Why Take-Home Coding Tests Need a Deliberately Wrong Sample Answer

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A software hiring guide argues that take-home coding assignments fail when they ship only a prompt, leaving both candidates and reviewers guessing at unstated expectations. The proposed fix is a four-file packet: a short prompt, a machine-runnable rubric, an intentionally broken sample solution, and a catalog of its known failures. By publishing a wrong baseline, all reviewers and candidates share the same reference point, reducing subjective debate over style or taste. The example prompt deliberately avoids requiring paid APIs, cloud infrastructure, or vendor logins, so the task remains completable on free tools. Scoring is handled by a Python grader that checks concrete invariants rather than adjectives, ensuring consistent evaluation across reviewers.

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