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Interview Question: "How Would You Describe Your Work Style?"

What the Interviewer Really Wants To Know

How to answer interview questions about your work style, examples of the best answers, tips for giving the best response, what not to say, possible follow-up questions, frequently asked questions (faqs).

The Balance

In addition to learning about the skills you have that qualify you for a job, interviewers also want to know about how you work to determine if you're a fit for the role and the organization. Asking candidates to describe their work style is a way to decipher whether they are a good match.

While this  open-ended question  might seem vague, it allows you to show yourself in a positive light. In your response, you can strategically highlight how your work style is a good fit for the company at hand. 

Get tips on how to answer interview questions about your work style, what (and what not) to say when you respond, and review examples of the best responses.

Key Takeaways

• Interviewers ask about work style to help determine if a candidate is a good match for the company culture and work environment.
• Take the time to research the company. The more you know about the company's work environment and style, the more you'll be able to tailor your response to show that you'd easily fit in.
• Share examples of your work style when you respond. Examples are always more meaningful than a long string of descriptors (like "hard worker") that hiring managers hear all the time in interviews.

This question helps interviewers decide whether you will fit in well with the  company culture  and the requirements of the job. For instance, if you require complete silence and focus to work, but the office has a bustling, collaborative atmosphere (and an open floor plan), you might not be a strong fit.

When answering this question, it is important to keep the particular job in mind. Avoid clichés (like “hard worker” and “good communication skills”) and focus on specific elements of your work style that fit with the position and company. 

Watch Now: 4 Tips for Answering Questions About Work Style

This question is far easier to answer if you  do some research  before the job interview. Analyze the job listing to  match your qualifications with their requirements , and prepare answers that show how your work style makes you the best candidate for the job.

Then, go a little further. Review the company’s website, media kit (almost always available on their site), and social media presence to learn which qualities are most valued at the organization.

Most employers have a good idea of the kind of person who’ll succeed on their team, whether it's someone willing to do "whatever it takes" or a worker who'll build "lasting relationships."

It’s also important to be honest, while still highlighting the positive. Don’t claim to be a perfectionist if you’re a big-picture person; instead, emphasize your vision and commitment to quality.

Example Answer #1

My work style is extremely flexible—working on so many different projects requires me to be adaptive. In general, I try to work on one project at a time, working as quickly and efficiently as possible to achieve the best results. All of my projects require collaboration, so I use the team environment to check for errors. I am a perfectionist and a driven worker, and I think my clear communication skills allow me to bring out the best in any team, on any project.

Why It Works: This answer establishes the candidate's preferred work style (one project at a time) while also highlighting other key workplace skills, such as flexibility and collaboration. Unless the job description specifically calls for multitasking, this response ticks off a lot of positive in-demand qualities for candidates.

Example Answer #2

I am extremely dependable. I have rarely missed a day's work, and am known for coming in early and staying late to finish important tasks and achieve results. This dependability extends to my collaborative work as well. I always meet deadlines and help my teammates to meet theirs as well. For example, on my last project, a teammate was struggling to complete his assignment for the team, and I stayed late every day that week to help him not only complete his assignment, but exceed our initial estimated turnaround time for the project.

Why It Works: This answer gets its power from the examples provided. Hiring managers value employees who show a willingness to go the extra mile and support co-workers.

Example Answer #3

I always keep on top of my projects. Owing to my organizational skills and efficiency, I can successfully juggle multiple projects at once. While I complete most of my work independently, I greatly value input and will consult with team members to ensure we're all on the same track. I also appreciate checking in regularly with my boss to update her on my progress and ask about any issues that have arisen. This open communication helps me complete tasks efficiently and accurately.

Why It Works: This answer highlights the candidate's strengths and shows a flexible nature.

Think through your work style:  Do you work fast? Enjoy collaboration? Try to do your hardest project in the early morning? Have a preferred way of engaging with your manager? These are all things you can discuss in your answer.

Be brief:  You can't mention every aspect of your work style in your response, most likely, so focus on the elements that demonstrate your best qualities and fit with the job at hand.

Give examples:  Consider including a brief example that emphasizes your work style. For example, mention a time when your efficiency and  ability to multitask helped you complete an assignment a week before the deadline.

Be honest:  If you truly can't work when your desk is piled up with documents, be upfront. But do try to be cautious about any overly firm statements about your work environment needs.

If you're still not sure how to frame your response, consider focusing on one of these areas:

• Speed and accuracy: If you work quickly and efficiently, you might mention this in your answer, especially if the job requires meeting tight deadlines. However, it's important to impress the interviewer with your competency and accuracy, rather than just your speed. If you say you work at a fast and steady pace, emphasize the strategies you use to avoid making mistakes.
• Structuring your day: You may want to focus on how you organize your day. Do you prefer to do your most difficult tasks in the morning? Do you prefer to focus on one assignment at a time, or multitask? You might also mention how many hours you typically work. If you are someone who always goes above and beyond, and stays late to complete tasks, say so.
• Working alone or in collaboration: The employer might want to know whether you prefer to work solo or collaboratively. Think carefully about the job before answering this question. Most jobs require at least some collaboration, so even if you prefer to work alone, emphasize that you value others’ input.
• Taking direction: Another important element of your work style is how you like to communicate with your boss. Do you prefer to be guided, or do you like to be given a task and left alone to complete it? Thinking about your ideal relationship with your employer will help both you and the interviewer decide whether you are  a good fit for the job .
• Your communication style: If this job requires constant communication, you might want to emphasize how you communicate with employers, staff, and clients throughout the workday. Do you prefer to communicate by email, phone conversations, or face-to-face meetings? Again, think about what this job requires before you answer. Most jobs will require a combination of communication tactics. 

Give overly specific, rigid responses:  Unless you can very precisely nail down both the company and the interviewer's preferred work style, it's best not to be too definitive. If you say, "I work best alone" and the manager wants a team player, you'll have automatically disqualified yourself.

Use clichés:  During interviews, everyone is a hard worker, detail-oriented, and a team player. It's fine to claim these traits for yourself, but since these words and phrases are uttered so frequently, back them up with examples if you use them.

Be dishonest or fail to answer the questions:  While you do not want to be too specific and make yourself seem rigid, it's also unwise to be so vague in your response that the interviewer doesn't get a sense of you as an employee. We all have preferences when it comes to our workplace. This is your moment to share yours. If you truly dislike morning meetings, or have some other quirk, it may be worth mentioning it in your response.

• Describe the pace at which you work.  Best Answers
• Do you enjoy working in a fast-paced environment? - Best Answers
• Do you take work home with you?  Best Answers
• Tell me about your work ethic. - Best Answers
• What type of work environment do you prefer? - Best Answers

What should I do if my work style doesn't fit with the company's work environment?

You have a couple of options if the position doesn't seem like it's a good fit. You can think it over and consider whether you would be able to adjust your work style to mesh with that of the organization. If it doesn't seem feasible, you may want to withdraw your application for the position and consider other jobs that are a better match.

Should I send a thank-you note after a job interview?

It's always a good idea to send a thank-you note after an interview. The easiest way to show your appreciation for the interviewer's time is to send an email relaying your thanks and reiterating your interest in the job. You can also mention some of your key qualifications for the role.

Job Interview Questions ? Beat the Personality Test !

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You’re Between Assignments at Work. What Do You Do?

It’s a great time to get organized and think big picture.

Being in a lull period at work can be a great opportunity to shift gears, recalibrate, get organized, and even stretch yourself. To make the most of a slow period, keep a running list of ways that you could challenge yourself. The list might include taking up new hobbies, enrolling in a short-duration class, or deliberately placing yourself in an uncomfortable situation, such as a public speaking role, for the purpose of growth. What tasks have you been putting off? A slow period at work is an excellent time to cross them off your list. Don’t waste a good slowdown. It can be a great time to step back from work to think big picture, give back to your community, ramp up your fitness routine, or simply recharge your batteries for the next busy period.

A lull between assignments or a dip in your weekly hours can be a chance to recalibrate . Many senior leaders jump at the chance to re-organize their commitments, ponder longer-term initiatives, or relax. But not everyone sees this opportunity; for some, a lull can be debilitating. If you’re a senior manager who draws energy from always being challenged and keeping busy, a lull can make you feel stuck. Here are four steps to help you experience forward motion again.

• AS Anne Sugar is an executive coach and speaker who works with senior leaders in technology, marketing, and pharmaceutical companies. She is an executive coach for the Harvard Business School Executive Program and has guest lectured at MIT. You can reach her at annesugar.com .

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Popular searches

Land your dream job, how much time should you spend on sample assignments.

Lakshmi Hutchinson

Employers are increasingly using sample work assignments to narrow down their list of candidates during the hiring process. It could be as simple as a test that’s part of the online application, or you could be asked to spend several hours analyzing data after an initial phone screening. 

Some job seekers may find that they’re asked to do a take-home assignment before they have even had an interview. So, is it really worth it to complete unpaid (and sometimes lengthy) sample work during the application process? Read on to see the potential benefits as well as what to be mindful of when considering doing sample assignments.

Potential benefits to job seekers

There are certain benefits to this type of work audition. Just as a stellar writing sample can showcase your talents, acing the the assignment could help you to stand out among the applicants.

Aside from giving you the chance to show off your relevant skills, sample work can also provide a window into the position, offering you an opportunity to see what types of projects you can expect in the role. If you find the assignment tedious or simply not what you had hoped for, then you may want to reconsider whether the job is a good fit . On the other hand, if you have fun doing the assignment, then it's probably a good sign!

What you should be wary of

There may be times when what you’re being asked to provide just doesn’t sit right. It’s useful to remember that you’re essentially working for free. Consider whether the amount of time you’re expected to devote to the sample work corresponds with where you are in the hiring process. If you have yet to speak with a recruiter or phone screener, it’s unlikely that your work is going to be carefully considered when there are many other applicants still in the running.

And if you’re asked to provide unique content, such as graphic design or a sample grant application, you should be aware that the organization could potentially use this work without giving you credit .

Pro Tip: Is the organization often reposting the same position? It may be a sign that the hiring managers aren’t seriously considering filling the role. 

Weighing the pros and cons

Ultimately, you need to consider whether you feel the process is worth the effort, whether it is a reasonable request, and how badly you want the job. Before spending a significant amount of time on a work sample, consider whether the job is really a good fit for you—you don’t want to be bogged down doing free work for organizations that you’re not really interested in. And if you’re at all concerned about where your work products are going to end up, it is completely within your rights to ask what the work will be used for.

If you are keen on the position but opposed to completing any sample work, you could say something like, “Due to time commitments, I’m unable to work on any unpaid projects, but I would be happy to provide you with an alternate example of my work.” While you run the risk of the prospective employer cutting you out of the running, you're offering a good option by which to evaluate you if they’re truly interested.

But if you’ve already interviewed and have a good idea of where you are in the process, a lengthier sample assignment may seem more reasonable (sometimes, an organization will even offer a small hourly reimbursement). You might consider asking how much time you’re expected to spend on the project, and make a decision from there. 

Looking for more guidance on the interview process? Be sure to check out 4 of the Toughest Interview Questions, and How to Respond and other articles on the job search .

Lakshmi Hutchinson is a freelance writer with experience in the nonprofit, education, and HR fields. She is particularly interested in issues of educational and workplace equity, and in empowering women to reach their professional goals. She lives in Glendale, California with her husband, twin girls, and tuxedo cat.

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5 Types of Homework Assignments for a Skills-First Hiring Process

CVs and interviews don’t predict job performance, but work assignments can.

It’s really simple; hiring managers need to place competence in context to assess candidates’ technical and interpersonal skills .

If a structured interview process can help flush out candidates with the right attitude and cultural alignment, homework assignments can highlight people with the perfect skillset for the role.

And for a hiring manager, the hiring confidence when selecting between candidates who list the right skills on their resume and those who nail take-home tasks is like night and day.

Curious if work assignments could be a good fit for your company? In this article, we discuss:

• what a homework assignment is all about
• why companies prioritize work assignments over interviews
• how to reassure candidates that work assignments aren’t ‘free work’
• the easiest way to incorporate take-home tasks into your hiring process
• five tips for designing an effective homework assignment

Let’s dive in!

What is a homework assignment?

A homework assignment or an interview project is a task given to a candidate during the interview process that tests whether they have the right skills for a role. Typically these assignments take about an hour or two to complete and have a specific deadline. But they can be more detailed and take up to 5 hours or longer, depending on the role seniority or complexity.

We recommend sticking to a maximum of two hour-projects to keep it fair and reasonable for candidates. As a hiring manager, your main goal is to get a reliable snapshot of a candidate’s technical fit for the job – not to subject applicants to NASA-level testing.

Alternatively, you could swap homework assignments for paid test projects. While many candidates frown upon the idea of completing longer take-home tasks for free (who doesn’t hate free labor?), paid projects are generally accepted as a reasonable alternative. Learn how we leverage paid projects at Toggl Hire.

If a candidate won’t complete an assignment that takes less than 2 hours of their time, likely, they aren’t really interested in the role. So it also doubles as a reliable method to screen out prospective bad hires .

Why do companies ask candidates to complete homework assignments?

Homework assignments help companies get a better idea of a candidate’s strengths and whether they’d be a good match for the role. It’s a bit like shopping online. Seeing a new pair of sneakers you want in a 2D image is great. But getting a fully immersive AR experience really brings the sneakers to life and builds your confidence you’re making the right choice!

These days, many companies prioritize work assignments over interviews , as the typical interview process is outdated. Interviews and CVs alone don’t help the hiring team explore a candidate’s actual abilities. Why? Well, firstly, candidates sometimes exaggerate their qualifications on CVs. Plus, a potential candidate could be great in an interview scenario but terrible at the actual job.

Another reason interviews are passé is that they can open up the hiring team to potential cognitive bias (hiring someone very similar to you). This might seem kind of nice, but in the end, you’ll have less diversity if everyone you hired was a mini-me, right?

Yet, interviews do have an important role to play in the hiring process. But not right in the beginning, necessarily. Shifting the interview portion further down the hiring process steps helps companies focus on quality candidates rather than the search for quality candidates. They could rather confirm the technical fit through skills assessments and then dig deeper during the second interview.

According to HBR, prioritizing homework assignments over interviews can help recruiters better match true competency with the job requirements:

One of us (Jeff) spent several years hiring writers for our firm. He used a scenario-driven writing assignment, administered after a short introductory call, to assess skills. Many publications use writing or editing tests for job candidates, but Jeff approached the task more analytically than most: After receiving the assignment, he conducted a follow-up conversation to understand not just what was on the page, but the candidate’s choices in crafting it. Not only did this give us a sense of how a candidate would perform, but they got a much better sense of the job itself, as we related elements of the task to actual role expectations. By using the same exercise repeatedly, it also built a database of responses over time, a positive feedback loop to better assess the next candidate. Geoff Tuff, a principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP – Harvard Business Review

The real benefits are that work assignments and skills assessments paint a truer picture and can also:

• help identify the best person for the job
• reveal an applicant’s work ethic
• reduce the risk of selecting candidates that have lapsed technical skills (especially with the rapid evolution of technology)
• are easy to deploy at scale – you can narrow down the number of applicants from 500 to 50 to save the hiring team loads of time
• help organizations draw in non-typical but strong candidates that broaden the team’s diversity, equity & inclusion
• reduce the risk and cost of a bad hire

What do candidates gain from completing homework assignments?

Job seekers may not often feel enthusiastic about interview assignments. And we get it. People are busy juggling so many things in their day to day that adding one more can feel overwhelming. But those who look at the bigger picture see it as an opportunity to shine.

Work assignments are a foolproof way for job seekers to demonstrate their skills and expertise . And if candidates happen to have any gaps in their experience, they can still demonstrate their aptitude through an online assignment.

It’s also an easy way for candidates to show they’re truly interested in the position and the employer and stand out from the crowd of other applicants.

Not only do these task projects give them a peek into their potential day-to-day responsibilities , but it’s also a window into whether the role is a good fit for them in the long run .

If they find the task takes too long or that the topic or sector is dryer than toast – they should put their sights elsewhere. But if it’s all systems go – then they’ve already got a head start on producing what’s needed for the role.

5 Types of take-home interview assignments

Take-home interview assignments are a popular choice for assessing technical and creative candidates. But now companies are seeing the benefits for other roles too.

Three things that hiring managers should consider for all these types of interview assignments:

• Letting candidates know about the test beforehand. That way, they’re not surprised and feel they’re starting off on the wrong foot.
• Automating everything they can in the testing process, so they don’t leave candidates high and dry in between lengthy hiring phases.
• Using the data they gain from these tests and candidate feedback to update their hiring process.

And now, onto the examples of homework assignments.

#1 Basic skills screening

Quick skills screening tests as a pre-qualifying step can help reduce the volume of applications without any manual effort. That means no manual resume screening or individual candidate feedback.

As applicants get instant feedback via skills test results (they either pass the required score threshold and move on or stop there), recruiters and hiring managers benefit in three major ways: 1) they save hours of their time by automating CV screening; 2) they can easily identify qualified applicants who should move to the interview stage; 3) they ensure a great candidate experience with modern skills-based hiring practices.

Good practices:

Keeping the tests short and sweet to respect candidates’ time and effort. We’d recommend 15 or 20-minute assessments at the kickoff. However, it’s important to ensure the tests are hard, so they actually act like a quality filter for your candidate pipeline.

Bad practices:

Focusing too much on theoretical, bookish questions that make the test feel like a school exam can harm your test completion rate and prevent great candidates from submitting their applications. Additionally, making the screening tests too long or too intrusive (e.g., taking snapshots through the computer camera) can create an unnecessary barrier and reduce your chances of sourcing top-quality people.

#2 Pre or post-interview coding challenges

While a job interview can help hiring managers assess interpersonal skills, such as communication , teamwork, or motivation, it’s not the best medium for evaluating hard skills . Online coding tests help the hiring team select technically capable developers that can contribute to the business.

A recruiter would typically source candidates with the right programming languages listed on their profile or resume. And then, it’s the hiring manager’s responsibility to work out if the applicant has what it takes to write good code. Easier said than done!

That’s why a coding assessment as a homework assignment has become the norm in tech hiring, and most developers are willing to take them on.

Remember, though; candidates don’t owe you free work. Your approach to designing a coding test will determine whether people continue in the hiring process or drop off.

First of all, decide what you want to assess and why. If you’re hoping to ascertain a candidate’s troubleshooting and problem-solving skills, time-boxing the assignment wouldn’t work to your advantage. The candidate can always use the ‘lack of time’ as an excuse for lower-quality work.

Another thing to remember is to set the test at the right skill level, depending on whether it’s a junior, intermediate or advanced role.

Testing skills that are nice to have or don’t match the role is a common mistake. Focusing on too many topics requires candidates to switch context from question to question – which is often confusing and tiring in such a short span of time.

Another issue employers run into is using clunky testing software that candidates need to figure out on the fly. If it takes effort to learn the platform or the platform doesn’t have the required features, developers will have to pay the price.

#3 Portfolio reviews and spec work during the job interview process

Ask any creative about their opinion on spec work, and you’ll likely hear that it sucks. And there are good reasons for graphic designers, writers, and other creatives to hate this kind of work – why should they commit to the project without any promise of payment?

If you’re hiring a professional from the creative field, we highly recommend starting with a live portfolio review . That’s when a candidate can take the interviewer through specific portfolio examples and share the backstory and lessons learned from that project. With creative roles, it’s often the unique style and quirks alongside the technical skills that can help determine the best person for the job.

However, sometimes paid spec work is a much fairer and more accurate way of getting insight into a candidate’s skillset. For tasks that require a highly personalized approach or solution, going the freelance gig route can yield better results.

Inform candidates ahead of time that you’d like to review their portfolio during a live interview. This will give them time to prepare and update their work samples. Ask questions that relate to their portfolio, even if the current samples don’t match your brief – you want to understand their creative process and practices. For paid spec work, make time to discuss the brief in person and agree on a check-in schedule to ensure work progresses in the right direction.

Springing this on the candidate without any warning and expecting the work to be delivered on a short deadline is a questionable move. Even if you’re opting for paid spec work, bear in mind these tasks are often completed in a vacuum and should be evaluated through a less critical lens. And finally, the not-so-secret secret: most creatives are terrible at maintaining their portfolios up-to-date. Giving them the heads-up will increase your chances of selecting the right talent.

#4 Time-boxed homework assignments that go in-depth to evaluate candidates’ competence

This type of home assignment can take many forms – from asking a marketing professional to write a press release for a product launch that already happened to requesting a business analyst to extract key insights from a dataset.

To ensure it’s not perceived as free work, time-boxed assessment projects often focus on real-world business problems that have been solved internally. This way, you can benchmark candidates’ work against your internal quality standard and reassure candidates of your intentions. The sole purpose of interview assignments is to confirm candidates’ technical fit in an efficient manner.

Keep the topic or assignment relevant to the role, and limit the necessary time it’ll take to complete to about 2-3 hours. Remember that the clarity of your brief will largely determine the quality of the deliverables, so be specific about your expectations.

Expecting someone to take 5-10 hours out of their busy schedule for an unpaid assignment is unrealistic.

#5 Paid projects during the interview process

Interviewing is exhausting for both the candidate and the interviewer. So it’s unsurprising that paid interview assignments have been gaining in popularity in recent years.

As a hiring manager, would you rather spend hours of your time interviewing candidates to filter out the bad apples or use the job interview as a way to get to know potential hires?

Homework assignments are exactly that – a simple, efficient method for spotting A-level candidates with the right skills for the job.

As you confirm the technical fit before the interview, both parties can focus on aligning on other important factors, such as the organizational fit , team culture, and manager expectations.

However, many employers have realized that the sentiment around homework assignments has shifted from acceptable to immoral, as applicants began calling assignments ‘free work’. Research shows that drop-off rates increased when candidates were asked to complete a take-home assignment.

Enter paid homework projects.

The perfect combo of practical competency assessment and paid work. Since the candidate receives compensation for their time, these types of assignments can be longer and more complex.

Anything from analyzing the growth funnel to tackling a programming challenge to designing an effective product onboarding experience can serve as a homework assignment idea.

What’s important to note is that these kinds of work assignments allow employers to get a glimpse into a candidate’s work ethic , thinking process, time management, and many other skills that are impossible to assess during the interview process.

If you’re paying for their time, treat them like consultants: provide access to important information, answer their questions and connect them with the right people internally. And be sure to outline the recruitment process at the very start; not everyone will happily take on a bigger commitment project, even when it’s paid.

As a hiring manager, stay in touch throughout the recruitment process to lay the foundations for a good working relationship. Provide clear requirements and timelines to reduce stress, and don’t forget about fair compensation – going below the market rate is disrespectful.

A great way to cause unnecessary stress is to ask candidates to present to a large audience or high-level execs they would never work with on a day-to-day basis.

Be sure to provide a clear agenda for the presentation call ahead of time and prep your interview panel for follow-up questions.

The work assignments and interview process windup

Work assignments are a good thing for companies and candidates alike. The result is like the difference between speed dating and a real dinner and a first date. Yes, they’re both exciting, but in the case of hiring, you need to hire someone that can demonstrate they have the right skills. The cost of hiring the wrong candidate is just too high for companies.

To find truly interested candidates, who have the right aptitude, introduce your team to the benefits of work assignments. You’ll save both parties loads of time and the hassle of a dragged-out interview process and other redundant hiring steps.

If you’re ready to explore how to transform your business’ hiring process from a time-consuming to a slick candidate pipeline, we leave you with five simple tips on designing an effective homework assignment.

5 simple tips for designing a great homework assignment:

• Replace resume screening with basic skills screening. Start the sifting process early with a quick skills screening test . This will weed out the bad eggs and leave you with a selection of good potential candidates.
• Make your assignment brief and easy to understand, and explain the key outputs you expect.
• Match the level of the homework assignment to the level of the role. Unrealistic tasks will only scare people off.
• Don’t request candidates to solve super-specific business problems. Make the assignment generalized, not based on a super specific problem your business is experiencing.
• Give the candidate a chance to show and tell. That way, you get insight into their thought process, presentation skills, and even emotional intelligence when their viewpoint is challenged.

Have a peek at our Test Library for more assignment ideas, and good luck!

Juste loves investigating through writing. A copywriter by trade, she spent the last ten years in startups, telling stories and building marketing teams. She works at Toggl Hire and writes about how businesses can recruit really great people.

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How to Answer the Question: Do You Prefer to Work in a Team or Independently?

How to Answer:

Do you prefer to work alone or with others.

During an interview, an interviewer may ask you this question – “Do you prefer to work on a team, or more independently?” There is no one right answer on how you prefer to work, as each job may require different skills and working environments. You can choose one or both; just be sure to explain your answer. 

Try not to choose one answer.

This may seem like a trick answer, but one of the best solutions includes not picking one or the other. This is one of the best ways to answer this because you demonstrate that you are competent at both. Also, most jobs will require you to work alone and with others at some point over your time working there.

It is essential to show the interviewer that you can work and succeed on your own. Demonstrate your ability to thrive on your own and your independence. You want to show that you are hardworking and efficient and that you will be able to get the job done regardless.

On the other hand, you want to show that you work well with others. It is good to be independent, but you also want to show your ability to collaborate and work as a team . This is especially important if the job encompasses working in groups.

Example: Honestly, I enjoy both types of work. I really enjoyed it when I ran my own online t-shirt business because I was able to rely on myself and had complete control over the decisions. However, I loved working on the design team at my last job. It was great to play off each others’ ideas and to come up with something better at the end. 

Tailor your answer to the job environment.

Even though it is important to show that you are capable of both, there may be a better choice for you to lean towards. If you are applying to work on a team, demonstrating that you love working with others will assure the interviewer that you are a good fit.

If you are applying for a position that entails working alone for the majority of the time, show you are okay with that. Show that even though you are capable of and enjoy working on a team, you like to work alone.

Example: Even though I enjoy and have experience with both types of work, I prefer to work with a team. There is just something so special about working together towards a designated goal. Also, when ideas are passed through multiple people, it is more likely that errors will be found and fixed. 

Be honest with how you prefer to work.

You should be honest with yourself before you apply for interviews. If you hate working alone and love being around other people , it is probably not the best idea to apply for a job where you spend most of your time isolated. Whether you prefer to work on a team or prefer to work independently, you have to be honest with yourself and your potential employer about this. It’ll make you a stronger employee and help you find the right job! 

It is okay to have preferences about your ideal work environment. Choose to apply for jobs that you would enjoy and thrive in. 

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Posted on Nov 22, 2018

Should I do that test assignment?

Test assignments aren't really a good thing. In fact, it's quite the opposite. It might be one of the worst things that have happened to the hiring process.

The hiring process, in general, is quite broken in many senses. It's not really clear how to hire an engineer. New ways of testing our skills come and go. It shows us that it's nearly impossible to check interviewee skills in 30-90 minutes time frame.

I'm not going to talk about different puzzlers or tricky questions about the compiler, nor I'm going to cover any stress-interview practices here. Today is all about test assignments.

From a company's point of view

Hiring is a very expensive process and it's not very reliable either. Hours of interviews ain't free at all:

• An hour of one or two engineers conducting an interview
• 20-30 minutes to prepare before, and to compose results after an interview
• Recruiter's time

If you sum it up, you'll end up with a good number. And it's fair to expect the business to cut the costs. There are many ways to make it cheaper: phone screening and tests are very typical in the industry.

And there is one way which outstands the others. An assignment which is given to the candidate. Typically it's a piece of rather boring code to write with a possible trick in it. Sometimes you'd have to do it even before a phone screening phase as an extra filter. And most of the time you take it before an on-site round.

Often it's assumed that you would spend (should I say waste?) a few hours to finish up the assignment. That's an estimate made by the hiring manager or an engineer, and it's based on the assumption that you are familiar with every tech and every aspect of the task.

How long does it take to check your code? Well, it's about 15-20 minutes. Doesn't look fair, right?

That's correct. A company is trying to put the expenses on your name. They don't know how to evaluate your skills and your experience during a short interview, nor they know how to do that by phone, hence the need for you to spend hours in order to convince them simply to talk.

By the way, a person whose job is to evaluate your task is not going to give it too much effort. They have enough on their plate and they don't really like switching their attention. Imagine looking at the same code over an over again. Often they would quickly go through a checklist.

A candidate's point of view

Unless you're aiming for a top tech company like Google, Amazon or Facebook (they don't really give test assignments out, btw), you will not be dying to get a particular job. A vast majority of companies out there are doing similar things: storing the form's input in a DB. Well, sort of, but you know what I mean.

For the candidate test assignments are not very useful. On one hand, often they are similar to each other, on the other hand, they are hard to reuse. Every company is trying to make it a bit special. And you have to start a new project, configure all the parts, pick an ORM or set up a linter, over and over again.

Speaking of... How often do you start a new project at work? Like from the very beginning. You know, a git init and File->New Project . I've done so a couple dozen times doing various test assignments, and handfull times at work. Most of the time you either join an existing project or start one and keep working with it for a long period. So, honestly, it doesn't look like a relevant skill to me.

How much does your time cost?

Think about it. How many man-hours do you have on an overage day? Well, if you're young and single, you might even have all 24 of them. You can't keep it up this way for a long time, but you can make it for a day or two. However, it's a different story when you're older or have a family. You have like what? 12-14 hours a day. The remaining part of the day you do your chores and sleep.

You have to spend from eight to ten hours at work and commuting. That leaves you about four spare hours to use. So a hiring manager is going to take those four priceless hours. They want you to spend all your available resources so that they can save some time on their side.

How many resources does a company have? There are tens of engineers, managers and HR specialists there. If we speak about a small to middle size company. So they have hundreds of man-hours at their disposal. An extra 20-40 minutes to evaluate a candidate doesn't seem to be too crucial.

And that is an obvious asymmetry in the process. You have less time than the company, but you have to spend more resources upfront.

I don't really know what should we do about it. It's up to each individual. If you feel confident if you value your time and you're applying to an overage company you may refuse taking an assignment home. There are many ways to do so, you may ask them to pay for your time. You may offer them to take a look at your portfolio first. Show them your blog, your public projects if you have any. Let them download an app you built and try it first. Whatever works for you.

However, you might not be in a position to refuse. You can simply be running out of money or you might be talking to a dream job and you don't want to ruin it over the pride. I understand that.

Though I recommend you to publish the assignment somewhere. Let it be GitHub if we talk about code. Or Dribble or any other place which is popular among specialist in your field. Just be clear about it upfront: you are going to publish it because you own the result of your work. Unless they want to buy it out.

Hopefully one day you'll be offered with a similar assignment. Just send them a link back. It might work and could probably save you some time.

It can't be that bad, can it?

Well... Let's see. Do you remember that time when you've spend many hours, build a perfect thing, neat and polished? And you were hired right after that with no questions asked whatsoever. Ugh, that was just a dream.

Unfortunately, often a perfect result will simply be a reason to meet you in person. And that's where an actual interview will take its place. They would ask you some questions to make sure that you are the author. Sometimes it feels like an unnecessary step to go through. They could have given you a simple 15-20 minutes test over the phone.

Imagine you found that you don't like the office, the team or anything else about the company. You know, there are things with you only can find out during a face-to-face phase. And in order to get there, you've spent hours working on that test assignment. What a waste...

One more reason in favor of test assignments. They should equalize candidates who have time for a public activity like blogging or OSS contributions and people with family or those who cannot publish any code due to their work contract limitations. Honestly, I don't see how that helps. If you have no time to work on your pet project why would you have time to work on a test assignment?

What do you think about it? Do you often see a take-home assignment given before the actual on-site interview?

This text was originally published in Russian in my blog .

Top comments (17)

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• Location Helsinki
• Education CS MSc in Algorithms and ML + SWE degree
• Work Software Developer at RELEX Solutions
• Joined Oct 30, 2018

I took test assignments when I was looking for a junior position. It felt fare, since I hadn't have much on my CV or GitHub and a test assignment was a way for me to show what I'm worth. And sometimes I could judge the requirements and expectations for the position much better than from the job posting. So, win-win.

• Location India
• Work Principal Software Engineer
• Joined Sep 30, 2017

It varies a lot depending on the company. Many companies give an assignment requiring 5-10 hours of work and then never get back / or give more detailed feedback than "Sorry, not what we are looking for" or they reject anything that does not match a very specific pattern.

Ideally, the hiring company should do a 15-20 min pairing with the applicant to discuss what exactly they are looking for and what could be improved in the applicant's code.

• Work Cloud Engineering Lead
• Joined Feb 22, 2017

Exactly my point!

• Location Austin, TX, United States
• Work President at Deep Consulting Solutions
• Joined Dec 31, 2019

I fully appreciate the arguments outlined in this article, Anton - and in your comment, Raunak.

Here is an idea I would like to get feedback on. To me, it is vital to hire high quality engineers who will be able to fulfill projects and who I can count on - and I do think it is a good idea to test people for their abilities in a live situation where they are actually working in a professional capacity - not only to see the skills but also the work ethic of the candidate (most of my employees are remote so good work ethic is vital).

I have a third party professional code review company that provides me with test assignments and do a professional review of each candidate's test assignment work. I pay them considerably for each candidate review, and they in return they provide me with a 4 page detailed report on their work that I then share with the candidate - and upon which I make a decision on whether to hire the candidate and whether to pay him/her the salary asked.

These assignments are mini-projects essentially, and will require 1-3 days (depending on level) to complete - and I understand that for most candidates a small company asking them to do it might seem difficult.

Here is what I'm thinking. Why not offer them to do a test task, and provided that the task is completed on time (say within a week) and that the product delivered hits all the bullet-point requirements of the test task to a functioning quality, pay on completion a 3 day rate (pro-rated from salary asked figure).

What do you think of the idea?

This is an interesting approach indeed. I'm sorry, but I've never encountered such paid assignments neither as a candidate nor as a hiring manager/engineer.

The only opinion I have is purely assumption-based.

As long as you pay for it anyway (directly to the candidate or indirectly to the third party), it makes no difference for you.

However, consider an extra price of reviewing the assignment (if you're not going to pay, you'll have to justify it in a way that it's super clear). Also, you'll have to deal with extra paperwork both to sign the 'contract' and to transfer money to the individual (in some cases you could avoid that by using Amazon gift cards or something similar). Keep in mind that they might not have a legal entity, and it might make their tax paperwork more complicated.

I'm thinking that if you're ready to go down this path, why not making an extra step and offering people a short-term trial contract to work on the specific part of the project? It depends on the business you run and a type of project/data, of course.

• Email [email protected]
• Location Time Vortex
• Pronouns he/him
• Work Director of Community at OWASP Foundation
• Joined Jan 31, 2017

As someone with plenty of experience on both sides of the table, I can't see this article as anything but misguided.

I indeed use a single (and original) take-home coding challenge instead of whiteboarding during an interview. Let's look at it this way...

If you ever come across an interview process for a coding position where the candidates never need to code as part of the hiring process... run .

A take-home coding challenge has less pressure attached. Would you rather do in 20 minutes, with a bunch of interviewers staring at you, or would you rather do it at your own pace, in your own environment, where you can give it your best?

Would you rather work on yet another version of "fizz buzz" during the interview, or tackle something legitimately interesting and unique that (seriously, according to all my candidates) takes no more than an hour or two?

Actual field experience has proven: take-home coding challenges are one of the best , fairest, and most objective means of evaluating the technical skills of a candidate. Everyone can talk the talk, but you must have a way of evaluating who can actually do the work.

(Yes, we have simple-but-effective ways of making sure the person really wrote the code.)

Side note: one also research jobs, applies for jobs, and interviews for jobs on their own time. It isn't unfair for one to do a coding challenge on one's own time too. If someone really doesn't want to bother, then that's fine - there are plenty of people who care enough about the position enough to use a couple hours of their Minecraft time to complete a coding challenge. (For cryin' out loud, we have over two dozen sites where people complete coding challenges for FUN.)

I see a lot of articles complaining about the hiring process, but honestly, until one has actually interviewed dozens of candidates, made a few mistakes in the process, and seen how one's hiring choices panned out, one doesn't have much basis to make as definitive statements as found in many articles like this.

Actually, if we were to take all the "complaining about the hiring process" articles at face value, we'd be hiring the first Joe Bloggs who applied for the position, and giving gift cards as consolation prizes to everyone else who didn't get the job (seriously, that WAS one article's suggestion).

The hiring system as a whole can certainly be improved, but a lot of the unpleasantness is due to our having to screen for people who talk big, but don't have the skills to match. They show up in every batch of candidates, for every job posted, every time. (Yes, there are people with no coding skills whatsoever who apply for senior development positions.)

Same thing here, I've been an interviewee and an invervieer many times in the past. As much as I like seeing a sample of candidate's code, I disagree that this is a fair thing to do. It's ok to give an assignment on a later step in the process, but it's never a good option to give it as an initial filter.

Well, we may just be coming from different backgrounds, then. I've learned the hard way, it is a critical part of the interview process. Granted, this is after I phone interview them, but I will never hire without it. In fact, no successful hiring manager I've ever known will; the ones that skip it invariably wind up with extensive mishires.

• Joined Jan 27, 2018

I have to call bullshit on this.

1) I worked at places where they did not have a coding challenge, live nor take home. Colleagues were competent and it was a great job.

2) I (and many others) would rather do it in 20 minutes with interviewers staring at me, rather than spend hours of my personal time working on a throw away project for free. This way, even if I fail the interview, I'm only out 20 minutes vs hours. I'd rather go to church service than do that.

3) I like working on interesting things, but I don't like working for free. This argument is the same as saying developers should always be coding, even in their free time, for the passion of it. And that's what take home assignments are. It's a way to offload the expense of hiring onto the candidate. It's no different than unpaid labor.

If you can't weed out majority of unqualified candidates (yes, some will get through, but some will also get through even if you have a take home test) by just having a chat about software development with them, then the problem is with the employer, not the interviewee.

I'll have to counter your points, unfortunately.

1) Every company will wind up with some decent programmers, no matter what hiring processes they have. That doesn't mean that doesn't matter. The perspective of one employee within the scope of his team doesn't correlate with the overall reality in the development field. It doesn't make your experience invalid , but your experience alone does not invalidate the broader scope. Chances are, you seldom encounter the mis-hires. (And yes, there are many developers I've spoken with who wind up working with people in development positions who actually can't code.)

2) And hiring managers would rather not have to waste 20 minutes taking to yet another someone who can't code to save their life. You'd be amazed at just how many hundreds of hours get wasted on that.

3) No one likes working for free, but you're not being asked to. A coding challenge yields no direct profits for the company. This has nothing to do with the errant "developers should always be coding" philosophy.

4) Your statement about how a decent hiring manager should be capable of weeding out candidates by "just having a chat" shows you have clearly never done hiring in any meaningful capacity. Any job looks easy to the one who isn't doing it.

Maybe you still don't agree, but I'm not just talking from personal experience; I've spoken to many hiring managers and software developers about this topic for years, and these have been common threads.

• Joined Mar 8, 2017

I'm torn on this. As a junior, unemployed, I liked take-home assignments. I had the time, and it was an opportunity to show my skills. However, when I was applying while working, I had exactly the problem you described. Three coding challenges in a month, on top of my regular responsibilities and other job hunting tasks, nearly burned me out.

I still prefer coding challenges to timed tests or algorithm problems (especially for a front-end role - it makes me question the company's judgment when their test has so little relation to the work). But it was hard enough for me to make time, and many people have a lot more hurdles than me.

No single solution works for everyone, so I think the only good answer is for a company to offer an option. Those with more experience or a great portfolio shouldn't have to build yet another to-do list app when they already can demonstrate their value in other ways. But that's harder to quantify into metrics, and opens the process up to more unconscious bias. It's hard to do it well!

Totally agree, it's all about balance. However, I still believe that nobody should receive a take-home assignment at the beginning of the process. This is not a fair initial filter, but it might be ok when both sides are ready to invest extra time.

• Location Madrid
• Education Telecommunications Engineer
• Work CTO at WITH Madrid
• Joined Feb 16, 2017

You are making a lot of assumptions here... Really a lot.

At some point the company needs to know what you're worth and you can't just know that by talking to the person for one hour.

To me assignments are useful when the process is well advanced and that you need to lift a doubt.

I don't think I'm assuming too much here. If they need to see some code it's ok. I prefer to see the candidate's code too. However, I think it's not fair to ask a candidate to invest their time before both sides are sure that they are interested in each other.

• Location Accra
• Work Full Stack developer at Next InfoTech
• Joined May 3, 2019

What do you do when given an assignment with a skill you dont have. Note: You made it clear in the initial interview call you have no practical knowledge of the skill and also it was not in your resume but they go ahead to give you an assignment having 50% of the skill you dont have and was given 6-8 hours to finish. Do you do the interview assignment or not?

Hi Eddie. Good question, thanks!

When you're missing skill to complete the assignment and you made it clear for the company then I think what they are looking for is for you to demonstrate that you're capable of learning that skill on your own in a short time.

6-8 hours deadline is very tough in my opinion, but what can you do about it, eh? Those are the rules of the game, you have to follow them I'm afraid.

Would I do that? If I wanted the job I would do my best to complete it. Even if I missed a deadline I'll send it back anyway. I would tell them, that I had to learn a few things first of course. If I were an interviewer I'd respect that attitude.

Btw, if you learned something new while working on the assignment, it's not a bad assignment after all. It's better than simply wasting your time on making yet another standard task, right?

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