Take home tests

Firstly I think it is important to point out that you should absolutely not take every piece of feedback as gospel.

I hear many people say, they were rejected for a position because of x and assume that is it, they got unlucky and move on with their life. Of course the reality is not at all that. Companies will often use some AI template and move on.

I have also heard complaints like these:

• I did everything they asked
• I got told they would have liked to see X but it wasn't on the list of things to do
• I wish they would just say exactly what they wanted to see

Honestly, most of these are red flags. Take home tests are signal tests, not checkbox tests. Every choice you make communicates a judgement call from you. Things like naming, readability, responsiveness, tests and most importantly prioritisation.

Don't optimise for minimum compliance. Optimise for professionalism under constraint. That is what reviews are actually evaluating.