Hello everyone,
I’m pretty new to programming (7 months of expirience, mostly with React framework) and I have applied to a job, I sent the portfolio page with my react projects, in response I got the task I needed to do, a fullstack web application, with the node.js(preferably in the NEST framework) set for the backend and the react for the frontend. I also received instructions for making the project in the email. Since backend programming is new to me, it took me about a month to create a project following the instructions, after that I was given the task to create a backend using typescript (preferably in the NEST framework) after I made second application I got a couple of tasks to practice javascript programming logic, few thing in my application to “fix” and scheduled interview with company next week.
This process has been going on for two months now so I wonder if this is too much effort to get a job or is this a standard procedure? Should I look for another company to apply for a job? Thanks for the answers in advance, and sorry for bad english.
HI @Ranko50 !
Most companies in my experience and observation will only ask you to do one take home challenge. Not multiple. Also, it sounds like they are assigning you more tasks to complete before you even get an interview. Plus 2 months of working on take home projects is way to long in my opinion.
IMO, it sounds like they are taking advantage of the fact that you are a new to software developer and really want a job.
For me personally, I would move onto another company.
Most companies that use “take home projects” usually give one, with an expected deadline of roughly 1 week. Anything more then that is usually a red flag for both the company and the interviewee. As not only does it require effort on the part of the person applying, but also requires effort on the company to review your materials.
If the project take longer than expected, it might be a sign you might not be fit for the job at hand, as the primary goal of a take home project is to help assess if you are capable of the job in a practical setting. If for example the project was to take a few hours, and you spend a month+ learning and building up to do the project, you might not be ready.
However if the project actually requires a month of work, or even a week of work, I’d consider the task to be too big and a waste of your time, and even the companies time.
Its possible the company may ask for extra evaluation through different “steps” or “rounds”, but usually there is only 1 take home as this is the longest part of the
interview process.
That said, if your are looking for a job, and accomplished these tasks well enough, and are fine with the current “vibes” your getting from this company, it still is on the table. If you actually go with it is up to you, just know the current process on the side of “this seems like a lot”.
Major red flags, a take home project shouldn’t take longer than 4-8 hours.
Thanks for reply, i will search another company 
In the mail they said that time of making the project is not important and since this project was my first project with backend and node it took me more tame to make it because i was learning node and then nest(typescript framework) form the scratch…
Another red flag.
Your time is important.
I have a good friend who started off as a frontend developer at a company and they wanted her to started doing more backend stuff so they provided an educational stipend and paired her with a senior to start working on some small backend tasks.
Over time she grew into that role and started contributing a whole lot to the company for both frontend and backend features.
With this company, you are doing all of this work and you might not even get the job at the end of the day. Go find a company that will pay you to learn on the job instead of doing free work on the side until they decide to maybe interview you. 
For this application i should made backend(nodeJs/ nestJs) part app that uses postgres db and has minimum three relations and frontend that uses foreign api, so i think that it takes more time to make it.
Not unless you’re being paid. I get the temptation, when given time, to work and work at a take-home project. And it will be very valuable for you personally to be forced to learn new things under pressure.
But an expectation to work on something for longer than a few hours with no pay isn’t reasonable in any way. Unless you were specifically told otherwise, when they said “time isn’t important”, it’s very likely they meant “just do this when you have a spare few hours”, not “spend a month doing this”.
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