Sometimes companies pay for the time it takes to complete a take-home project. I think it’s a good idea, especially now given all the hiring freezes and especially for a remote position where the applicant has no idea how many other applicants (around the country/world) they might be competing against.
In the past often the ones that didn't pay would at least fly you over to headquarters and wine/dine you and put you up at a hotel for a night or two, which was a nice "off the books" payment.
Sounds like a deep penalty to this senior: I have learned to hate flights, corporate hotels are mostly crap (even expensive ones), it is very unlikely I desire another trip to that city, I hate wasting a day for that, and I really care about how good my food tastes.
Agreed; if you have to have the 4 hour assignment, paying a market wage for a senior dev for those 4 hours, at least shows that you are serious about filling the position.
Has anyone ever expected (or received) payment for time off to attend interviews though?
Seems to me like a bad reaction to the relatively new thing, but actually the criticism applies just as well to the older thing.
(Maybe it should all be paid! Though having job search funded by prospective employers does seem a bit weird.. I think really I just think it's neither here nor there in terms of morality or whatever - but the 'take-home' isn't fundamentally different from the interview. If anything it might be better in this regard already, since I don't have to take time off for it (but also can, if I prefer that to spending my evening/weekend on it)?)
The difference is that interviewing costs the company in the form of the time required from existing employees, whereas the company could ask 50 people to do a take-home project for free at essentially no cost to them.
