As an interviewer, I believe take home tasks are unfair and also poor return on investment.
Take home tasks incentivise candidates to burn as much time as possible on the task. Consequently, they are a test of who is willing to put a week of work even when the instructions say it should not take more than 3 hours to complete.
I prefer pair programming with the candidate on the premise that if I ask you to spend 2 hours of your time it is only fair that I also spend this time with you. And also give you a chance to learn about me, your future boss.
Not to mention I can learn more about you working with you for half an hour than I would ever learn by studying the code you might or might not have written yourself.
Take home tasks incentivise candidates to burn as much time as possible on the task. Consequently, they are a test of who is willing to put a week of work even when the instructions say it should not take more than 3 hours to complete.
I prefer pair programming with the candidate on the premise that if I ask you to spend 2 hours of your time it is only fair that I also spend this time with you. And also give you a chance to learn about me, your future boss.
Not to mention I can learn more about you working with you for half an hour than I would ever learn by studying the code you might or might not have written yourself.