Some take-home assessments are AI-assisted — you solve the problem using a coding assistant we provide instead of entirely on your own. Your recruiter will tell you if this applies to you. If it does, see the AI-Assisted Coding guide for setup and what’s different; everything on this page still applies to you too.
What to Expect
- Deadline: you have 5 days from your invitation to submit your work
- Timed assessments: some assessments are timed. You still have 5 days to start, but once you start the timer you have a set time to finish, for example 90 minutes. Your assignment page tells you if yours is timed — see Timed Assessments
- Format: a written problem statement you solve at your own pace, then upload as a ZIP file
- Environment: your own editor and machine
Your Assignment Page
Your invitation link opens your assignment page. The due date and days left are at the top right, or your timer if your assessment is timed.
Your assignment page
- Read the brief — the problem statement. If your assessment is AI-assisted, only the overview shows until you set up your AI workspace. If it’s timed, the brief opens when you start your timer.
- Set up workspace — setup steps for the AI coding assistant, when your assessment uses one.
- Hand it in — tick This is my own work…, then click Upload my work.
- Follow-up call — if your assessment has one, it opens after you upload.
What’s Being Evaluated
Every candidate gets their own version of the problem, but the difficulty and what’s expected of you stay the same for everyone applying to that job.
Timed Assessments
If your assessment is timed, your assignment page says so. The top right shows your timer, for example 60-minute timer, with the date to start by, and Read the brief says This is a timed assessment, with the steps below.
A timed assessment before you start
Starting Your Timer
- Start when you have the time in one sitting. You can start any time before the date shown, and you still get your full time even if you start close to it. Once started, the timer keeps running if you close the page or step away.
- Your brief opens the moment your timer starts. Until then you can’t read it, and you can’t upload anything.
- Without an AI assistant, click Start the 60-minute timer under Read the brief.
- With an AI assistant, run the setup first. Nothing is timed while it installs, and when it’s done it asks you to type
start. See If Your Assessment Is Timed. - You start once. Clicking start again, or running setup again, never restarts your timer.
While Your Timer Runs
The top right shows Time left, counting down, and turns amber in the last 10 minutes. Your brief also says how many minutes you have.
Your time left, at the top right of your assignment page
The last 10 minutes: your time left turns amber
When Time Is Up
- The AI assistant stops, if your assessment gives you one.
- You have 5 more minutes to upload your work. The top right shows Time is up and how long you have left to submit, and Hand it in tells you the time uploads close.
Time is up: 5 minutes left to upload
If the Submission Window Closes
After those 5 minutes, the top right shows Submission closed and Hand it in says The submission window has closed. If you couldn’t submit in time, contact your recruiter — they can reopen it for you to upload. Reopening lets you upload only: the AI assistant stays off, and your timer doesn’t restart. Your page picks up the change when you come back to it.
The submission window has closed
How to Prepare
Before You Start
- Read the whole problem statement first. Note anything it asks you to submit — specific files, a README, run instructions, and so on.
- Check your deadline on the assignment page, not your email. If your recruiter resends your invitation, your deadline resets to a fresh 5-day window from the resend.
- Plan your packaging. Your final ZIP has a 50MB total limit, a 5MB per-file limit, and can hold up to 500 files. Don’t put an archive, such as another ZIP, inside your ZIP. If something is over a limit, the upload simply won’t go through — you’ll get an error naming the problem (for a large file, which file), so you can fix it and re-upload.
- Any normal ZIP tool works. A ZIP made with the macOS Compress option or Windows Send to is fine, including the hidden files these tools add.
Packaging Your ZIP File
Technical/coding assessment: remove dependency and build folders before zipping —node_modules, dist, build, venv, .git, and similar. Include only your source, config, and any requested README.
Supported File Formats
Most common file types are fine to include:- Source code, text files, PDFs, Word/Excel documents, and images are all read directly as part of your submission. If you send an Excel workbook, every visible sheet is read. Hidden sheets are not, so unhide any sheet that matters. Very long individual files may only be partially read, so keep source files reasonably sized rather than dumping everything into one giant file.
- PowerPoint slides (
.ppt/.pptx) aren’t read directly today — convert them to PDF before zipping if your assessment involves slides. - Audio and video are fine to include (for example, a recorded pitch or a walkthrough), but they’re stored and viewable rather than analyzed for content. Don’t rely on one to convey something you need to be scored on — put the substance in writing too.
Submitting Your Work
Tick the confirmation box and click Upload my work. Drop your ZIP into the box (or click to browse), and wait for the upload to finish before closing the page. Include only the files you want reviewed.
Uploading your ZIP
Some assessments include a short follow-up call with an AI interviewer, about 30 minutes, to walk through what you built. Your assignment page says so before you upload. If the call opens right after your upload, only submit when you’re free to talk. You can skip it if you’re not able to join. See Take-Home Follow-Up Call for what to expect.