I don't do take home assignments, but when I did, I would offer to do it at my hourly rate, even if it was just an hour. It's time I would otherwise spend making money.

Anyone worth working with respected that and I landed several clients who forwent the assignment altogether. It's chump change in the grand scheme of things, and often a formality.

Does help that I have a very public web presence and portfolio, though.

I have foregone our take home for exceptional candidates, but let me ask you, do you also demand compensation for in person or zoom call 1-1 interviews? Surely thats the same time of your life.

For many reasons, you’re not gonna get into Anthropic with that attitude.

Time is the issue, not money.

I couldn't care less about getting paid for a few hours, what's truly annoying when you're job hunting is the company having an extremely high rejection rate even at the take-home stage. That's an inordinate waste of time multiplied by a lot of companies.

If you have a >50% chance of rejecting, don't even give the candidate a take-home. Be at least 90% sure you want them before you get to that stage.