I've hired a handful of people with this process, across two organizations. First time around, I identified and created the take-home exercise in one working day. Half of it was actually setting things up, the second half was solving it myself and tweaking it such that it takes the amount of time I was aiming for. Second time around it took a half day total.
I'm not saying you shouldn't look at a Github profile or any code samples the candidate sends over. However, those metrics aren't good aptitude indicators. I feel the same way about algorithm-style coding tests that a lot of companies follow. Sure, let me find all the anagrams in a set of words only to land a job writing REST APIs...
I don't see how the cost scales per person significantly. You create one take-home exercise per role you're hiring for. You send the same take-home exercise to any candidates that apply for the role. Worst-case scenario, it takes too much time to compile this take-home exercise, in which case you've hopefully spent the time to smooth out your processes which leads to an easier onboarding. Best-case scenario, you've compiled a take-home exercise in a reasonable amount of time, which verifies that onboarding will be smooth for the new hire.
To your point, the take-home is for candidates in the 2nd or 3rd round of interviewing where you've verified their experience, you've verified their character/soft skills, and need to verify their aptitude/hard skills.
I'm not saying you shouldn't look at a Github profile or any code samples the candidate sends over. However, those metrics aren't good aptitude indicators. I feel the same way about algorithm-style coding tests that a lot of companies follow. Sure, let me find all the anagrams in a set of words only to land a job writing REST APIs...
I don't see how the cost scales per person significantly. You create one take-home exercise per role you're hiring for. You send the same take-home exercise to any candidates that apply for the role. Worst-case scenario, it takes too much time to compile this take-home exercise, in which case you've hopefully spent the time to smooth out your processes which leads to an easier onboarding. Best-case scenario, you've compiled a take-home exercise in a reasonable amount of time, which verifies that onboarding will be smooth for the new hire.
To your point, the take-home is for candidates in the 2nd or 3rd round of interviewing where you've verified their experience, you've verified their character/soft skills, and need to verify their aptitude/hard skills.