As a destitute person who used to be on the A-List for hiring, homework is a deal breaker. I did one assignment out of desperation recently when a hiring manager approached me via twitter DM, and despite the good unofficial coffee meeting I didn't even make it to a phone screen after spending 2 days' free time working on the homework (about 4 hours). I knew I should have declined to begin with, perhaps could have spent more days, but it did take a number of them. They just said my submission wasn't up to par, which I knew would be the case given my time constraints... but the coffee meeting went well enough that it seemed okay and like it'd just be a formality, so I went ahead.
Opportunity cost, wise: the bottom of the barrel for pay is Day Labor, where I can make about $100/day after a 1-2 day wait list... putting the fair market price of the homework assignment at about $250. The hiring manager did Venmo me $100 for food, which was well appreciated... but unfortunately still didn't give me what I needed to do a good job on the homework. Not that it's directly productive work, but considering head fees are in the 5 figures, a little compensation to grease the gears doesn't seem like it'd hurt even in aggregate. Perhaps it'd incentivize the hiring company only giving homework to better screened candidates, as well.
Makes different points than ones in the article, which are the original reasons I opposed homework. But in addition to all that, it also blocks people without good living situations from the job (perhaps desirable for some reasons, calling it out).
Opportunity cost, wise: the bottom of the barrel for pay is Day Labor, where I can make about $100/day after a 1-2 day wait list... putting the fair market price of the homework assignment at about $250. The hiring manager did Venmo me $100 for food, which was well appreciated... but unfortunately still didn't give me what I needed to do a good job on the homework. Not that it's directly productive work, but considering head fees are in the 5 figures, a little compensation to grease the gears doesn't seem like it'd hurt even in aggregate. Perhaps it'd incentivize the hiring company only giving homework to better screened candidates, as well.
Makes different points than ones in the article, which are the original reasons I opposed homework. But in addition to all that, it also blocks people without good living situations from the job (perhaps desirable for some reasons, calling it out).