At what point in your career would you say it's ridiculous for a firm to give you an assignment or case study as part of the hiring process? I feel it's totally normal if you're 5 years out of school, but beyond that, either they're looking for free work, or the role isn't as senior as it's portrayed to be. Thoughts?
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Depends on size of firm / what you bring to the table. To me, it's fair game unless you bring in relationships, deal flow, or ability to raise capital. If you aren't bringing in relationships, can't source deals - why would I pay you $500K without learning about how you think. It gives me a great glimpse into what I'm going to get by hiring you, how you act when confronted with questions, your ability to communicate, and is a great proxy for how you will perform in IC. Now, if I'm a big firm with 20+ VPs and I have worked with you before, then maybe not. But if I'm a $3bn fund, I would do it unless you can show me what value you bring outside of analysis and execution. And, if it's only analysis and execution, then I want to test you - not as much as test, but really get a sense for how you think. You see, there has to be a "fit" in how you approach situations. Two smart people may not always be a "fit", and a case is a good way to figure that out.
Fair enough, but can't you more or less tell by what I've done in the past and the kinds of places I've worked at? Also, can't you get a sense of how somebody would think about a hypothetical deal or situation through a discussion rather than a take home assignment/case study? I think if you want to test for technical skills like Excel, etc, it makes sense to have the person produce a tangible product. But if you're trying to get a sense of how they think about a potential deal, I suppose you can get a good sense by hearing them out.
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