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I have an initial recruiter phone interview with Square Thursday. Is it it just a phone call or is it a video call and they didn’t specify. If it’s a video call what’s the dress code like? I’m coming from consulting so all my interviews were in suits. Any tips to get past the recruiter phone screen?
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I refused one and withdrew when they wanted me to do an assignment as a VP candidate. That speaks more to their inability to know what they want than my ability to do my job.
I may be alone in this but I’m a fan of test assignments, both as a candidate and as a hiring manager.
As long as it’s short and isn’t something that can’t be stolen and reused.
Test assignments allow me to show how I can apply my experience to their needs. It also allows me to show the agency AND myself how much I want this job.
I see these assignments as fun with zero creative restrictions. If I can’t be bothered to do that, then do I really want to work there?
Neither party owes each other anything. I don’t feel entitled to a role just because I have a good book. Feel free to disagree, but on the flip side, there are people I’m glad I didn’t hire when I saw how weak their test assignment was and people who may have seemed quiet and blew me away with what they submitted.
I can see what your saying MD1
Test assignments have many issues that come with them. They likely aren’t ideal. And we can all make better ones.
I just know as a woman from an underrepresented background, tests are what allowed me to finally break into good agencies when I couldn’t rely on recommendations or a fancy ad school on my resume. When recruiters dismissed my small agency experience, I literacy asked for an assignment to prove myself.
Maybe it shouldn’t have come to that.
Wish I knew refusing an assignment was an option 🙃 Applied to a start up last year and 1 recruiter interview, 2 team member meetings, 2 projects, and an interview with the CEO later, I was rejected. Do y’all think there’s ever a situation where an interview assignment is appropriate?
The only appropriate circumstances I can think of would be something like a technical assignment (“show you can use this software tool”), lasting 20 minutes or less and done during the interview and not on the candidate’s own time.
For any assignment with the vague rationale “we want to see how you think!” I would instead suggest the hiring manager provide a situation/context ahead of time and just plan to spend 5-10 minutes of the interview discussing how you would approach that situation.