentation on a limited topic. These give me the opportunity to see specific skills in action (like writing and presenting), without opening the door for endless hours of writing or preparation.

Make it Outside Your Company’s Problems

It’s easy to create a problem-set for the problems you’re dealing with as a company or team. But it’s not fair to ask candidates, who may have limited knowledge of your company or industry, to solve your specific problems.

Additionally, it’s hard to be objective about a candidate’s work when you are so close to the problems and solutions yourself.

This creates the potential for bias. If I give a candidate a take home assignment that very closely mirrors what we’re doing on our team or within our company, I may prefer the candidate who best approximates my own thinking on the issue. And that may blind me as a manager to candidates who arrived at different solutions, but had solid thinking as well as solid writing or presentation skills.

For all of this, I prefer to keep take home assignments more generic and further away from our company- and team-specific issues. Additionally, asking candidates to solve problems specific to your company gives the feeling that you’re asking them to do work for you before you even hire them. That generally isn’t the case, but it gives a bad impression.

Make it a Discussion, Not a Filter

I was reading recently about a company that uses a take home assignment as an initial filter. Before candidates even talk with a manager or recruiter, the company is sending them work to do to be considered.

Don’t do that.

Take home work should come later in the interview process, once the interviewer and the candidate feel like the role is a potential good fit. It should add to the conversation.

As an interviewer, you should only ask for things that you are willing to spend time reviewing and discussing. Take home work should be part of the interview process. If you ask for something as a manager, you should have an interview where you walk through the work, ask questions, and allow the candidate to discuss. This is true of presentations, written documents, etc.

As a hiring manager, I want to see the work, but also want to let the candidate tell me more. If a candidate prepares a presentation, it makes sense to let them present and discuss. If they create wireframes, we want to understand their thinking and ask questions. If they’ve prepared a business document or future press release (one of my favorites) we want to discuss and debate. That is what all these items are for, in an interview and on the job.

As a candidate, if you see companies using take home work as a filter, walk away and don’t look back. You’ve dodged a bullet.

Remember, an hour-long presentation by a candidate requires numerous hours of preparation. Anyone who has done public speaking or created presentations knows good ones require significant work. Potentially, dozens of hours could go into creating an hour-long presentation. Good writing and designing and coding is also labor-intensive and difficult.

As hiring managers, we should understand this difficulty. On top of that, interviewing for roles is rarely the only thing a candidate has on their plate. They may work full-time, have a family, or have other activities and responsibilities. We need to understand this and empathize.

This may include giving the right amount of time for a candidate to do the work they need.

I recall one company many years ago asking me to complete a take home assignment in a standard time-frame they give to all candidates. But that didn’t work for me because I had other things going on. I could understand that they want to level the playing field for all candidates by allowing for the same amount of time, but we have to understand that giving each candidate two days to work on something does not necessarily make it equal . Some candidates may have nothing else to do, and can dedicate 10 hours per day. While others may only have one spare hour per day.

Understand this. And work with candidates to create realistic expectations. The main point isn’t to filter them out, but to give them an opportunity to create good work. If that takes two days for one candidate and six days for another, that is fine.

As a candidate, if it doesn’t seem like your interviewer is showing much empathy or understanding, walk away. It is most likely they are looking for cogs to plug into a system, and believe that they just need to churn through enough people to get there. You want to be valued for the work you do and who you are, not simply for being a cog in the system.

As managers, take home work can be a powerful tool to understand potential candidates. It can give them a chance to show skills and understanding that is difficult in a standard interview format. As candidates, take home assignments can give you more flexibility and an opportunity to go deeper into certain skills you have.

But for take home assignments to be effective interview tools, they need to be structured correctly. Assignments should add meaningfully to the discussion and process, not detract from it or become too onerous. But with a few key tips, we can all make the most of our time, our interviews, and our skills we’d like to showcase.

Other Good Links

In Praise of Unglamorous American Invention (article) - Interesting article praising some lower-key inventions. It includes wood glue, which is near and dear to my heart as a woodworker.

“While some luthiers still use animal glue when they build stringed instruments—yes, the kind rendered from animal hides—most woodworkers have switched to PVA, and especially Titebond, and especially (for projects that need it) Titebond III, which inspires arias of awe all over the woodworking internet…”

The Surprising Power of The Long Game (article) - I’m always about the long game, and this was a good take on short vs long games.

“Every action is a step toward the short game or the long game. You can’t opt-out and you can’t play a long-term game in everything, you need to pick what matters to you. But in everything you do time amplifies the difference between long and short-term games. The question you need to think about is when and where to play a long-term game. A good place to start is with things that compound: knowledge, relationships, and finances.”

The Tech and Products that Stood Out At CES 2022 (article) - I love CES. It’s fun to see new products that may come soon. And other products that are so out there we may never actually see them. Engadget also wrapped up their Best of CES with more.

Share Product Thinking

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How to Avoid Common Pitfalls and Ace Your Take Home Assignment

Jessica Wilkins

Jul 20, 2022

During the interview process, you might be asked to complete a short take home assignment. This usually consists of building out a small project with required tasks to be completed in a set time frame. This is a popular way to test an applicant's skills and assess how they can tackle problems. But what is the best way to approach a take home assignment and what are some common pitfalls people run into?

In this article, I will provide tips on how to ace your take home assignment and move to the next round of interviews. I will also provide tips on how to avoid common mistakes with the take home projects.

What does the take home project entail?

The take home project offers a chance for the prospective employer to see how you approach building out real world applications. For the frontend, you might be asked to work with an API and display some results in a table or card layout. You might also be asked duplicate a web page from a Figma design and add some functionality like search or pagination. For the backend, you will be tested on your knowledge of server side logic, and be asked to design some APIs.

There will be a list of criteria that you have to meet by a set deadline. There will also be notes on hosting your app and which libraries and frameworks you are allowed to use, if any.

If you want to see examples of take home projects, then please take a look at the following links:

• freeCodeCamp take home projects
• Github search results for take home projects

Make sure you understand the project requirements

Before you start building out the project, it is important that you understand all of the project requirements. If you need any clarifications, please ask and do not make assumptions. You don't want to fail a project because you misunderstand the directions.

This is also a good chance to see how well the company communicates project details to you. If they are able to offer up clear directions and answer any clarifying questions, that is a good indicator of what it will be like to work for them. If they are not able to provide clear directions and have poor communication skills, then that can also be a sign of what it would be like to work there.

Plan out your time efficiently

Time management is crucial when it comes to take home projects. Since you only have a short amount of time to build the project, it is important that you first plan out how to build the basic structure. You will need to identify which parts of the project will require the most attention and how long it will realistically take do each component of the project. It is important to account for the time it will take to fix bugs and other unexpected issues during the development phase.

Once you have mapped out how long it will take to build a basic prototype, you will need to look into adding extra features to help you stand out in the applicant pool. You will need to decide on which features to add and how long it will take to successfully build it out. Try not to fall into the trap of underestimating how long a feature will take to build. If it doesn't look feasible in your alloted time frame then it is best to rethink it or leave it out completely.

Make sure to adhere to best practices and focus on clean code

The goal of these projects, is to get a sense of your coding style and technical skill level. This is your chance to ensure that your work adheres to best practices and is clean and readable by other developers. You want to make sure that you are doing things like using clear concise variable and function names, adhering to the KISS and DRY principles, and optimizing your code so it runs efficiency.

Your potential employer is not looking for perfect code and understands that you are working under a time constraint. But they do want to get a sense of your code quality and the type of work you might contribute to a project. Do the best you can to write clean readable code while still making sure the basic functionality is in tact.

Avoid over engineering your project

Take home projects can offer a great opportunity to develop your skills and demonstrate what you can do. But it is important that you do not over engineer your application because it sends the wrong message to potential employers. There is no reason to over complicate your code and stuff you application with tons of extra unnecessary libraries and frameworks. Remember that employers will ask you about your code and technology decisions and if there doesn't seem to be a clear reason behind your decisions, then it can be seen as a negative.

Make sure to document your work

Documentation is an important part of any software project and you need to be able to demonstrate that in your take home assignment. Make sure to have a detailed readme including your architectural and design decisions, features of the application, testing, how to run the app locally, and a list of the technologies used. You can also include a section on features you would have liked to build if you had more time. By providing a documented project, employers will learn about your thought process and get a sense of how you approach problem solving.

Should you include testing in your take home project?

I think you should definitely include some testing in your take home assignment. During your planning stage, you will need to set aside some time for coming up with test cases and deciding on which testing tool you will use. If you are new to testing, try to include some small tests to communicate to your potential employer that you understand testing is part of the job. If you are a more experienced developer, your employers will expect you to include testing.

How should you approach styling?

Even if you are not a natural born designer, it is still important to create a clean professional looking design. It is fine if your design is simple because they are not testing you on your original design abilities. Just make sure that your project is responsive and has good UI/UX. If you are allowed to use CSS frameworks like Tailwind CSS or Bootstrap, then it will make designing your app a little bit easier.

How long should a take home project take?

Most companies will give you a timeline to complete the project and submit it. In my opinion, 3-5 days is a good range to complete the assignment. If the employer is expecting you to take a couple of weeks or more to do the assignment, then that is a sign they are not respecting your time. There have been a lot of stories of people spending 40-60+ hours on a take assignment and still not getting the job. If you receive an assignment where it is obvious it will take an excess amount of time to complete, then you might consider reassessing the situation and possibly not moving forward with the interview.

Take home projects can be a great alternative to the typical Leetcode style interviews. This is a chance for you to show off your technical skills amd build an app in the process. It is important that you meet all of the requirements and add some extra functionality to stand out in the applicant pool. Also make sure to document your solution and test out your project before submitting it.

I hope you enjoyed this article and best of luck on your future interviews

Jessica Wilkins is a classical musician turned Software Engineer. Prior to joining the tech industry, she spent her time running her own sheet music company (JDW Sheet Music) as well as performing and teaching in Los Angeles, CA. She enjoys working with React and TypeScript. She is also a prolific technical writer for freeCodeCamp.

This Dot is a consultancy dedicated to guiding companies through their modernization and digital transformation journeys. Specializing in replatforming, modernizing, and launching new initiatives, we stand out by taking true ownership of your engineering projects.

We love helping teams with projects that have missed their deadlines or helping keep your strategic digital initiatives on course. Check out our case studies and our clients that trust us with their engineering.

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My Career Roadmap

Every developer has their own unique roadmap. I love hearing these stories as they’re constant reminders that there is no right way. Anyone can become a successful developer as long as they have the passion for it. I’ll be sharing my roadmap in hopes that someone also realizes that there are multiple ways to be part of the programming world. My journey started when I attended a junior college in an effort to complete the prerequisites for a Biochemistry degree. I actually got far enough to start taking Organic Chemistry courses. However, my heart wasn’t in it. I found it boring and dreaded anything related to those science classes. I did find it cool that I could recognize some of the fancy ingredients in a shampoo. It just wasn’t what I connected with. I knew that something had to change. I was on track to transfer to a four year university in less than two years. I was always interested in computers and thought about programming. I still don’t know why I was drawn to that: maybe social media made it look cool? The dilemma was to either continue or take a risk by starting a whole new career. I didn’t want to spend more time at junior college, so I needed to make a hard decision: either continue with Biochemistry or drop it completely to pursue programming, but still transfer within the estimated year. I probably would have chosen to experiment with both at the same time if I had realized this a couple of years prior. However, I ended up changing majors within a week. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. My first programming class felt a bit scary. The building was run down and cold. The room was cramped. There were only two females (including myself). The course wasn’t hard or discriminating against genders but it probably felt that way due to being completely new to the field and not knowing anyone. It didn’t discourage me from programming. In fact, I still remember typing up my first Hello World program. It was the feeling of writing code that made me realize that I was on the right track. Luckily, the junior college had opened up the new STEM building a year later. This really made the place more welcoming. It was actually pretty cool. There were outlets everywhere! A dream for programmers that we take for granted. One of the courses that I took was Internet Programming. This was a turning point for me. My professor recommended that I participate in the local hackathon that was coming up soon. He suggested forming a team with the two other females in class. I never once thought he was discriminating. I honestly believe that he saw potential in all of us but we were lacking confidence in a male-dominated world. We participated in the hackathon as a female group. It was my first time working with a team and presenting our project to the public. We didn’t win any awards, but it provided some of the confidence that I was lacking. I finally understood that it didn’t matter what gender you are. I found a love of programming and wanted to be one of the best. I ended up getting recruited for a local internship through the hackathon. I was able to learn about realistic expectations when building a project for a client. The lead developer was also very open to teaching a complete newbie. This is where I learned the basics for web development. It was this type of support that helped shape my career. I graduated from junior college with an associates degree in Chemistry and transferred the next semester. The one regret that I do have in my career is the university that I chose. It didn’t have the best resources for the Computer Science students. The classes were boring and most of the professors didn't seem to care. If you weren’t on the game research cohort, you were just another student passing through. During this time, I got a chance to be part of a research team. However, I decided to accept an internship instead. It was another difficult decision as both had great opportunities. I still think that the internship was the best route as it helped me later on. The internship only lasted for the summer. I learned Polymer during this time. The project was my first deployment and it was used by the city. It was also another great confidence booster. I returned to school with the goal to find my first job before graduation. Truthfully, it was very discouraging, even with my internship experiences. Most companies wanted developers with years in programming. They really don’t make it easy for junior developers. I’m almost positive that I placed over 100 applications. When I did get a response, it was a decline. I also attended the career fair that the university organized. That’s where I found the company that gave me a job offer. I started working for them after graduation. This led to web development in the Drupal world for a little over 2 years. It was a small company but provided development growth. I learned the importance of quality assurance and time management. I also acquired the skill to advocate for higher priority tickets. The most important lesson was that a project can only thrive with a unified team and proper documentation. However, the company had a tremendous downsize due to the pandemic. I was once again on the job hunt. Fortunately, the connections I made during the summer internship helped me find a job at This Dot. There was still an interview process, which I passed due to all the career choices that were made. I’m very excited to be here. I’m working with LitElement projects and more structured work environments. It really is a big difference from a very small company. I’m now pursuing the path of being a mentor, a dream that I had since my first internship. I’m working on improving a mentorship program and making sure my mentee has all the support she needs. I barely have a bit over 3 years of work experience. The time went by very quickly and I’m still excited to be programming. I can’t wait to see where my roadmap will be in the next upcoming years. Tweet me your favorite moment in your roadmap!...

Feb 2, 2021

How to Build and Grow Your Career Through Networking

When we think about advancing in a software career, we often focus on what we need to do from a technical perspective. We tend to focus on taking classes, learning new technologies, tackling harder projects in hopes of leveling up as a developer. But are there other things we are not considering when it comes to building a successful career as a software engineer? Should we also be focusing on networking and building connections? What does it really mean to network,and does it actually work? In this article, I will talk about the power of building meaningful relationships in this industry, and how it can help you achieve your career goals. What is networking? The word "networking" often has negative connotations assigned to it. Sometimes people only view networking as "using people for personal gain", or "kissing up to people in exchange for a favor". People also have the belief that you have to be an extrovert to be able to network properly, and introverts will not be successful in it. But that is not the case at all. I have met plenty of people who were successful in building a network, and classify themselves as introverted. Networking is the process of building meaningful connections. Good networking involves connecting with someone in a genuine way, and building a relationship over time. Once you have developed a relationship, you can work together to advance your careers. These relationships can introduce you to opportunities you never knew existed. Your network may also be happy to vouch for you at their current companies, and talk you up to other developers in their inner circles. How networking helped me in my career Before I became a software developer, my previous career was in music. I had never coded a day in my life before June 2020, and didn't know the first thing about how to break into the industry. I decided to teach myself how to code and join a few online communities. I quickly found the value of being involved with a community because I was able to learn from other developers, and understand how the industry worked. My community was able to help me stay away from toxic environments, and provide me with helpful resources that I still use today. My network introduced me to technical writing and software opportunities that I didn't know where possible. I took the time to learn about the industry, and build relationships with great people. We were able to help each other learn about new opportunities, celebrate each other's wins, support each through the tough times, and help each other grow. Now that we understand what networking is and why it is important, we need to look at ways to build out a network. Using Twitter to build a network Twitter can be a great way to build connections and meet new people in the tech industry. Here are some ways to build connections using Twitter. Twitter Spaces Twitter spaces are live audio conversations shared by a group of people. There is a person hosting the space, and a group of speakers discussing a preplanned topic. Listeners also have the opportunity to request to speak, and join in on the conversation. The topics range from career development, mental health, freelancing, technical writing, web 3, machine learning, and more. These spaces can be as little as 10-20 people or 500+ people. If you find a space that you are interested in, take a listen and make note of who the speakers are. Give them a follow on Twitter, read up on their profile and reach out through direct message. In your private message, open with introducing yourself and thanking them for the great advice during the recent Twitter space. Then if you have any follow up questions from the space, drop them in the message. That could be a great way to initiate a conversation, and you would be surprised how many people will respond back. I have connected with dozens of developers, technical writers, content creators and recruiters through Twitter spaces. Private messaging them was my way to make an initial connection, and we were able to build a relationship from there. Out of those relationships I have been able to build out my online presence which has led to paid technical writing jobs, podcast appearances, and insider information for new career opportunities. Publicly sharing other people's work There have been plenty of times where I have shared other people's articles, courses and open source projects through my personal Twitter account. People put a lot of time and effort into creating good content for the community. When you take the time to show genuine appreciation for someone else's work, they will take notice of that. You can accomplish this by retweeting's someone else's post with your own commentary, or creating your own post and tagging them in it. I have personally retweeted and promoted other people's content and had positive responses back. This was also a way for me to initiate a conversation with them and connect with them further on other topics. Using meetups and online tech communities to build connections Joining a tech community can be a great way to build relationships. The key is finding a community that is a right fit for you. My suggestion would be to try out a few different online communities, and see what works for you. You will find some communities to be very active and welcoming while others are toxic. Once you find a few communities that you enjoy, try to reach out to a few of the members. Learn about their stories and connect with them through private chat. Maybe even try to set up a short meeting with them to ask a few questions or discuss a particular topic. Most people will be receptive to you reaching out as long as you keep your questions specific and you ask for a short meeting (think 15-20 minutes). If your approach is too vague or open ended, people will be hesitant to respond. There is a diverse array of communities that range from web development, data science, game development and more. You can even find communities geared towards specific cultures, genders, and other demographics. It is important to remember that not everyone you reach out to will respond back. It is possible that they were busy, and missed your message or are simply not interested in connecting. Try not to take it personally and keep reaching out to other people. There will be plenty of people that do want to connect with you and share their stories. Conclusion There are plenty of ways to connect with other people in the tech industry that can be beneficial for your career growth. Try to explore a variety of online and offline venues to meet new people and connect. Social media platforms, meetups, and conferences are just a few places to build connections and grow relationships over time. I am someone who transitioned from being a classical musician to working as a software developer in large part because of my network. They were very supportive of my software journey and I was supportive of theirs. We continue to help each other out, and support each other throughout our careers. It doesn't matter if you are just starting out or 20 years in the industry, we all need a network of people around us to help us grow and thrive....

Apr 8, 2022

How to Handle Uploaded Images and Avoid Image Distortion

When you are working with images in your application, you might run into issues where the image's aspect ratio is different from the container's specified width and height. This could lead to images looking stretched and distorted. In this article, we will take a look at how to solve this problem by using the object-fit CSS property. A Look Into the Issue Using the "Let's Chat With" App Let's Chat With is an open source application that facilitates networking between attendees for virtual and in-person conferences. When users sign up for the app, they can join a conference and create a new profile with their name, image, and bio. When the team at This Dot Labs was testing the application, they noticed that some of the profile images were coming out distorted. The original uploaded source image did not have an aspect ratio of 1:1. A 1:1 aspect ratio refers to an image's width and height being the same. Since the image was not a square, it was not fitting well within the dimensions below. ` In order to fix this problem, the team decided to use the object-fit CSS property. What is the object-fit CSS property? The object-fit property is used to determine how an image or video should resize in order to fit inside its container. There are 5 main values you can use with the object-fit property. - object-fit: contain; - resizes the content to fit inside the container without cropping it - object-fit: cover; - ensures the all of the content covers the container and will crop if necessary - object-fit: fill; - fills the container with the content by stretching it and ignoring the aspect ratio. This could lead to image distortion. - object-fit: none; - does not resize the content which could lead to the content spilling out of the container - object-fit: scale-down; - scales larger content down to fit inside the container When the object-fit: cover; property was applied to the profile image in Let's Chat With, the image was no longer distorted. ` When Should You Consider Using the object-fit Property? There will be times where you will not be able to upload different sized images to fit different containers. You might be in a situation like Let's Chat With, where the user is uploading images to your application. In that case, you will need to apply a solution to ensure that the content appropriately resizes within the container without becoming distorted. Conclusion In this article, we learned about how to fix distorted uploaded images using the object-fit property. We examined the bug inside the Let's Chat With application and how that bug was solved using object-fit: cover;. We also talked about when you should consider using the object-fit property. If you want to check out the Let's Chat with app, you can signup here. If you are interested in contributing to the app, you can check out the GitHub repository....

Jul 28, 2023

6 Steps to AI Adoption: Benefits of LLMs & SLMs with Jerome Hardaway and Rob Ocel

Rob Ocel and Jerome Hardaway continue their series on AI adoption by exploring the world of AI, focusing on small language models (SLMs) and large language models (LLMs). They compare the unique capabilities of SLMs against the vast knowledge encompassed by LLMs, and highlight the transformative potential of AI in driving creativity, problem-solving, and user-centric design in technology. SLMs are designed to excel at specific tasks, offering faster processing and cost-effectiveness due to their open-source nature. These models have proven to be invaluable in sectors like finance, where data security is of utmost importance. By leveraging SLMs, organizations can enhance their security measures and protect sensitive information. Moreover, SLMs provide a stepping stone for engineers to adapt to new technologies and incorporate AI into their work, ultimately improving user experiences. On the other hand, LLMs encompass a wide range of knowledge, making them incredibly versatile. These models have the potential to transform industries by providing insights, predictions, and solutions to complex problems. With advancements in AI chip technology by tech giants like Apple, Nvidia, Google, and Meta, LLMs are becoming even more powerful and efficient. Evaluating AI models based on factors like stability and industry support is crucial to harnessing the full potential of LLMs. The conversation also addresses some ethical questions related to AI implementation. While AI brings numerous benefits, concerns about job displacement cannot be ignored. As AI continues to evolve, it is essential to strike a balance between automation and human involvement. Engineers must focus on improving AI sophistication and seamless integration into user interactions, ensuring that AI enhances human capabilities rather than replacing them. Additionally, ethical guidelines and regulations must be established to address potential biases and ensure responsible AI implementation. Download this episode here....

Apr 23, 2024

Why Take-Home Assignments are the Biggest Mistake for Hiring Managers

There’s no “right” way to hire.

Some companies are comfortable having a 30-minute conversation and pulling the trigger, while others might want a couple of steps and additional interviewers involved in the process to ensure they’re getting multiple opinions on who to hire. 

And while some employers make it a point to stay on top of the latest industry trends like the ones found in our 2023 Salary Guide , others fall short and — time and time again — make the same mistakes.

Why the take-home assignment interview is a big mistake

Different interview processes work for different companies. But there is one interview mistake I’ve seen across various industries — for both contract and full-time hires — that creates a major bottleneck in the interview process, and that is the take-home assignment .

Take-home assignments can be called something different depending on what the role is.

• For a marketing position, it might be a case study .
• For a software development position, it might be a coding test .
• For a client-facing role, it might be a presentation .

Regardless of the name, the outcome is often the same: candidates you were excited about drop out of the interview process, and you find yourself back at square one again and again. 

From my experience in staffing, I strongly advise my clients against incorporating a take-home assignment into their interview process. 

Why You Shouldn’t Assign a Take-Home Assignment

No one likes to do take-home assignments for free..

When asking candidates to do an assignment during the interview process, it’s often the work that they will be doing once they get hired, so it’s essentially asking them to work for free.

For candidates, time is money, and it’s time that can be spent working for their clients who are paying them. 

This interview mistake doesn’t respect people’s personal time.

Imagine you’re working 9-5 and looking for a new job. You also have two kids who need to be picked up from school, fed, bathed, and put to bed every night.

You are so overloaded in your job that you sometimes have to work after hours. When would you have the time to also fit in doing an assignment that can take anywhere from 2-10 hours?

Candidates often cannot prioritize doing additional work because it will take time away from something else they need to get done. The longer it will take a candidate to find the time to complete the take-home assignment, the more likely their interest in the job opportunity will wane. 

Other companies aren’t making this interview mistake.

As much as you want to vet candidates for the right skill level, it’s important to be competitive with how other companies are hiring, so you don’t lose out on top talent.

Creatives often get hired based on their portfolios—without an interview. Developers get hired off of a single Zoom interview.

Higher-level roles get hired after multiple rounds of interviews, which function as conversations with various stakeholders at a company, without being asked to do homework for an interview other than preparing.

If you ask a candidate to do an assignment before engaging them in the next step of an interview process, they might say they are happy to do it, but the truth is they will usually wait to start it until completing any other interviews they have lined up in hopes of getting a decision from another employer sooner.

This interview mistake fails to filter out people who aren’t serious about the role.

Many companies think these assignments will show how much a candidate wants to work at their company.

I strongly caution against this logic. The post-COVID job market is more competitive than ever, as companies with once-traditional mindsets around employees working onsite have adapted to now offer fully remote roles.

This means that candidates now have access to nationwide job opportunities and are getting job offers faster than ever before.

If seeing how serious someone is about a role at your specific company is important to you, gauging how much they researched the company before the interview is a great way to find that out.

Hiring Managers Should Avoid the Take-Home Assignment

Making the common interview mistake of requiring a take-home assignment most often results in the assignment not getting completed and the candidate pursuing a different employment opportunity that doesn’t require an additional assignment. 

It’s understandable that a hiring manager would want to test a person’s skill before offering them a job. The good news is that there are ways to do this that don’t involve asking a candidate to do extra work.

Ways to Avoid Making this Interview Mistake

Ask to see sample work from potential candidates..

Copywriters and designers have portfolios, developers have GitHubs, and high-level individuals can often pull sample proposals and plans they’ve put together in the past to exhibit their work.

If you have questions about how much they did themselves, what went into the decisions they made, or other related questions, the interview is the perfect place to dive in and find out. 

Ask your job candidate to do a test in real-time on the interview.

Some hiring managers prefer not to do this because candidates might feel “put on the spot” and not perform their best.

However, I can’t think of a single employer I have worked with who didn’t care equally about the candidate getting to the right answer, as they did about how they got to the right answer and what that showed about their thought process.

Doing a test or exercise together, and being able to speak with the candidate during it, is a great way to understand their logic.

Ask your job candidate scenario-based questions.

If you have a concern about how a candidate would handle a situation—whether it’s technical, about communication, or how they work with a team—ask specific, pointed questions to find out your answers. 

Requesting references is a great way to avoid this interview mistake.

It is completely acceptable to extend an offer pending reference checks so you’re able to get background information from someone who worked with this person before and can vouch for the candidate’s expertise.

Find great talent when you partner with Mondo

Looking to hire? Contact us to get started:

The Final Word On Take-Home Assignments for Hiring Managers

Hiring is a gamble. It’s normal to have a degree of trepidation about extending an offer to someone without a guarantee that they’ll be able to perform at the level you expect. But the best way to see if someone can do the job is to trust your gut and give them the chance to prove you right. 

Mondo Matches Great Talent With Great Companies

With an expansive, connected network of the top IT, Tech, Creative, and Digital Marketing professionals and a proprietary process,  Mondo  can match you with the hard-to-find, specialized talent you need.

• Contact Mondo today for all your hiring needs
• Download our 2023 Salary Guide  for detailed salary breakdowns for roles & jobs across the technology, creative & digital marketing industries

2024 Salary Guide: Tech, Creative & Digital Marketing

By Sarah Magazzo

Digital Marketing Manager for Mondo National Staffing Agency

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5 Examples of Take-Home Tasks for Different Roles

Assigning take-home tasks when hiring is much like marmite, coriander, or Hawaiian pizza. Your candidates will either love it or hate it.

The ‘love it’ camp likely welcomes the opportunity to showcase their skills and appreciate the time to think it through versus answering questions on the spot in an interview.

However, the ‘hate it’ group sees it as doing work for free, might already have portfolios of work that give a much fairer picture of their experience level, and resent the infringement on their personal time (regardless of how this might be their dream job).

What we can learn from this dichotomy is that while a take-home assignment is not right for every role, it’s still worth it for some. To figure out if it’s a fit for the role you’re hiring for, let’s look at five good examples of take-home tasks that your candidates will (hopefully) love.

TL;DR — Key Takeaways

A take-home assignment is an important part of the interview process that focuses on candidates crafting and completing real-world tasks .

Incorporating a take-home assignment will give your organization better insight and skill observation over candidates. However, job seekers may see take-home tests as time-consuming, exploitative, or manipulative.

The perfect take-home assignment should be structured around providing the candidate with clarity about the role, respecting their time, and ensuring consistent testing criteria.

Toggl Hire introduced homework tasks in our skills assessment library! It’s never been easier to raise the quality of your hires with reliable proof of competence.

What are take-home tasks?

A take-home assignment is given to candidates during the interview process to complete in their own time and shows the hiring manager how the job seeker is able to complete a task.

These assignments generally consist of coding tests for developers , presentations for upper-level management, and campaigns for marketers. They’re given to candidates after the first interview round. The success will determine if the candidate makes it to the second round.

Pros and cons of a take-home assignment

Obviously, there are pros and cons to using a take-home assignment, right? Of course! So let’s go over the big ones.

• Skill observation : It allows the hiring company to understand the candidate’s skills in action and their thought process.

• Insight : The take-home interview assignment will allow the candidate to have a better understanding of the position, break any key assumptions, and what the company expects of them.

• Supplemental information : If done early in the interview process, an interview assignment allows the candidate’s skills to do the talking as opposed to the hiring manager only relying on the resume.

• Less pressure : Because a Q&A interview can be a pressure cooker, the take-home assignment makes the interviewing candidate feel more at ease.

• Time-consuming : A hiring team may claim the assignment will only take several hours to prepare and complete, but any interview assignment over more than an hour is cutting into the candidate’s personal time and current job.

• Ethical concerns and lost earnings : Asking a candidate to complete an unpaid work assignment can be seen as unethical and equivalent to unpaid labor. Some companies may even go so far as to steal the ideas of the candidate, use them, and not give credit or compensate the candidate.

• Limited personal evaluation : While the interview take-home assignment can assess a candidate’s skill set, it may not capture important aspects such as personality and behavior.

How to structure a take-home task

Creating a take-home assignment that strikes the perfect balance of helpful but not exploitative can be tricky. Regardless of what kind of take-home task or homework assignment you’re creating for hiring, it’s crucial for hiring managers to approach their creation with careful thought and attention.

Your hiring team will need to consider all of the following:

What are the common mistakes?

It’s normal to make mistakes, and learning from them can help you hire better, faster, and more fair.

So, let’s explore common blunders to steer clear of when designing and implementing a take-home assignment during the interview process, ensuring fairness and an effective evaluation process that respects candidates’ time and effort.

• Appropriate Task Alignment : Avoid assigning tasks that aren’t directly relevant to the role.

• Reasonable Task Length : Create a take-home assignment that can be completed within a reasonable timeframe.

• Providing Sufficient Context : Avoid requesting candidates to answer or solve company-specific problems without providing adequate information.

• Ethical Treatment of Work Requests : Refrain from asking candidates to produce work for free that the company may later exploit, such as writing a blog post for publication.

• Timely Introduction of Tasks : Including a take-home assignment as an early screening requirement can discourage candidates. Do this after their first interview.

• Constructive Feedback : Don’t miss the opportunity to provide candidates with constructive feedback on their completed tasks.

• Balancing Mandatory and Optional Tasks : Avoid making the take-home assignment mandatory for all applicants, as circumstances may prevent some candidates from completing it.

• Conduct post-assignment interviews : Once you have received a few tasks back from candidates, we highly recommend that you schedule a take-home assignment interview to better understand any pain points the job seeker may have had.

5 thorough examples of great take-home assignments

Now that you better understand the how , the when , and the why of take-home assignments, we’ll show you five examples. The example take-home assignments will cover tasks for:

• Developer – fixing a broken site
• Product manager – redesigning a feature
• Marketing lead – creating a marketing campaign
• Designer – redesigning the onboarding flow
• Customer success executive – running a mock QBR

Example #1: Take-home task for a developer role

This challenge is geared towards a mid-level developer who can identify and fix errors and optimize the code of an eCommerce website. The goal here is to see how well the candidates understand debugging techniques, approach problem-solving, and how they will communicate with the rest of their team.

Task: Fixing a Broken E-commerce Site

Introduction

Your mission is to debug the broken e-commerce site, fix errors, and ensure it runs smoothly. Customers are unable to place orders due to the significant increase in errors.

Requirements

• Identify and fix all of the errors on the site.
• Ensure that customers can place orders without any problems.
• Optimize the site to improve its performance.
• Document your approach and explain your reasoning behind your changes.

Instructions

• Clone the repository from the following Github URL: https://github.com/debugging-challenge/e-commerce-site.git .
• Install all the dependencies by running npm install .
• Start the development server by running npm start .
• Debug and fix all errors.
• Document your approach and explain your reasoning in a README file.

Your submission will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Identification and fixing of all errors
• Site optimization
• Completeness of documentation and reasoning
• Code cleanliness and adherence to best practices
• Clarity and organization of documentation
• Submit your code as a ZIP file.
• Include the README file that explains your approach and reasoning.
• Send the ZIP file to the hiring manager by email.

Example #2: Challenge for a product manager

Our next example focuses on testing product manager candidates on how they approach problem-solving, communicate with customers, and conduct user research while implementing open-ended questions.

In a sense, how well they’ll actually do their jobs in a product management role. This assignment is bound to produce better product management interviews for your organization.

Task: Redesigning Filma’s Collaboration Features

You are the Product Manager for collaboration features at Filma, a leading collaborative design platform. Recent feedback from customers has shown that they are not happy with how collaboration features work on the site. Your mission in this product management task is to redesign the collaboration features to better meet customer needs and preferences.

• Review the problem statement and develop a list of open-ended questions to better understand the issue.
• Conduct user research to validate assumptions and identify pain points and user needs.
• Develop a new design for collaboration features.
• Prioritize features and functionality based on customer needs and business goals.
• Outline the implementation plan.
• Document your approach and explain your reasoning.
• Review the problem statement and develop a list of open-ended questions to better understand the issue and customer needs.
• Conduct (mock) user research to validate assumptions and identify pain points and user needs. Schedule a call with a team member to role-play a customer interview. Include data points such as user feedback, user behaviour, and competitor analysis in your research.
• Develop a new design for collaboration features. Identify the key features and functionality of the new design, and prioritize them based on customer needs and business goals.
• Outline the implementation plan. Include a timeline, resources required, and technical feasibility.
• Document your approach and explain your reasoning in a presentation or document.
• Quality of open-ended questions and user research.
• Soundness of the new design and prioritization of features and functionality.
• Clarity and feasibility of the product management implementation plan.
• Completeness of documentation and reasoning.
• Clarity and organization of presentation or document.
• Submit your open-ended questions, presentation, or document as a PDF or PowerPoint file.
• Send the file to the hiring manager by email.

Example #3: Testing marketing managers

Let’s now explore an exciting marketing challenge that aims to find a candidate who can skillfully design an innovative user acquisition growth loop. This task involves leveraging valuable market research insights to craft a robust strategy that showcases a deep understanding of growth concepts.

Task: Designing a User Acquisition Growth Loop

You are the Marketing Lead at a Product-Led Growth (PLG) company that provides a collaboration tool for remote teams. Your team has conducted market research to identify target customer segments. Your mission is to design a new user acquisition growth loop based on the insights gained.

• Review the market research insights provided by your team.
• Design a new user acquisition growth loop, with a structured approach, based on the insights gained.
• Identify metrics to measure the effectiveness of the growth loop.
• Review the market research insights provided by your team. Use the insights to identify areas where a new user acquisition growth loop can be designed.
• Design a new user acquisition growth loop based on the insights gained. The growth loop should identify key stages, such as awareness, interest, and activation, and prioritize them based on customer needs and business goals.
• Identify metrics to measure the effectiveness of the growth loop. The metrics should be tied to the key stages of the growth loop and should be used to track progress and optimize the loop over time.
• Soundness of the new user acquisition growth loop and prioritization of key stages
• Creativity and effectiveness of the growth loop design
• Identification and feasibility of metrics to measure the effectiveness of the growth loop
• Clarity and organization of presentation or document
• Submit your presentation or document as a PDF or PowerPoint file.

Example #4: Take-home test for designers

This challenge is centered around an intriguing product design assessment designed to narrow down a candidate who excels in analyzing user recording sessions and crafting an improved onboarding flow design.

Task: Redesigning the Onboarding Flow Introduction

You are a Product Designer at a web-based Product-Led Growth (PLG) company that provides a collaboration tool for remote teams. Your team has recorded user sessions for the past 3 months to help identify areas of improvement for the onboarding flow. Your mission is to redesign the onboarding flow to improve user engagement and activation based on the insights gathered.

• Analyze the user recording sessions to identify user needs and preferences.
• Develop a new design for the onboarding flow.
• Prioritize design features based on user needs and business goals.
• Ensure that the design aligns with the company’s minimalist, intuitive design philosophy.
• Analyze the user recording sessions to identify user needs and preferences. Use the insights gathered to identify areas for improvement in the onboarding flow.
• Develop a new design for the onboarding flow. Identify the key stages of the flow, and prioritize them based on user needs and business goals. Ensure that the design aligns with the company’s minimalist, intuitive design philosophy.
• Prioritize design features based on user needs and business goals. Identify the most important design features that will enhance user engagement and activation.
• Quality of analysis of user recording sessions and identification of user needs and preferences
• The soundness of the new onboarding flow design and prioritization of key stages
• Alignment with the company’s minimalist, intuitive design philosophy
• Creativity and effectiveness of the prioritized design features

Example #5: Testing customer succes

Our final challenge example focuses on a customer success assignment. The perfect candidate will showcase their expertise in defining success metrics for a simulated account, devising impactful tactics to drive feature adoption and enhance metrics, and effectively presenting their approach and results in a mock Quarterly Business Review (QBR) presentation.

Task: Driving Feature Adoption and Improving Metrics

You are a Customer Success Manager at a PLG company that provides a project management tool for remote teams. Your mission is to work with a mock account to define success metrics, develop tactics to drive feature adoption and improve metrics for Q2, culminating in a mock QBR presentation.

• Define success metrics for the mock account.
• Develop tactics to drive feature adoption and improve metrics.
• Document your approach and results in a mock QBR presentation.
• Define success metrics for the mock account. Assume that the mock account is a remote team of 20 people that uses your project management tool for all their projects. Assume that they have been using the tool for 6 months, and that they have expressed interest in increasing feature adoption and improving metrics related to on-time delivery, collaboration, and budget management. Use your own assumptions to define success metrics that measure the impact of the product on their business.
• Develop tactics to drive feature adoption and improve metrics. Use the success metrics to identify the actions needed to increase feature adoption and improve metrics, and assign responsibilities to your team. Use customer success best practices, such as regular check-ins and training sessions, to ensure that the tactics are on track and that the mock account is engaged and satisfied.
• Document your approach and results in a mock QBR presentation. Create a deck that’s less than 10 slides, with consistent title and object placement, fonts, font colors, and different ways of visualizing insights. Use the mock QBR presentation to realign on the mock account’s goals, review their performance, present the tactics and their impact on the success metrics, and recommend the next steps to improve product performance next quarter.
• Quality of success metrics defined for the mock account.
• Soundness of the tactics to drive feature adoption and improve metrics.
• Collaborative execution of the tactics with your team.
• Clarity, organization, and persuasiveness of the mock QBR presentation.
• Submit your mock QBR presentation as a PDF or PowerPoint file.

Try a Homework Assignment by Toggl Hire

Ready to add homework assignments to your hiring process? Our homework assessments provide invaluable insights for hiring managers evaluating candidates ‘ ability to solve job-specific assignments.

Designed to test the hands-on skills necessary for day-to-day work, these assessments offer a glimpse into a candidate’s potential future job performance . With over 500 pre-built tasks available in Toggl Hire’s library, you can quickly implement comprehensive tests that align with your hiring needs.

Toggl Hire’s homework assessments are highly flexible, allowing for either integration with other assessments or standalone use. Create your free account now to explore a few examples!

Juste loves investigating through writing. A copywriter by trade, she spent the last ten years in startups, telling stories and building marketing teams. She works at Toggl Hire and writes about how businesses can recruit really great people.

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Table of Contents

How to quickly and successfully complete a take-home assignment.

• September 15, 2020

Richard Chen

The take-home assignment has become more popular and important than ever in the Product Manager interview process. At Product Gym, we receive numerous questions from our members about case studies. Most of them are confused about the vague nature of case study prompts or lack of details about what is expected from the candidate.

If you do not have support, you just might be spending all your time working on these time-consuming take-home assignments. Since job hunting is a numbers game , you do not want to spend more time on one case study project than you need to!

let’s break down the take-home assignment with an example. We’ll be going through this case study assignment in the form of a conversation. We’ll go over the candidate’s work and ask them guiding questions to assess if their approach is the best approach to solve the problem.

Dear Product Gym, I am interviewing with a big-name tech firm, and I am on the final round. They have sent me a challenge, and I have to send it back by today at 5. Next Monday, I have to present it in 60 minutes with a 45-minute Q&A afterward. They said it is not necessarily 60 minutes of me presenting, but instead 60 minutes of chatting with the people in the panel. The Q&A is with a different group. The problem that they sent me is very open-ended: Create a product that would improve the health of an obese patient. Go through the problem, solution, product design, product development, product launch, and product rollout strategy. Include a research allocation plan because there is a $50,000 budget and put on the team.

The Take-Home Assignment Conversation

PG: That is a lot for someone to put together, especially in such a short amount of time. And, they are looking for lots of information. How far have you gotten so far?

Candidate: I decided that the problem I am going to solve is that there is too much information out there for patients to figure out the right plan. I created an app to connect patients to dieticians directly through text.

PG: Is it an SMS app where patients can go, “Hey, I am looking for this dietician,” and it would just connect them to that dietician?

Candidate: I was thinking more so that the patients would state what their needs are, and the app would give them a few dieticians to choose from. I am basing the model off of TalkSpace, an app that connects patients to mental health therapists.

In my app, the dietician would chat with the patient and come up with guidelines or a plan for them to follow. The patient would send pictures of their meals for the dietician to review at the end of every week. It would be based on a monthly subscription business model.

This is the basic version. Eventually, I want to make it so that people could share pictures of their food for others to comment on, like a chat forum.

Tackling Case Study Assignment Questions

PG: Is it a chat app or an SMS chatbot?

Candidate: It is not a chatbot because there would be real people on the other end. The reason it cannot be through simple text messages is that with dieticians, it has to be HIPAA compliant.

PG: If your budget is $50,000, why create an app for the take-home assignment when you could create a simple web app? 

You are breaking down the barriers and making it easier to communicate, and so people do not chat through web apps. That is my thought process now. However, I am open to creating a web app.

Candidate: The need is that patients are trying to lose weight, but the overwhelming amount of information makes it difficult for them to seek the right help. My prompt was to create a way to connect patients suffering from obesity with expert advice.

PG: Your reason behind the app solution is that it makes it easier to connect?

Candidate: I talked to a couple of patients and friends who have gone through significant weight loss. A recurring pattern I saw was that they had trouble figuring out who to talk to and were discouraged by the intimidation of having to set up an appointment, go into an office and see someone.

I believe that an app would break down that barrier and make it easier for patients to start that connection.

The Take-Home Assignment Process

Already confused about the candidate’s thought process how they came up with this idea? Make sure you watch our case study solution video with Roman, our case study instructor, to understand how the process works:

Finding an Easy to Use Solution

PG: In the research phase of the take-home assignment, did you ask them if they would install an app on their phone or use a web service?

Candidate: They said that anything that was not phone-based would complicate their daily lives.

PG: The reason I am asking is that if a client came to me wanting to develop this app and told me they had a $50,000 budget, they should know that at least a third of the costs would need to go into the marketing for this.

You would need a solution that is simple and easy to use. You would want to have a mobile web version or a simple website version of it with the accounts and everything set up to chat on there. That solution would be cheaper for you since you have to account for the budget.

The app would work, but you would still need the website because some people might find it easier to go onto their computer at home. In terms of convenience, the most convenient place might be your home.

How to Create a Budget and Timeline

Candidate: I have worked more on web-based products, so I struggle with budgeting. What sort of timeline should I give for creating something like this?

PG: I generally create a scope document first. It should outline the features that I need to have, the features that it should have, and those I want to have in this.

Once you have those need-to-have features figured out, that determines the shortest amount of time in which the app could be built and the minimum amount of money spent.

A need-to-have feature would be the ability to chat with a dietician. A should-have feature would be the ability to choose your dietician.

Candidate: So, the “need” feature would assign whoever is available, and the “should” would let them choose their dietician from a list?

PG: Yes. The “want” would provide a platform that helps them track their progress with the meal plan.  And for the “needs,” you would want to add accounts to collect data from the patients.

How to Present Your Take-Home Assignment Solution

PG: You want a slide that details the solution you came up with. In this case, that is the chatbot. Those are the core features which you wish to include in a section of your take-home assignment presentation. It should state:

• Here is what the solution is.
• Here is what the solution looks like.
• Here is how a user would go through the process within this solution.

Candidate: Should I state them through a wireframe?

PG: Yes. What you can do is create a simple wireframe process that shows everything from signing up, selecting a dietician, and chatting with that dietician.

Candidate: Once I have the wireframe, I say, “Given this is how the app work, let’s figure out how to prioritize within our budget.” Is this when I bring out my scope?

PG: That is when you bring out the scope. Detail the core features you are going to build within the $50,000 budget and what you will have with that budget.

Present Your Go-to-Market Strategy

PG: Once you get past that, they are going to ask you about your go-to-market strategy. You will probably want to do some beta testing with a small group of users to refine the process, get feedback, and adjust before you go on to create, say, the analytics process. If you are collecting analytics, but you do not know what exactly you are collecting, then it does not make sense.

Candidate: How do I say that I am going to get to this small group of users?

PG: That would be your rollout plan. The first plan for any product is to get the core evangelists, the people who will rave and rant with your product and be happy to share it with others. This is to get some traction out there.

Figure out your target market. In your case, diet support groups might be an excellent place to start.

Candidate: I would give them the product for free and ask them to test it out for a month?

PG: Exactly. You are going to take all their feedback, learn from it, and make adjustments to your product .  

Then you can go into the beta phase, where you branch out more and even consider a small advertising budget to get a wider audience with more helpful feedback. By the time you are ready for version one, you will have enough data points and functionality to start collecting analytics.

Candidate: Should my evangelists be identified before beta?

PG: Yes, that is the initial rollout strategy. You want the evangelists to validate that what you have created makes sense. They would have been with you from the start to be more sympathetic towards what works and what does not work. 

From there, make adjustments based on their feedback and come up with a beta version. Evangelists can comprise up to 30 users, and the beta can have 500-1000 users.

Rollout Strategy vs Product Launch

Candidate: What is the difference between the rollout strategy and the product launch?

PG: The product launch would be after the beta. That is when you put in the money for the marketing to reach a broader audience who are not from your initial group of users. Once they come on, they should see the immediate value and expect a functioning product.

Candidate: One thing about dieticians is that they can only practice within the state, meaning I would have to launch the app state-by-state. How should I go about this?

PG: This would also be a part of your rollout strategy. You can test the app in one state, see how it goes, and then release it in others. You can replicate the model you created in, for example, New York in terms of the rollout, and make sure you are abiding by whatever specific rules for each state there are regarding dieticians. By that point, if you are rolling out to New York, your goal would be to get dieticians on board from the local state.

Candidate: I do the wireframes, and as far as the development part, should I have a roadmap or just a scope of the needs that I am addressing?

PG: I would select the technology you will use to build it out instead of a full-blown roadmap. For your budget, I would go with something like React Native. It helps create a mobile application framework. You need to have a back-end and a front-end working, and an API that connects both of them.

How to Manage Your Budget

Candidate: Should I put the $50,000 budget allocation before I go onto technology?

PG: It depends on the style. I would probably mention it first, and then define the budget for each phase throughout your presentation.

Candidate: How would I deal with paying out the dieticians beyond that first beta?

PG: That is why I said you should have evangelists. You could have the dieticians work with you without paying them, as they are the initial set of influential users on there.

You can say that the initial set of dieticians agreed to be part of the pilot program once the app has rolled out, you can consider what to pay out to the dietician.

The rest of the marketing should go towards   paid advertising .  You want to have a focus group to get feedback from the users, collecting that data, and making the right adjustments.  I would suggest reading up a little more on the rollout strategy to align with what you have come up with so far.

Candidate: Should I include the website as part of my rollout?

PG: Yes. The reason behind choosing React Native is that you can build both the website and the app simultaneously. That would make for more efficient use of your $50,000.

For the back-end, you could quickly build something on Firebase, at least for the first version. Firebase would speed up your development, and everything will be free as far as infrastructure costs. 

You would need a developer for the front-end and one for the back end. Since you have a designer, that would make it around $7,500 for each of those people for the project’s entirety.

Go Above and Beyond: Get Your Take-Home Assignment Reviewed by a Professional

You’ve worked through the assignment and put your solution into a slide deck to present to a panel of interviewers: congratulations! But if you want to go above and beyond to impress the hiring team, dedicate some time to getting your take-home assignment reviewed by a professional.

A fresh set of eyes may catch typos and grammar errors, but will also be able to point out the areas where you can improve the solution overall. A Product Manager who’s gone through multiple technical interview rounds is going to be able to assess your take-home assignment and solution from the perspective of the interviewer and use their experience to help you polish it.

At Product Gym, our interview coaches routinely check over members’ case study presentations, offering insight, constructive criticism, and tips on how to make their technical interview round a success.

Solving take-home assignments isn’t just a good practice for acing your interview — it’s also an excellent way to develop applicable Product Manager skills . That’s why we include classes on case studies in our program. Our case study curriculum was developed and continues to be taught by Senior Product Manager for Atlassian,  Roman Kolosovskiy .

Because we’ve been working with Product Manager job hunters for the past five years, we’ve had ample opportunity to test and perfect the strategy we teach our members on how to ace a take-home assignment. We’ve even compiled a bank of case study prompts that aspiring Product Managers have received in their interviews so that members can exclusively access to hone their problem-solving and storytelling skills

Nail Your Take-Home Assignment

Beginning to end, your take-home assignment should demonstrate how you approach a problem. You’ll want to do your research, have a clear understanding of your target market, and demonstrate how well you prioritize and plan with a structured approach. You got this!

Want one-on-one help solving case studies and acing the Product Manager interview? Product Gym’s coaches are available to help our members at every stage of the job-hunt. Schedule a free consultation with our career coaches to see if the membership program is the best fit for you. We’d be happy to answer any questions you have, and get you on track to landing the Product Manager job of your dreams.

The Only Leading Metric to Measure Product-Market Fit and How to Use It

Microsoft New Grad PM Interview Preparation and Experience: Spring 2022

Types of Product Managers: Which Specialization Will Ignite Your Career?

The One Thing I Wish More Candidates Asked in Their Product Management Interviews

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edition e1.0.8

You’re reading an excerpt of The Holloway Guide to Technical Recruiting and Hiring , a book by Osman (Ozzie) Osman and over 45 other contributors. It is the most authoritative resource on growing software engineering teams effectively, written by and for hiring managers, recruiters, interviewers, and candidates. Purchase the book to support the author and the ad-free Holloway reading experience. You get instant digital access, over 800 links and references, commentary and future updates, and a high-quality PDF download.

A take-home assignment (take-home or takehome) is a coding task given to technical candidates to complete on their own time. Candidates are typically given a day to several days to complete a take-home.

​ controversy ​ Take-homes are controversial. While there are many pros for the companies assigning them, they are less valuable in terms of the candidate experience. Nonetheless, they do have some advantages for candidates.

Benefits of Take-homes

​ candidate ​ Take-homes remove a lot of the stress associated with onsite challenges. Candidates get to use their own tools and work in the style they would if they were on the job. They can review and iterate on their work, take time away to think or rest, and rewrite. One senior engineer put it this way: “Most employees ‘take home’ their work if you think about it. You get work, you go away and think, you do it, you sleep, you come back and review it. That’s how our jobs work.”

For companies, take-homes have arguably the lowest false negative rate of any interview format—“the truest signal,” as Scott Woody, former Director of Engineering at Dropbox, put it to Holloway. A few factors account for this:

Take-homes give the candidate enough time to do the work in an environment that they’re comfortable with, so you eliminate the noise of a whiteboard interview .

It’s very hard to hide weaknesses in coding ability in a take-home, and follow-up conversations can tell you almost everything you need to know about how a candidate thinks through problems.

Follow-ups also allow you to weed out and correct for any negative signal or false signal—for example, if a candidate cheats, talking through their work will help you figure that out.

Follow-ups are an important part of the take-home evaluation; in this respect, take-homes are the first step of a larger conversation. A good take-home will mimic assignments the candidate might reasonably be asked to do on the job and will give you practical signal on their abilities, creativity, and style.

Here’s how a sample assignment might progress. Let’s say the take-home is something like “Build a simple web-based calculator app” or “Build an AI version of Tetris.” When the candidate returns, you might read the code and interrogate it together, bringing the initial asynchronous assessment into a synchronous evaluation:

You ask the candidate to critique their work.

You may then ask them what they would do given another 20 hours; or say, “How would you invest 10 more hours on this?” Questions like “What feature would you remove?” and “What feature would you add?” will further refine your understanding of their work.

An additional useful question is, “What shortcuts did you take, and why did you think that was the right shortcut?”

Downsides of Take-homes

​ caution ​ The major downside of take-homes is the time commitment they require. Because the market is so competitive, asking a strong candidate to give up their weekend for a take-home can lead them to drop out of your process. Senior candidates may feel that being asked to do a take-home is a waste of their time. For these reasons, take-homes usually make sense further along in the funnel . They require a lot of engineering time and investment from interviewers and candidates, so they aren’t ideal for screening. Some companies opt to pay candidates for the time they spend on these assignments, but this doesn’t always make a difference. A senior manager at Dropbox told us that before the company pivoted from take-homes, 20% of candidates would simply not complete them. Less-competitive candidates were more likely to complete the assignment, because they didn’t have competing offers. The pass-through rate was close to 10%. If you’re asking candidates to invest 15 hours, and their chance of passing through is 10%, the value asymmetry is strong.

Despite the high signal achieved, interviewers, too, spend hours of their time designing take-homes, scaffolding in multiple languages, and reviewing code, and with such a low pass-through rate, this hardly pays out.

​ danger ​ The other major con of take-homes is that they explicitly discriminate against people who have families or adverse financial situations, or who work more than one job. If these candidates are in the hiring pipeline at more than one company, they may receive multiple take-home assignments at once, making them impossible to complete, and this may cause the candidates to drop out of your process.

Take-homes also open up the possibility that a candidate may cheat by asking friends to help or collaborate. Additionally, with a take-home, you’re asking candidates to work in a vacuum, which doesn’t match to most work environments, where you’re hopefully able to ask questions and get feedback as you progress.

​ caution ​ Take-homes are difficult to timebox and thus difficult to assess fairly. If candidates have been given 48 hours to turn in an assignment, you might be comparing candidates who spent 40 hours with those who spent only 2.

One way to avoid this false signal is to pay people an hourly rate for the assignment; but candidates can lie, either saying they worked more hours so as to receive the pay or fewer hours because they want to look impressive.

There are situations in which the pros of take-homes outweigh the cons. Smaller companies may find it easier to assign take-homes than to expend the time and resource investment in a longer pipeline, where multiple interviews would be needed to get the same signal. Younger engineers trying to break into the industry may prefer take-homes because they provide a chance to demonstrate skills they haven’t yet had a chance to prove on the market. If there’s a candidate you haven’t gotten clear signal from yet, adding a take-home to their pipeline will usually tell you one way or another whether the bet will pay off. Scott Woody, former Director of Engineering at Dropbox, told us that people who tend to shine on take-homes have nontraditional backgrounds: “They’re hackers, or they never took CS in college, and they’d fail out of our normal process. But we can see they’ve been doing all this practical work on the side, so let’s give them this practical thing and they’re going to build something singular.”

Take-home Tips

Using a tool like Takehome.io can help with timeboxing take-homes. It might seem like the option of timeboxing would help solve a lot of the cons of this format, but many engineers hold the opinion that time limits introduce further artificiality that compromises what could otherwise be a clear signal. There are tradeoffs any way you approach it.

If you do choose to give take-homes, it’s important to be clear with the candidate that the results will only be used for evaluation and not to produce work for the company. You might also provide an upper bound on the amount of time a candidate should spend on the take-home. When sending candidates the assignment, it’s important to let them know what it is that you will be evaluating—the code? the creativity? the speed? This will help ensure that they don’t waste time on something that won’t translate as much to the assessment and the eventual job. You likely also will want to avoid noting things as nice-to-haves unless they are truly necessary for the assessment.

One idea worth noting to help make the candidate experience better is to replace the take-home with a project that is done in the office during the onsite. Such a project still requires a logistical burden, but has the benefit of feeling like a symmetric exchange of time, particularly if it replaces multiple interview questions. The goal is to mimic the benefits the take-home has for candidates—let them work alone.

​ candidate ​ Understanding the reasons why a company might choose a take-home problem can help candidates prepare. This guide from Jane Phillips has a host of practical suggestions for tackling take-home coding challenges , along with an FAQ on common scenarios, like needing more time or what to do if you’re not familiar with a language or framework in the take-home problem.

Prior Work Assessment

Some companies choose to ask candidates for past work samples rather than asking them to write code (though you can do both). The nice thing about this approach is that it allows you to see something that the candidate actually did in a real-world setting. However, it can be difficult for many candidates to provide this kind of work sample if they don’t have an open-source presence, and evaluating these work samples may take more time and require a great deal of interviewer effort to evaluate. Prior work assessments can be:

Synchronous. The candidate walks the interviewer through a completed project or portfolio.

Asynchronous. The candidate sends work to the interviewer for them to review, and/or the interviewer reviews the candidate’s open-source projects (likely on GitHub).

Google APM Interview Cheat Sheet

Advice for aspiring pms.

Creating an opportunity to drive products for billions of users, few companies can offer the wide latitude, sheer size, and access to data that a product manager position at Google can. Google hires approximately 45 APMs per year across various offices in the United States as well worldwide despite thousands and thousands of applications.

The APM Program, the first of its kind, allows the company to not only develop in-house talent rather than having to interview scores of industry professionals years down the line. Allowing for the creation of tight-knit APM communities the program allows new recruits to experience a variety of products and technologies in various locations and industries.

Google’s hiring process has many levels and validation requirements, something essential to such a large company hoping to scale their teams but maintain the quality of their employees. Thus, even candidates with referrals have an offer rate of less than 5%. While the Google interview process is extremely tough, obtaining a PM position at the company is achievable with the correct preparation.

• While Google does hire from various backgrounds, the company prefers candidates that are technical with some sort of computer science experience.
• The program is a 2 year rotation which includes multiple mentors and management courses, one fully funded 2 week trip to different international Google offices, and mini trips to various Google offices in the US.

Interview Stages

Submit your resume and get referrals.

Initial phone screen with a recruiter. Covers behavioral and resume-based questions.

Phone interview with a PM covering general product questions, usually centered around a theoretical problem.

Five 45-minute onsite interviews: four product questions with PMs and one technical question (more system design than coding) with an engineer. You’ll also have lunch with a PM, where you can ask questions in a more casual setting. The lunch interview isn’t usually graded, but treat it like a real interview just to be safe.

Take-home assignment.

Interview Types

Product Sense

Product Sense is tested throughout the Google interview process to see if you can turn a big ambiguous problem space into a great product that solves user problems and creates value. Google interviews are trained to pay particular to the creativity, scalability, and user empathy depicted in candidate’s responses.

Pro tip: Google doesn't actually ask questions about Google very often because the interviewer knows way more about the company then you do, so it's unfair.

Your Product Sense Interviewer is looking to see:

• Can you clearly articulate who you are building for, why, and how it fits into the bigger picture company strategy?
• Can you provide a thorough vision for your desired MVP experience to test your hypotheses as well as your desired end state for this product, say 3 years out? This comes down to concretely defining priorities and goals.
• Can you zoom out from your personal user needs and think about how your product could scale and provide maximum value to Google’s Next Billion Users (NBU)?

Example Google Product Sense Questions:

Design the web user experience for Lyft.

• Design a product that helps improve work-from-home productivity.
• What's the biggest pain you have with sharing photos today? How would you fix it?
• How would you improve Spotify?
• Re-imagine a ride-sharing product like Uber that’s specifically optimized for blind passengers.

As a company that owns a search engine, Google PMs have access to an unprecedented amount of data. Analytical questions are used to assess whether candidates can accurately choose data, analyze it, and utilize it to drive forward successful products.    

Pro tip: Estimation questions are way more common than metrics questions at Google.

Your Analytical interviewer will be looking for:

• Can you measure what matters and make data driven decisions?
• Can you use your analytical skills to make estimations and market size in the face of imperfect information? 
• Are you able to identify what metrics enable you to most aptly measure success for a given product or feature?

Example Google Analytical Questions:

• Estimate how many Zoom meetings take place over the course of the average week.
• Estimate Amazon’s revenue on Prime Day.
• Estimate the storage cost of all the videos on Youtube. 
• How would you measure the success of Apple's WWDC event?
• What three quantitative Netflix metrics would you want to see each day if you were Reed Hastings.

Product managers are often touted as “mini-CEOs.” That is partially true in that PMs get considerable influence in shaping the product vision. Strategy interview questions are meant to assess if candidates are able to zoom out from the micro level product details and think big picture business strategy. 

Your Strategy interviewer will be looking for:

• Are you well-read on Google’s portfolio of products and investments as well as that of its competitors? Can you utilize the historic actions of other companies to inform your own decision making?
• Are you able to creatively imagine and build novel zero to one product innovations?
• Do you understand how to make product decisions which can help shape a larger company level strategy?

Example Google Strategy Questions:

• Why does Starbucks sometimes have coffee shops on both sides of the road?
• Google has invented a technology that can let you go back in time up to one minute. Once used, there is a recharge time of 24 hours from when you last time traveled before you can this technology again. Assume there is no way to further improve this technology to overcome the aforementioned restrictions on time traveled or recharge time. What can Google do with this technology? 
• Groupon stock is trading at less than a tenth of its all-time-high. What do you think went wrong with the company and how would you turn it around?
• Pitch a company that you think Amazon should acquire.

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Google’s behavioral interview questions are designed to not only make sure candidates are good product managers, but are a cultural fit for the “Googley-ness” the company prides itself on. Google wants employees that are multi-talented and able to add to the company in different ways, have a clear vision for where they hope to drive the company, and cognizant of their faults despite their accomplishments. Google’s behavioral questions are arguably the easiest part of the interview but far from the least important. Take them as a chance to stand out by having memorable stories prepared beforehand.

Pro tip: Google asks behavioral questions less than most companies, but all interviewers are asked to evaluate you on googleyness. When answering these questions, put your team first, empathize with users, and communicate respectfully.

Your Behavioral interviewer will be looking for:

• Are you passionate about building products for a global community of users?
• Are you self-aware?
• Do you have the emotional intelligence necessary to inspire and lead a product team?
• Are you able to take responsibility for your past mistakes and shortcomings?

Example Google Behavioral Questions:

• Why Google?
• What’s your greatest strength as a PM?
• Tell me about a time your product vision conflicted with that of your manager or team.
• What is the most valuable advice you’ve received in your career?
• What do you do when what’s best for the user is at odds with what’s best for the company?

Google has the highest technical bar for PMs in FAANG. Unlike Facebook and Amazon, the search giant specifically screens for technical aptitude, especially for lower level hires where they expect PMs to be able to get in the weeds with engineers to help guide the more granular technical details of the product. These technical requirements ease up a bit for more senior product leadership roles as then the more micro-level technical issues will likely be delegated to an APM or Project/Program Manager. 

Your Technical Interviewer is looking to see:

• Can you fluently converse with your engineering team?
• Do you understand how to utilize the latest technology to craft novel solutions to hard user problems?
• Are you able to make sound technical decisions to build products quickly, efficiently, and scalably without massive tech debt?

Example Google Technical Interview Questions:

• What is happening on the back-end every time you click search on Google?
• Explain what an SDK is to a 7 year old. 
• How would you build a solution to help identify and remove any and all child pornogrpahy from Google images?
• How do you think Shazam can identify just about any song in seconds?

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In our Flagship Google PM Interview course, you will start off by learning Google’s Ten Year Strategy from insiders so you can begin to think from the perspective of a Google exec. We’ll go deep on hot product areas like Google Cloud, Assistant, YouTube and more! Then, we will give you a refresher on the art of interviewing covering everything from whiteboarding to body language. We’ll go over what types of estimation, design, technical, and behavioral questions you are most likely to get asked at Google and then walk you through the concrete things that Google interviewers are taught to look for in your response for each question type. We’ll also show you tons of mock interview examples of 10 out of 10 answers with expert interviewer commentary along the way. Finally, we will share a monthly updated list of interview questions that our team members and past customers have actually gotten during their recent Google PM interviews. With this course, you can take luck out of the equation for getting your dream PM job at Google!

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Six Steps to Pass the Data Science Take Home Challenge

How many times have you seen these exact words? Hopefully not much in your data science interview process. But if you’re one of many data scientists looking for a job, you might find yourself working on a data science take-home assignment in a zipped file with a requirements pdf that’s ten pages long.

The recruiter promises that there’s an intricate grading process on your assignment that shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. But suddenly it’s 2:30 AM, three days later, 15 hours of coding exhaustion put in, and you haven’t even thought about trying that GAM model to see it improve your model’s F1 score by three percent. Why is this sort of thing continuing to happen? Why are companies wasting the candidate’s time still without any sort of feedback on the take-home?

The truth is that the process works as a filter for many companies that don’t have a standardized interview process. Development of technical interview questions requires a history of knowledge on the part of data science teams that just does not exist yet compared to software engineers.

So if you must, have to, and there’s no other choice, to do a take-home assignment. Here are a few steps to take to ensure a smoother process.

• Understand expectations
• State assumptions everywhere
• Do the modeling basics
• Make the take-home challenge readable
• Write Tests and Comments
• Summarize your thought process

1. Understand Expectations

It’s difficult to push against a company who is interviewing you or going to be interviewing you. But understanding the full expectations of the data science take-home challenge will be the key to passing it successfully.

Here’s an email template to use with the recruiter.

Hi Recruiter’s Name,

Thanks for sending over the take-home assignment. I’m excited to start it and will be sure to send it back in X days with my completed solution.

Additionally, I was wondering if I could be provided with a set of general guidelines on how the assignment will be graded. I definitely want to be sure I’m focusing and demonstrating the correct skillset for the take-home and not accidentally going down a rabbit hole.

Lastly, I would really appreciate it if after I send in my take-home assignment that I could get some feedback on it, regardless of whether or not I move on in the interview process. It would really mean a lot to understand what I did wrong or where I excelled for my own technical growth.

2. State Assumptions Everywhere

Try to immediately tally up a list of questions that you can send to the recruiter/hiring manager after receiving the take-home challenge. Even after getting answers to your questions or receiving no answer, make sure to then state your assumptions in your data science take-home challenge. What do I mean by that?

What if you decide to only use a naive imputation model to fill in missing values instead of an advanced technique? State it. Write it in a comment. Do something where they understand your limitations to the amount of time you’re spending on the assignment.

Write up everything that you think needs to be known to your grader. Hiring managers forgot how long it took to write code and build models. They’re managers. They don’t write code.

3. Do the Modeling Basics

Here’s a general checklist that will probably take you at least a minimum of three hours.

• Data cleaning
• Minimal feature selection
• Impute missing values
• Create a classification pipeline
• Try training with a couple of sci-kit learn classifiers
• Tune hyperparameters with grid-search

Boom. Now your implementation will reach the general minimal baseline of what they’re expecting. Dependent on how long you work on feature selection, it could go plus or minus an extra two to three hours.

4. Make the Take-Home Challenge Readable

Here’s a great guide toward code organization and readability for data scientists. It’s about structuring your project in an easy-to-digestible manner. I stumbled upon this randomly, but it completely makes sense. The Cookiecutter data science framework allows for a standardized process for data science projects. Taken directly from their website:

• Collaborate more easily with you on this analysis
• Learn from your analysis about the process and the domain
• Feel confident in the conclusions at which the analysis arrives

I will note that it will definitely take you more than a few hours to organize your project with the complete format. But then again you already understood the cost when you decided to do a data science take-home assignment.

5. Write Tests and Comments

Did I mention documenting everything in your head onto paper? That includes writing comments and testing your code if it’s applicable. Readability is as important as the efficiency of your code and if you write nice comment blocks on each function, it will help communicate how your code should function and why you re-factored it the way you did. Follow the general Python conventions to make sure you’re solid.

6. Summarize Your Thought Process

Remember in high school English when all papers consisted of an introduction, content, and then conclusion, which repeated the introduction? Do that but in under 500 words. At the end of the day, the most likely scenario is that the person looking at your take-home assignment will spend a grand total of five minutes of their time understanding it before moving on back to browsing Reddit. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to understand your data science take-home challenge as being the best possible take-home challenge ever.

20 Carta Interview Questions and Answers

Prepare for the types of questions you are likely to be asked when interviewing for a position at Carta.

Carta is a global ownership management platform that helps companies, investors, and employees manage equity and ownership. The company has a wide range of products and services, so it’s no surprise that interviewers ask a variety of questions to test a job candidate’s knowledge, skills, and abilities.

To help you prepare for your interview with Carta, we’ve compiled a list of sample questions and answers. These questions will give you a better understanding of the company, its products, and the job you’re applying for. With this information, you can craft thoughtful, well-informed responses that will impress your interviewer and improve your chances of getting the job.

Carta Interview Process

The interview process at Carta can vary depending on the position you are applying for. However, most positions will require a phone screen, followed by a take-home assignment. The take-home assignment is typically 4-6 hours long, and Carta expects candidates to complete it in 2-4 hours. If the abstraction doesn’t match their vision of what it should look like, candidates may be rejected.

After the take-home assignment, there is usually an onsite interview which consists of multiple rounds of interviews, including behavioral, technical, and product questions. The whole process can take 2-3 weeks to complete.

• What do you think is the most important feature of a good ownership management platform?
• How would you sell Carta to a potential customer that already has an equity management software they are happy with?
• Do you have experience working in a startup environment?
• Why do you want to work at Carta?
• Can you tell me about a time when you had to manage multiple projects and deadlines, how did you prioritize your tasks?
• Tell us about a time when you had to present information to people who were not familiar with it.
• Describe a time where you found a creative way to solve a problem.
• Have you ever worked remotely before?
• Identify a product or service that went through many iterations and explain why you think each iteration was necessary.
• As a senior software engineer, what type of programming languages are you proficient in?
• If we asked your previous manager to describe you in one word, what would they say?
• In order to be successful as a salesperson for Carta, you need to understand the needs of our customers. Give an example of a time when you successfully identified your customer’s needs.
• We want our employees to feel comfortable sharing their opinions even if they disagree with the majority. Provide an example of a time when you did this.
• How would you handle receiving critical feedback on a project you were working on?
• What would you consider to be a successful implementation of Carta?
• When implementing Carta for a company, there will be times when your client wants something customized. Explain how you would approach this situation.
• You will occasionally come across clients who are difficult to work with. Tell us about a time when you dealt with a challenging person.
• Implementation managers must be able to effectively communicate instructions to other team members. Give an example of a time when you did this.
• Our developers use a wide variety of tools and technologies. Which ones are you most experienced with?
• Software engineers must be able to anticipate problems that could occur during development. Explain how you might go about doing this.

1. What do you think is the most important feature of a good ownership management platform?

This question is your opportunity to show the interviewer that you have experience using a similar platform and can identify its most important features. You should highlight the specific features of Carta that make it unique from other ownership management platforms.

Example: “I think the most important feature of a good ownership management platform is security. I know that Carta has some of the best security protocols in the industry, which is why my previous employer used Carta for all of our equity management needs. The security features are what made me want to work here because I knew they would be able to protect my clients’ information.”

2. How would you sell Carta to a potential customer that already has an equity management software they are happy with?

This question is a great way to test your sales skills and ability to convince others of the value Carta can provide. Use examples from your previous experience selling products or services to show how you would approach this challenge.

Example: “I would first ask them what they like about their current software, then I would explain why Carta offers more features that will help them manage equity in their company. For example, if they are looking for an easier way to track employee stock options, I would tell them that Carta has a feature that allows employees to view all of their stock information online. This makes it easy for employees to see when they have vested and can sell their shares.”

3. Do you have experience working in a startup environment?

If you’re interviewing for a position at a startup, the interviewer may want to know if you have experience working in that type of environment. If you don’t have direct experience, you can talk about your ability to learn new things and adapt quickly.

Example: “I’ve never worked directly for a startup before, but I do have experience working with small businesses. In my last role, we were a smaller department within a larger company, so I had to work independently on projects and solve problems without much guidance. I’m used to adapting to change and learning new processes quickly.”

4. Why do you want to work at Carta?

This question can help an interviewer learn more about your interest in the position and company. When preparing for this interview, make sure to read through the job description thoroughly so you know what skills are most important for this role. Use these skills to explain how your own experience and qualifications match up with what Carta is looking for.

Example: “I want to work at Carta because I am passionate about helping companies grow their equity programs. In my last position as a senior analyst, I helped several startups create their equity plans. This experience has given me valuable insight into what makes a successful program. I would love to use that knowledge to help Carta continue its growth.”

5. Can you tell me about a time when you had to manage multiple projects and deadlines, how did you prioritize your tasks?

This question can help the interviewer understand how you manage your time and prioritize tasks. Use examples from previous experience to show that you are organized, detail-oriented and able to meet deadlines.

Example: “In my last role as a project manager, I had to manage multiple projects with different timelines and deliverables. I used an online task management system to keep track of all my projects and due dates so I could stay on top of everything. This helped me ensure that I was meeting all of my deadlines while also managing other aspects of my job.”

6. Tell us about a time when you had to present information to people who were not familiar with it.

This question can help an interviewer understand how you communicate with others and your ability to explain complex information in a way that is easy for people to understand.

Example: “At my previous job, I had to present quarterly reports to the board of directors. These meetings were held once per quarter, so many of the board members weren’t familiar with all of the company’s financials. In these situations, I would always make sure to include key points and take questions at the end of each presentation.”

7. Describe a time where you found a creative way to solve a problem.

This question is a great way to show your problem-solving skills and how you can use them in the workplace. When answering this question, it’s important to highlight your ability to think outside of the box and come up with unique solutions to problems.

Example: “At my previous job, I was tasked with creating an equity plan for our company that would be fair to all employees. We had just raised $10 million in funding, so we needed to create a plan that would give everyone a chance to benefit from the new money. After speaking with some of the other employees about their concerns, I came up with a solution where each employee could choose between receiving a larger sum of equity or a smaller sum with more regular payments.”

8. Have you ever worked remotely before?

This question is a great way to learn more about the company’s culture and how they manage their employees. If you have worked remotely before, ask them what kind of tools or resources they use for remote workers.

Example: “I’ve worked remotely in the past, but I prefer working in an office setting. However, I do understand that some companies are better suited for remote work than others. At my last job, we had a few remote employees who used Carta to track equity and ownership. It was nice to see how many different ways there were to use the platform.”

9. Identify a product or service that went through many iterations and explain why you think each iteration was necessary.

This question is a great way to show your problem-solving skills and ability to adapt. It also allows you to discuss the importance of iteration in product development.

Example: “I worked on a project that was developing an app for a client who wanted it to be compatible with multiple operating systems. We had to go through many iterations before we found one that would work across all platforms, but I think each iteration was necessary because it allowed us to find the right solution for our client.”

10. As a senior software engineer, what type of programming languages are you proficient in?

The interviewer may ask this question to understand your technical skills and how they relate to the job you’re applying for. Use examples of programming languages that are relevant to Carta’s business model or industry.

Example: “I am proficient in Java, C++, Python and Ruby. I have used these languages extensively throughout my career as a software engineer, and I find them useful when working with large-scale projects. For example, at my last company, I worked on a project where we needed to integrate multiple systems into one platform. Using these four programming languages allowed me to create an effective solution that met our client’s needs.”

11. If we asked your previous manager to describe you in one word, what would they say?

This question is a great way to learn more about the person you’re interviewing and how they interact with others. It’s also an opportunity for you to show your personality and sense of humor.

Example: “My previous manager would probably say I’m ‘reliable.’ I’ve always been someone who strives to be on time, complete my work in a timely manner and stay organized. This has helped me develop strong relationships with my coworkers and managers.”

12. In order to be successful as a salesperson for Carta, you need to understand the needs of our customers. Give an example of a time when you successfully identified your customer’s needs.

Salespeople need to be able to understand their customers’ needs and how they can help them. This is an important skill for any salesperson, but it’s especially important for a company like Carta that focuses on customer service.

Example: “When I was working as a sales representative at my previous job, I had the opportunity to work with a client who needed to manage equity in multiple companies. They were looking for a way to keep track of all of their ownership information without having to manually enter data into spreadsheets or databases. I listened carefully to what they needed and explained how our software could meet those needs.”

13. We want our employees to feel comfortable sharing their opinions even if they disagree with the majority. Provide an example of a time when you did this.

This question is an opportunity to show your ability to be a team player and work with others. When answering this question, think of a time when you disagreed with the majority but still managed to maintain positive relationships with your coworkers.

Example: “At my previous company, we had a weekly meeting where everyone would share their progress on projects and any challenges they were facing. One week, I was presenting a project that I was working on with two other employees. During our presentation, one employee mentioned that she thought it would be beneficial to add more images to the website. The other employee agreed, however, I felt like adding more images could distract from the content.

I decided to speak up during the meeting and explain why I didn’t think additional images were necessary. My coworkers understood my reasoning and respected my opinion. After the meeting, we discussed how we could implement some of my ideas into the design.”

14. How would you handle receiving critical feedback on a project you were working on?

When working in a team environment, you may receive feedback on your work from your manager or other members of the team. Interviewers ask this question to learn how you react to receiving constructive criticism and use it to improve your performance. In your answer, explain that you value feedback and are willing to take steps to implement changes if needed.

Example: “I understand that receiving critical feedback can be difficult, but I welcome the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and make improvements. If I ever received critical feedback at work, I would first thank the person for their honesty and willingness to help me improve. Then, I would evaluate the feedback and determine what changes I could make to improve my performance.”

15. What would you consider to be a successful implementation of Carta?

This question is an opportunity to show your knowledge of the Carta platform and how you would use it in a professional setting. When answering this question, consider what you know about the company’s current implementation of Carta and highlight any similarities between their goals and yours.

Example: “I think that a successful implementation of Carta would be one where all employees have access to the system and can easily see equity information. I also think it’s important for there to be clear communication regarding ownership changes so everyone knows who owns what percentage of the company. Finally, I think it’s essential that the company has a plan in place for when someone leaves or retires.”

16. When implementing Carta for a company, there will be times when your client wants something customized. Explain how you would approach this situation.

The interviewer may want to know how you would approach a situation where the client wants something customized. This is an important skill because it shows that you can work with clients and understand their needs.

Example: “I have experience working with clients who wanted things customized in the past, so I am familiar with the process of doing this. When approaching a client about customizing Carta, I first ask them what they are looking for. Then, I explain that there will be additional costs associated with customization. If the client still wants to move forward with the customization, I provide them with a quote and begin the project.”

17. You will occasionally come across clients who are difficult to work with. Tell us about a time when you dealt with a challenging person.

This question is a great way to see how you handle conflict. It’s important that you can remain calm and professional when working with clients who are difficult, so it’s helpful for employers to know that you have experience doing this.

Example: “I once had a client who was very demanding. They would often call me at all hours of the day asking for updates on their account. I learned that they were just nervous about the process, so I started sending them weekly reports to help ease their nerves. Eventually, they stopped calling as much because they knew I was keeping them updated.”

18. Implementation managers must be able to effectively communicate instructions to other team members. Give an example of a time when you did this.

An effective implementation manager must be able to communicate instructions clearly and concisely. This is because they are responsible for ensuring that the company’s IT infrastructure is properly implemented, which requires clear communication with other team members.

Example: “In my last role as an IT project manager, I was tasked with implementing a new ERP system at one of our client locations. The installation process took several weeks, so it was important that everyone understood their responsibilities and how they related to the overall installation process. I held weekly meetings with all employees to ensure that everyone had the same information.”

19. Our developers use a wide variety of tools and technologies. Which ones are you most experienced with?

This question helps the interviewer understand your technical skills and how you might fit into their team. You can highlight any specific tools or technologies that are mentioned in the job description to show that you have experience with them.

Example: “I’ve worked with many different programming languages, including Java, Python, Ruby and JavaScript. I also have a lot of experience working with databases like MySQL and NoSQL. In my last role, I was responsible for managing our company’s database, so I’m familiar with SQL as well.”

20. Software engineers must be able to anticipate problems that could occur during development. Explain how you might go about doing this.

This question is an opportunity to show your problem-solving skills. You can explain how you would approach this process and what steps you would take to ensure the project’s success.

Example: “I would first identify all possible problems that could occur during development, including those that are likely to happen and those that are less likely but still possible. I would then create a plan for each of these issues, outlining the best way to solve them before they become a reality. This allows me to be prepared for any challenges that may arise so I can quickly address them and continue with the project.”

20 United Nations Foundation Interview Questions and Answers

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Real-World React Coding Challenges For Your Interview Preparation

Navigating coding challenges is a crucial part of the interview process, particularly for aspiring React developers lacking professional experience.

Unfortunately, these coding assignments can be daunting for entry-level devs with limited job opportunities, making a failed test disheartening and even humiliating.

To help you prepare for code challenges, this article offers:

• 4 practical React coding challenges covering skills like CSS, simple state management, API data handling, and debugging existing codebases.
• Insight into employers' objectives for coding challenges.
• Guidance on tackling coding challenges during interviews.

React Code Challenges

Before diving in, it's recommended to read the entire article. However, let's kick off with the most exciting part: coding challenges you might encounter during a job interview or in your daily work as a developer.

These challenges stem from the codebase and designs of the React Job Simulator ( source code on GitHub ). They vary in difficulty and assess a range of skills.

Now, let's begin with an easy task.

1. Style A Header Based on Designs

This simple UI challenge involves creating a header component for the app's landing page using Figma designs.

Skills tested : CSS

Difficulty: Easy

• Implement the header according to designs.
• Navigation links should target / , /products , /documentation , and /pricing .
• Adjust the existing "Open Dashboard" link to match the designs.
• Edit pages/index.jsx in the repository.
• styled-components is used for CSS; you may use this or alternatives like CSS modules or inline styles.
• The project is in TypeScript, but the challenge file is JSX. Feel free to change to .tsx if preferred.
• For help with designs or achieving pixel-perfect results, provide your email below for additional resources.

The solution for this task is not the cleanest, but it's sufficient for this challenge without separating the header into a new component file, using TypeScript, or writing tests.

You can get a more elaborate refactoring of above solution by providing your email below.

• a production-grade code base
• realistic tasks & workflows
• high-end tooling setup
• professional designs.

2. Toggle A Modal

This challenge is more dynamic, requiring you to create a modal that opens when users click the contact button.

Skills tested : CSS, simple state management, React APIs

Difficulty: Easy - Medium

• Implement the modal UI.
• The "Cancel" button should close the modal, while "Open Email App" should open users' email clients.
• The modal should open upon clicking the contact button.
• Don't use a modal library.
• It's fine to add code to the file mentioned above.
• There are two modal implementation methods: a simple one and a more advanced one. For both solutions, provide your email below.

For a tougher challenge:

• Integrate your code with the existing codebase.
• Add a Cypress test for this challenge to the existing test suite.
• Add a Storybook story for the modal component.

These tasks are beyond the scope of this post. For more, check out React Job Simulator .

3. Render Elements Based on API Data from a CMS

This more advanced challenge involves connecting the website to a Content Management System (CMS) like Contentful or Strapi. Marketers can use a CMS to easily create content without developer assistance.

In this challenge, you'll create a content element controlled by API data.

Skills tested : Working with API data, CSS

Difficulty: Medium

• Fetch data from the endpoint [https://prolog-api.profy.dev/content-page/home](https://prolog-api.profy.dev/content-page/home) , where home is a "slug" identifying the page.
• Render the hero section (highlighted in the design) using that data.
• Ensure the hero section matches the design.
• Fetch data using any method.
• Add code to pages/index.jsx .
• API Swagger documentation is available here . (Provide your email below for more information)

These tasks are beyond this post's scope. For more, check out React Job Simulator .

4. Find The Bug

This challenge focuses on debugging, a crucial skill for developers. A bug from the React Job Simulator is provided for this exercise.

On the application's issue page , either the "Events" or "Users" column displays incorrect data.

Skills tested : Debugging an existing codebase

• Identify the cause of the bug.
• Fix the bug.
• Adopt a structured approach rather than diving headfirst into the codebase. Use your browser's debugging tools instead of randomly probing the code.

The (Lesser Known) Purpose of Coding Challenges in the Interview Process

Practicing coding challenges is essential, but understanding what interviewers are looking for is equally important.

Employers want proof of a candidate's skills to minimize risks associated with hiring and training. Coding challenges are one way to assess these skills, testing both technical and soft skills.

While technical skills are crucial, don't overlook the importance of soft skills. Coding challenges can demonstrate your communication and problem-solving abilities, allowing interviewers to follow your thought process and observe your attitude towards critique.

This is particularly true for live coding challenges or when discussing your take-home assignment in a follow-up interview. Be prepared for questions on both technical and soft skills.

6 Tips for Coding Challenges in Job Interviews

Coding challenges can be stressful, especially live assignments with the interviewer.

Here are some tips on how to approach them:

Ask for Clarification

One common mistake, particularly among juniors, is diving straight into the task without fully understanding the requirements. Instead, take time to re-read the assignment and ask for clarification if something is unclear.

Asking clarifying questions is not a weakness. It demonstrates a clear mind and a structured approach, which employers value. On the job, building a solution without fully understanding the problem can lead to wasted time and effort.

Talk While You're Coding (For Live Challenges)

Live coding challenges can be intimidating but offer a unique opportunity to showcase your thought process. Talking out loud while writing code allows interviewers to see your problem-solving and communication skills in action.

However, thinking and talking simultaneously isn't easy for everyone. To improve, practice techniques like rubber duck debugging , where you explain your plans as you work on a task. The coding challenges mentioned earlier are excellent opportunities for practicing this skill.

Clean Code Format

Many inexperienced developers overlook the importance of clean code formatting. Inconsistencies in indentation, semicolons, or variable naming can be easily noticed by senior developers or interviewers.

To avoid these issues, use a code formatter like Prettier for your (take-home) coding assignments. This helps maintain consistency and demonstrates your attention to detail.

Use TypeScript and Write Tests If You Can

Experienced developers value the reliability provided by TypeScript and automated tests. If you're comfortable with it, use types in your code and add tests. The choice of tool doesn't matter – you can use Jest, React Testing Library, or Cypress. Even one or two tests can be enough to demonstrate your professionalism and commitment to code quality.

Add a README with Clear Instructions

Your interviewers may not run your code on their local machine, but if they do, you want to avoid confusion.

Include clear instructions on how to install and run your code, and double-check that it's working. If you have extra time, consider adding additional information to the README, such as:

• Your approach to solving the assignment and the reasons behind it.
• Any assumptions you made during the process.
• Improvements you would make if given more time.

Be Prepared for Questions

Adding the information mentioned above to your README not only helps your interviewer understand your thought process, but it also prepares you for the next step: discussing your code.

If you have the opportunity (e.g., with a take-home test), let the code rest for a bit after submission. If you're invited to a follow-up interview, review your code closely:

• What seems strange or confusing in hindsight?
• Are there parts that are particularly difficult to understand?
• How could you improve or refactor your code?
• Is there anything you would do differently now?

Reevaluating your code can help you prepare for the next stage of the interview process, as it's likely you'll face questions about your code assignment.