Things that should be simple but are a proper ballache

[MassDebater]

I'm genuinely curious - when you ask prospective employees to do an eight hour project - do you offer to compensate them for their time?

It's not an 8 hour project, it's a technical test that is up to them how long they spend on it. We do not use the code for anything other than an evaluation of them being able to code. Absolutely basic version you could boilerplate one in maybe 2 hours. As I say I spent 11 hours doing mine, because I wanted the job. Some places have much more time consuming and stringent talking interviews, nobody expects to get paid for that.

Do people taking any sort of exam get compensated? I suppose with us the compensation is a job that pays decent money?

I once dated a trainee chef, to get a job at one of the fancy hotels in Brum (the one on Five Ways island, i forget its name) they expected her to do a full week's shift to see how she performed, for zero money.

My Sons girlfriend, ( they are both at university ) wanted a part time job to get a bit of money put aside. She applied at a care home, had an interview, ( she visits my mother in law in a home and is great with her ), they wanted her to do a month with no pay as `A Training Period `.

And now that is one sector that is crying out for staff. They relied heavily on Eastern Europe labour before Brexit. You can only wonder how they were treated at that home. And as for the residents....

In all fairness to the above poster, I'm sure he wouldn't have done that. That's just shameful.

It's incredibly hard to get any care home staff nowadays, I work for one of the largest care companies int he country, and staffing is a right pain at the moment.

I realised after I hit send that my earlier reply may have sounded defensive, it wasn't intended. I've never experienced any company paying me to attend an interview or do any sort of proficiency test. So yours is very unusual I think.

I disagree about the best ones won't do the test, I did it And we're in the exact position where we can't just hope that they will work out in the real World without testing them in some practical way. In my 25 years (15 ish being involved in some of the interview phases), even guys with 20+ years experience on a CV have been unable to provide a simple test (practical or written / verbal), whereas some younglings have blown it out of the water and gone on to be excellent choices. Actually I'd say in my experience it's mostly the Uni trained ones who are the worst, and can't think properly. Development isn't about writing the code, anyone can do that bit, it's about how your mind works...and even graduates can't fake that.