It was an internship for a full-stack developer role. I was given two days - today is the final day, and I did not even start with the project as I was too stressed to complete the task, worrying about designing and modelling the database part, and because I have a really vague idea about system design. The skill requirements for the project are NextJS and MERN stack - which makes little sense. It said nothing about state management library, so I was also really confused about that.
Here are the requirement of the task project:
- make use of NextJS
- create a LinkedIn clone, without the feeds
- must have shareable short-link profile
- should be SEO-optimized
- should provide API for creating and editing profile
- should make use of good UI practices
- explain the reasoning behind the system design decisions
- explain the steps required to run this application
- use of ChatGPT was allowed
- share this on GitHub
I think that I was being fooled - that I was being made to work on a project for free, and that this test is very unreasonable and a big red-flag into the startup’s WLB. Just wanted feedback on whether I was being unreasonable?
Edit: Here’s what the listing says:
Are you a passionate Full Stack Development intern looking for an exhilarating opportunity? Look no further! <company-name>, an innovative company, is seeking a talented intern with expertise in Node.js, JavaScript, ReactJS, HTML, CSS, MongoDB, and Next.js. Join our fast-paced team and gain invaluable experience in a dynamic work environment.
Selected intern’s day-to-day responsibilities include:
- Collaborate with the development team to design and implement user-friendly web applications using cutting-edge technologies
- Develop and maintain scalable backend systems using Node.js and MongoDB to ensure efficient data management and retrieval
- Create visually stunning and responsive frontend interfaces utilizing ReactJS, HTML, and CSS to deliver an exceptional user experience
- Conduct thorough testing and debugging to ensure optimum performance and seamless functionality across different platforms
- Assist in optimizing website performance by analyzing and refining code, and implementing best practices
- Contribute to the development of RESTful APIs, integrating with third-party services to enhance application capabilities
- Stay updated with the latest industry trends and emerging technologies, sharing insights and participating in team discussions to drive innovation
If you have a hunger for knowledge, a strong work ethic, and a desire to make a meaningful impact, apply now to become a part of the <company-name> team. Ready to revolutionize the world of web development? We can’t wait to meet you!
An internship is a role where a person learns how to do this. (And someone who knows how to do this knows it’s orders of magnitude more involved than the two days you were given — two months is a more realistic timeframe.)
Here’s a personal experience of mine, so you have more to compare this with:
When interviewing for a developer position (not an internship), I was once given a take-home programming task to complete over 2-3 days: basically a small, self-contained web app that they had made intentionally buggy and poorly-composed in various ways. I was tasked with identifying & fixing the problems, then providing a write-up of why I changed what I changed. (The package was different enough from their specialty that it was pretty obvious I wasn’t doing their work for them. I confirmed after being hired that this same task was given to all applicants.)
Again, that was for hiring a developer. The whole point of an internship is that you’re being taught and trained on the job.
If you’re already able to build what those people asked of you, then you’re overqualified for the role.
An internship is where someone learns something. Perhaps this internship is for more complex things and what they’re asking is for a bare minimum experience of a hard thing already. I’m not saying it is, but OP didn’t tell us much about the listing itself, just the requirements of the interview task.
It’s a fucking ridiculous ask for free work. If a role I was applying for asked for that I’d require a few in person interviews first and an agreed on contracting rate for my time - probably with an advance.
If your “test” takes more than two hours for a reasonable person it’s just an effort to get free work.
Given OP’s additional context of the listing, I have to agree. Not sure the downvotes were called for by my not immediately jumping to conclusions about the intent. This place definitely has similarities to the other place, maybe it’s just human nature to jump on differing opinions.
I’ve updated the post - you can read the entire job listing.