We're a work-sample culture here too, and one of the big concerns we have is asking people to do work-sample tests and then face a subjective interview. Too many companies have cargo-culted work-sample tests as just another hurdle in the standard interview loop, and everyone just knows that the whole game is about winning the interview loop, not about the homework assignments.
A rubric written in advance that would allow a single person to vet a work sample response mostly cures the problem you have right now. The red flag is the vote.
A rubric written in advance that would allow a single person to vet a work sample response mostly cures the problem you have right now. The red flag is the vote.