I'm a recently graduated software developer and I'm currently hunting for a job. Porn account cause I don't want this post held against me.
Shortly after sending in an application to a company, I was sent a link to a website and told to complete the tasks they asked of me to complete my job application. At first, the company asks you to make a simple website in React that uses external REST API (basically, a website that takes its data from somewhere else). This only took me 2-3 days but then they gave me a second task that I've been working on for a week and a few days, putting 30+ hours into it, and they have not indicated what the end point of the project is. All they say is that it should be less than 2 weeks of work. I'm also not allowed to make the project public so I can't use it as a portfolio piece.
Is it just me, or is asking someone to put in 40+ hours of programming just to get a chance at getting a job, a little too much. If they want me to do all this, they should be paying me. I went to an interview for a different company today after they had me come in and do a pen and paper test (1 hour of work) and they really liked me. Why should I waste my time doing this massive endless project when I could be spending my time working on getting more interviews and searching out more opportunities?
If this post reaches 25 upvotes, I'm telling them that their project is too long and that I'm not completing it.
Edit: Just hit 25 upvotes, so I'm sending them the gently worded screw you message.
Edit 2: Left them a kindly worded message and left the slack channel. They're crazy if they think that they're the only fish in the sea or that I want to spend 3 weeks hauling in one fish.