“Just imagine how much effort it takes to sell a vehicle from an unknown person to a customer?” How do recruiters feel about test tasks, who are they willing to pay for them, and under what conditions?
Test tasks: to pay or not? This question among IT professionals and recruiters is almost Hamlet-like. Only recently, at the end of April, under the post of Business Operations Manager Yulia Rubanskaya, IT specialists were lively discussing whether it is necessary to pay extra for the completion of a test task if the recruiter offered the candidate some additional work, because she rated the test a «three», and there was still time before the announced deadline. In response, the candidate denied that this would be full-fledged work that should be paid.
dev.ua decided to ask recruiters their opinion on the above situation, and also asked in which cases they see the point of compensating the cost of working time for candidates.
Test tasks: to pay or not? This question among IT professionals and recruiters is almost Hamlet-like. Only recently, at the end of April, under the post of Business Operations Manager Yulia Rubanskaya, IT specialists were lively discussing whether it is necessary to pay extra for the completion of a test task if the recruiter offered the candidate some additional work, because she rated the test a «three», and there was still time before the announced deadline. In response, the candidate denied that this would be full-fledged work that should be paid.
dev.ua decided to ask recruiters their opinion on the above situation, and also asked in which cases they see the point of compensating the cost of working time for candidates.
What do recruiters think about the test completion?
The topic of paying for a test task in Ukrainian IT has existed for as long as Ukrainian IT itself, noted Natalia Klymenko, Co-Founder of the IT company Codica. And for many recruitment specialists, this topic is not new, but views on it and arguments may differ.
In particular, Anastasia Kapkanets, IT Recruiter\HR manager at Netwave LLC, after analyzing Yuriy Rubanskaya’s post, sees that the behavior described is normal practice for a transparent selection process, because the recruiter explained to the candidate:
processing for this vacancy,
time frame,
emphasized that the test cannot be used for commercial purposes.
According to Anastasia, the recruiter’s feedback is not a requirement to «rework», but an opportunity for the candidate to prove themselves better. Further, according to her, it is the candidate’s choice to accept this opportunity or not.
«The reaction 'it should be paid for' is understandable, but only when the company is really exploiting or demanding too much. In my opinion, this is not the case,» summarizes Anastasia Kapkanets.
And, continuing this thought, Head of HR at Codebridge Technology, Darya Karpyn believes that in a situation where the candidate performed the task poorly and instead of completing it immediately asked for payment, this is rather a signal of low motivation for the role. He suggests that the candidate was not interested if he completed the task only with a «three», as does Dmytro Shapovalov, an IT Recruiter with 8 years of experience. But without knowing the details of the TOR itself and what exactly needed to be done, he does not undertake to draw rational conclusions, because «we do not know what the test actually was like.»
«In my experience, I have not yet seen tests, even for trainee positions, that would actually take only one hour,» says the specialist.
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Could the company use the vehicle free of charge?
As for whether a company can use a ready-made test for commercial purposes, Natalia Klymenko, although she suggests that such cases can really happen, is inclined to think that they are not. She regularly sees in the communities the indignation of candidates about «free work for the company», but in her experience she sees that these are exceptions, not the system. According to the expert’s arguments, in order to «profit» from a test, the company will spend more effort on adapting it to the client than it will benefit from — especially if there is already a working team.
«Just imagine how much effort it takes to sell a test task from an unknown person to a customer?» emphasizes Natalia Klymenko.
In addition, as Dmytro Shapovalov notes, even if the task has no commercial value, this does not mean that there could not be tasks that require significant time. And, according to him, the candidate could simply not put much effort into the task so as not to spend, conditionally, five hours trying to impress the tech lead, without having any guarantees of employment.
«Especially in 2025, when such a task can be performed via ChatGPT,» the specialist adds.
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Can misunderstandings be avoided?
However, of course, test tasks bring some benefit to both the candidate and the potential employer. Yana Khnykina, HR Director Group of Companies (HealthCare, Defence, Charity), is sure that tests save time for one party and give opportunities to the other. «And depending on the vacancy itself and its level, the parties can change places in this configuration,» she adds.
Yana Khnikina herself considers the TK to be a good tool for assessing candidates' hard skills, but warns that if it is used without proper training and knowledge, the damage can be global.
«Therefore, when forming the candidate selection process using TK, I rely on the win-win principle: «What the company gets — What the candidate gets,» the specialist emphasizes.
In addition, Yana Khnykina emphasizes that to harmonize the hiring process, all rules must be agreed upon with all parties involved and described «on the shore.» Here are a few rules that she cited from her own experience, where there were cases of varying degrees of success, and TK was part of the selection process and had both a paid and a free approach:
If the company offers to perform the task for free and the candidate agrees: the results should not be used in the company’s activities in any way, and the candidate should receive feedback on it with a list of strengths and weaknesses and justification for the final decision. Clear scope and deadlines are signs that your time is respected.
If the TOR is part of a real work task that the company will use in the future, or the tasks described in the TOR and their scope exceed the candidate’s comfortable timeline for completion, then rates must be agreed upon, as well as the conditions and deadlines by which the TOR will be considered successfully completed and paid for.
«It is important for the company to be honest: if you plan to pay, say so immediately. If not, clearly explain the scope, purpose, and how you will evaluate,» says Alina Mykhaylovskaya, Human Resources Business Partner at the IT company Southwave .
The importance of mandatory preliminary agreements on the terms of payment for test tasks is also emphasized by Natalia Klymenko. And she adds that if you immediately inform at the screening stage that the test task is not paid, it helps save time for both parties. «Candidates with a different vision simply do not go further, and the company checks the real motivation of those who remain,» she adds.
And although Codica does not pay for the test, in Natalia’s experience, it is impossible to do without a test in the hiring process. She argues that their test task is structured in such a way that candidates do not have to do anything very complicated.
«We need to understand the candidate’s train of thought, his logic, his decisions. Even if there are mistakes, we will sort it out later during the interview. But there are a lot of candidates, especially for junior positions, so you need to check everything carefully,» the specialist notes.
To pay or not. Product Manager told about a case where a candidate passed the test with 3 out of 5 and he wants money for the revision. And what do the IT community think?
In what cases should a test be paid? Recruiters' opinions
Iryna Chesnokova, Senior HR People Partner at IT company MeGaDev OÜ
I worked in an American company where we hired Americans for high-level positions, senior level candidates, or, for example, top management, who really value their time. Back then, under certain conditions, we couldn’t hire someone without a test assignment, but they were paid.
In general, I believe that if a candidate does a short test task just to understand the direction in which he thinks, which takes an hour or two of his time, in that case he can be unpaid. But, if it is a voluminous task for several days of work, then of course I understand candidates who want to receive at least some compensation for this completed task.
Dmytro Shapovalov, IT Recruiter with 8 years of experience
In my opinion, if a company wants an honest and high-quality performance of a test task, it should pay for it. After all, not only the candidate must prove his or her worth, the company must also demonstrate respect and transparency in the selection process. If it is not possible to pay for test takers, there are modern alternatives, for example, live coding, which, in my opinion, gives very good results in selection.
Daria Karpin, Head of HR at Codebridge Technology
Regarding testing: paying for a test task is appropriate only in cases where it involves a significant amount of work that is close to real business tasks, or if the company plans to use the result.
Natalia Klymenko, Co-Founder at IT company Codica
If it takes more than 3 hours.
If it is a functionally complex task, for example: implementing an MVP part of a real product.
If it requires in-depth research or analytics.
If the test is provided at the client’s request as part of an outsourced/outstaffed project.
If you expect multiple iterations of revisions or feedback In such cases, compensation should be discussed before work begins.
Compromise is always a good solution. If the task is difficult and the candidate is really interesting, it is worth openly negotiating the terms.
Alina Mykhaylovska, Human Resources Business Partner at IT company Southwave
I believe that not all test cases should be paid — but clear criteria are very important. If the task takes no more than 2–3 hours, does not require the creation of a finished product or case that the company can potentially use in its work — then such a test case may not be subject to payment. In this case, it is more of a tool for testing the approach, rather than a job.
But I am sure that testing should be paid if:
test volume, requires in-depth examination,
we are talking about analytics, concept, design or code that can potentially be implemented in a product,
or the candidate spends several days on it.
This is an investment of time, effort, and, in fact, part of professional work.
It is also worth considering metrics: if you send a test to 10 candidates at once, and they all spend several days, it is a very long and expensive process, and not always effective. Therefore, according to her, it is in the interests of the company itself to have a clear IEP (ideal employee profile), a well-tuned selection process, and at the final stage to choose from 2–3 candidates who can be fairly offered payment for their contribution.
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