Take-Home Test Time-Boxer
Recommended hours per role and level, plus red-flag threshold.
Interview & prep
How much time should this take-home take?
Recommended hours + red-flag threshold based on role and seniority. Anything over the threshold is a signal to negotiate.
Time box
-Recommended
-Max reasonable
-Red-flag over
Take-home tests - when to push back
Nigerian employers increasingly use take-home assessments. They're useful for both sides when reasonable - but a 20-hour take-home for a NGN 700k role is disrespectful of your time. Rule of thumb: if the test would take more than 8 hours for a mid-level role, negotiate down or ask for a paid trial instead.
Watch for tests that ask you to build something they will use in production - free consulting. Ask specifically: "Will you use any part of what I submit?"