I’m moving on to my 3rd round of interviews and in the email scheduling the 3rd interview I received a project (questions to answer and PowerPoint for different scenarios) to be completed on my own time.

20 Comments

1. AnonymousSeptember 26,2022 at 12:55PM UTC

   I have (I work in the finance industry in accounting). I’m not a big fan but I do understand if they want to test for certain basic level understanding but in my opinion, anything that takes more than 3-4 hours is too long.

2. AnonymousSeptember 26,2022 at 1:11PM UTC

   This is now pretty common.

3. AnonymousSeptember 26,2022 at 1:29PM UTC

   Yes! It is a form of case interviewing. I would do some research for best approach. You can always ask clarifying questions to the interviewer prior to submitting your answers.

4. Kathryn MontbriandSeptember 26,2022 at 1:34PM UTC

   Hi there - yes I have and it is one of my favorite types of interviews to do! The reason being that I get to actually demonstrate how I think about things, solve problems and communicate vs. sharing past examples or hypothetical responses.

   A few thoughts to get you started:

   1) depending on the type of job, they may be looking for your framework and decision criteria. Don't just show the final answer, but also show the other things you considered and the different factors you used to evaluate them. This is more typical for consulting / analyst type roles.

   2) look for some publicly available materials from the company to get ideas for how to format and communicate your ideas. You don't want to copy 1 for 1 from internal presentations, but if they love charts and you show up with images and light text you will have a tougher time getting your point across.

   3) if you have material that doesn't quite fit in the powerpoint, build the slides and stick them in an appendix. Then if you get a follow up question you might have the material already created and can wow the panel.

   Good luck!

5. AnonymousSeptember 26,2022 at 3:23PM UTC

   Yes, it's a task assignment.
   I did it for my current job, and it requires time and attention. Take it seriously, as you will presenting to some individuals who can easily sway the hiring process. Best of luck! You got this!!!

6. Barb HansenSeptember 26,2022 at 5:52PM UTC

   Has anyone done this before?

   Yes, many of us have. It's pretty standard, depending on the job you are applying for.

   I have done a few before in my career. And in two cases, I created a take-home assignment and presented it during my final interview.

   Did I get the job?

   Not always, although in the two cases where I created an interview project, I did get the job.

   Am I wary of interview projects?

   Yes, I don't mind putting a few hours of extra work into answering some questions or preparing a "whatever-is-asked-for" presentation, but I draw the line at projects that take more than a few hours.

   If a company can't decide if I am valuable enough to hire, and they want to see days or weeks worth of work from me before they decide, then they can hire me as a contractor for a few months.

   If a company is using a short take-home interview project to get a sense of how I think or how I would approach a problem, I have no problem with that.

   Personal experience with unreasonably long interview project:

   The last interview project I was asked to complete was going to take over 20 hours to complete based on what the interviewers told me. I had to prepare a complete product feature roadmap, launch, and go-to-market plan (on their product) with competitive risk factors (that had to be real, based on my independent research) and revenue model (based on numbers that I had to make up b/c the company didn't share their actual number with me). Then I had to present my plan to the Company's full executive team and their board. I politely declined to continue with the interview process.

7. AnonymousSeptember 27,2022 at 1:03PM UTC

   I’m the OP. They actually threw me for a loop and instead of me asking questions about the project during my interview yesterday, I had to present the project. I explained that I just received the questions the night before but I would do my best. So I’m not sure I’ll be moving forward as I missed the mark on the second part of the project. :(

8. AnonymousSeptember 29,2022 at 12:19PM UTC

   I noticed during my recent job search that there was a lot more of that type of requirements. I am not a fan of that kind of interviewing but it does happen. Though if you only had 24 hours to put this together and present, that does not seem fair to me. Maybe they did that by design to see how you handled it. I'm sure you did better than you think you did. I hope you get it! Good luck!

9. AnonymousSeptember 29,2022 at 12:38PM UTC

   Don’t do you it. You and a lot of third round people are doing this to steal your ideas without hiring you. No. They will not hire you. They just want your great work!

10. AnonymousSeptember 29,2022 at 12:51PM UTC

    How can you say that without knowing the content of the exercise?

11. AnonymousSeptember 29,2022 at 12:42PM UTC

    No way as a Senior Recruiter companies like this have no trust in their own interview process. I’d politely decline the interview and keep it moving it’s too many really good paying jobs out there to be asking people to do all this. Unless this is a highly technical job they have modules and give you a heads up on which allows you time to study beforehand and the majority of them start off at no less than $190K. It’s these jobs that have interviewers that think others are more desperate to keep going through their idiotic processes, companies like this will find out sooner and not later that it’s way more jobs out there that’s not requiring all this to get hired.

12. AnonymousSeptember 29,2022 at 12:55PM UTC

    Google, Amazon and Facebook all do this. Would you tell your partners to decline interviews with these companies and miss out on their pay and benefits?

13. AnonymousSeptember 29,2022 at 12:50PM UTC

    Is it for big tech?

    Yes, I have done exercises with many world class companies. The point isn’t the content, it’s to see how you evaluate problems.

    I did an exercise and several rounds of interviews for the tech company where I work now and it was totally worth it.

14. AnonymousSeptember 29,2022 at 12:54PM UTC

    I have designers create a mobile app for a candy shop when evaluating UX roles. It’s obvious that it’s not related to the business, yet it shows me how they think about solving problems. If they fail to mention user testing, it’s an immediate pass for our customer-focused process. I also ask questions and if they get defensive when receiving feedback, I evaluate that too.

    The best you can do is get the exercise and evaluate for yourself. Don’t say no without seeing the content.

15. AnonymousSeptember 29,2022 at 2:40PM UTC

    That’s ridiculous.
    They’re searching for ideas that their current employees can’t come up with. This is why they should hire you, and you must tell them that (or yell it at them). They either hire you based on your resume and experience or not. Walk away.

16. AnonymousSeptember 29,2022 at 2:44PM UTC

    I hate when companies do this; it's a not-so-veiled attempt to get you to do free work. I run a team of developers for a financial services company so when I ask candidates to show us their coding chops I have them build a Blackjack game, something that has nothing to do with our work.

    I once was applying to a company that asked me to give them samples of code from my previous employers. I bowed out of the process because I wasn't going to violate confidentiality and non-disclosure.

    Companies need to do better in their hiring processes. You don't want to work for a company that illustrates this lack of integrity.

17. Sue Gordon- retired Career CoachSeptember 29,2022 at 2:51PM UTC

    In higher education, we often ask questions and for a presentation.
    This is to demonstrate knowledge of the candidate -- not to get free work from them. For example, in my field, advisors/coaches often give presentations, so it reasonable to ask them to do a presentation during their campus interview.

    I have personally written essays in response to questions, where the purpose was clearly to get an idea of my actual understanding of a given topic, such as diversity and inclusion. Also to assess my writing skills.

    So, while I know that some employers do this to get free work, it depends on the context, the field and the employer themselves.

    Red flags are if you are clearly being asked to create product for a client (e.g. a marketing campaign that they could then use and charge the client for).

    Good luck.

18. KristenSeptember 29,2022 at 3:04PM UTC

    It's actually quite common and can benefit both parties. Be clear on any deliverables that it's proprietary and not to be used for further use without permission.

19. Kinga FlansburgSeptember 29,2022 at 4:22PM UTC

    I have had to do this. I had done multiple phone calls, then they asked me to create a PP presentation on an initiative that I have created and rolled out. When I showed up I met with the VP, Total Rewards Director, Benefits Director and another person. Then I did my presentation. The Total Rewards & Benefits Director came to me after and told me how impressed they were with my presentation and thorough it was from thought to inception and how it was going after a year. Did not get the job at the end.

20. Lynda BoothOctober 1,2022 at 11:08PM UTC

    This is part of a normal process. Candidates are being asked to prepare and present during the interview process. There are other candidates being asked to do the same. Take the time to go above and beyond of what they ask to stand out.