Fortunately, I still have the e-mail that they originally sent me. They list the requirements as:
In order to take the assessments from your home, you will need:
* a webcam (either internal or external is fine)
* a microphone
* a computer that meets the technical requirements and equipment test (most Macs and PCs meet these requirements – Linux and Unix are not compatible)
* a basic calculator (please do not plan to use your phone, computer, or graphing calculator)
* a government-issued photo ID
However, later in the e-mail:
> If you do not have a webcam, your computer doesn’t meet the technical requirements, or for any reason you'd prefer to take the exam at a proctored location near you, please let me know. I’ll need you to provide your full legal name and current address, and I’ll be able to make alternate arrangements.
I think the company they do this through has testing locations around the USA to accommodate.
Sure, but that requires me to actually go out and buy a calculator. For a single use. It's so incredibly wasteful and forces me to go completely out of my way to complete the process.
Then buy one from goodwill or borrow one? Most people over 50 still have them. You have to buy/do a lot more annoying shit during a job search. I have clothes that are solely for job interviews and I have to replace them if I want to start interviewing again since I gained weight. Complaining about spending a dollar on a calculator is like complaining you have to buy paper to print your resume on.
You'll have job interview clothes and printed resumes as part of every job hunt. That's just a part of the job hunt itself; there's expectations that you'd need those if you're looking for a job.
A basic calculator, without the ability to use an alternative, is not, and forcing someone to go out of their way just to get through your setup, meanwhile being treated like a cheating high schooler, is not going to make them want to work for your company.
I'm a grown ass man, I don't need to be treated like I'm going to cheat at an interview, especially when said cheating can easily be exposed in any sort of discussion or the first day on the job. Requiring a calculator is fine, but disallowing people from using basic tools they have available to complete the same task because of the potential of cheating (how can you even cheat on a coding challenge with a graphing calculator, anyway) is ludicrous. A 1 minute discussion about the code I just wrote can tell you just as much about whether I cheated or not as the arbitrary rules imposed here.
> If you do not have a webcam, your computer doesn’t meet the technical requirements, or for any reason you'd prefer to take the exam at a proctored location near you, please let me know. I’ll need you to provide your full legal name and current address, and I’ll be able to make alternate arrangements.
I think the company they do this through has testing locations around the USA to accommodate.