# Job interview with unusual request **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 27, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729 "2016-12-27T21:30:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729/21 "2017-01-03T17:21:54Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I don’t do what I call “hard core” coding. I don’t do C, C++, Java, etc. I do data analysis which is a lot different type of work. And as I said, I’ve never been asked for a sample before in 25 years in this field. > > Also in this field they don’t make me write code during the interview on a white board or anywhere else. I’m in much the same job role (data analyst). I haven’t done any interviewing in years, since I work for a consulting firm I’ve moved from one job to another within the same firm. BUT - that said, if your public domain stuff wasn’t acceptable, perhaps you could take an example of some SQL you’ve written that demonstrates some interesting problem-solving, and sanitize it with different field names. You could download the desktop version of Oracle, and make a small database so you can run the code and provide some output. Be prepared to describe what the problem was and how this code addressed it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729/22 "2017-01-03T17:53:43Z")
In my field, we would expect candidates to be able to analyze a business opportunity and prepare a presentation. We do NOT expect them to bring in current work. Instead, we give them a topic and ask them to research it from the public domain, then prepare a short presentation. This tests a few things, including critical thinking, the ability to find information, and their skills at preparing and giving a presentation. In the OP’s case, if the employers wants to know about his skills with data analytics, I would think public domain examples of his work would be fine. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729/23 "2017-01-04T14:25:21Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I recall reading somewhere that some places likely won’t interview a person if they don’t have open source projects they have worked on in their spare time. There are always “some places” that do something. One of my first jobs in my 20s was with a “hot up-and-coming ecommerce consulting firm” in Boston (back when Boston was a relevant tech hub). They actively sought to hire “overachievers with diverse backgrounds and interests” as opposed to “antisocial computer nerds”. People who graduated from MIT, Harvard and other top schools and ran Iron Man triathlons or were alternates on the USA Olympics team in their spare time. Of course then they made them work 100 hours a week coding, turning them into the very sort of people they didn’t want to hire in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729/24 "2017-01-04T15:50:30Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I recall reading somewhere that some places likely won’t interview a person if they don’t have open source projects they have worked on in their spare time. Isn’t this somewhat common in the field of gaming, especially for folks without a history in the industry? My impression is that gaming companies hire heavily from folks who’ve made well-regarded mods or other fan projects. > [@DrCube](#): > > Just tell them you’d gladly sign a contract to do six hours of programming for them. $1000 is pretty small change when they’re making a ~$100k decision. If they balk, ask them if their employees usually agree to do free work for their customers and if that’s the kind of employee they want to hire? Do you also bill the company for your travel expenses is driving to the interview site, or for your time spent interviewing? 4-6 hours of background prep for a professional job interview doesn’t seem overly ridiculous to me. Much more than that would be. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729/25 "2017-01-04T16:26:19Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Isn’t this somewhat common in the field of gaming, especially for folks without a history in the industry? My impression is that gaming companies hire heavily from folks who’ve made well-regarded mods or other fan projects. > > Do you also bill the company for your travel expenses is driving to the interview site, or for your time spent interviewing? > > 4-6 hours of background prep for a professional job interview doesn’t seem overly ridiculous to me. Much more than that would be. In my field (graphic design) this is called “spec work” and it’s heavily frowned upon. I’ve done it anyway in desperation (to my detriment), but generally any employer that requires free work ahead of an interview is one swinging a red flag. I guess it’s different in other fields, maybe, but in my field its expected to have a portfolio already set to go so as to put a stop to requests for free work. If you can’t look at 15 of my other projects and determine if I’m competent at my job and still require free work just for you…you’re probably really bad at interviewing people, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729/26 "2017-01-04T16:39:51Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > In my field (graphic design) this is called “spec work” and it’s heavily frowned upon. There’s a difference, I think, between asking someone to perform an exercise, and asking someone to create something usable. My understanding is that the coding samples would be exercises that wouldn’t be of any material benefit to the company. If that’s not what’s meant, I agree with you. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729/27 "2017-01-04T16:58:26Z")
As an engineer I’ve only heard of one job interview that required the interviewee to produce product as part of the process. It was we’re drilling a well here tell us how to do it. Now that I’ve been a consultant I would charge them for the 10+ hours that my friend put in on their assignment or decline the position. As it was I gave him some of the work my company produced in the area and he cleaned it up to fit their requirements. Luckily all of that stuff can be grabbed from the BLM data base. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729/28 "2017-01-04T17:54:09Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > There’s a difference, I think, between asking someone to perform an exercise, and asking someone to create something usable. My understanding is that the coding samples would be exercises that wouldn’t be of any material benefit to the company. If that’s not what’s meant, I agree with you. In my experience coding exercises with no business value are relatively common. For example I recently was asked to submit code that correctly calculated a total bowling score given a file of 10 frames, which of course consists of more than looping through the numbers and adding them up. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729/29 "2017-01-06T18:37:31Z")
Prior to finding my current position, I interviewed with a company that required as part of the application process… an original poem about the last role you held. This was for an IT job. Systems administrator specifically. It was a fun part of the conversation when I went in for the interview, and while I didn’t get the position, it did verify that I do not have a future as a poet. They used it as a filter for applicants. If someone wasn’t willing to go a bit out of the regular job role, it wasn’t someone that they wanted to hire. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/job-interview-with-unusual-request/775729.md?page=1)