Hello,

I'm in the interview process with a AAA European studio, I was asked to take a 3 days C++ test, how should I prepare for it ??
I'm already a C++ programmer (although I left it for like 6 months, but I'm refreshing it by solving CodeForces' and Quora's challenges)
But I'm worried, It's the first x-days test for me, how should I prepare, what can I do before it ?

Do you know any more about the test?

If it's a 3-day test it's probably either a "develop xyz from scratch" or a "here's a half-working project, fix it and add these features".

Either way, I'd recommend brushing up on the tools that you'll be using. It's surprising how much time you can save by remembering how to use your debugging tools effectively. You don't want to cost yourself time that could be spent making progress in the test trying to remember how to use your tools or recovering from accidentally deleting a bit of code.

Other than that, continue to practice by writing C++ code for challenges, and I would also recommend reading a bunch of programming help forums about C++. It can often be a useful refresher to see the kind of problems other people are having and what solution are provided.

I had a 3 day test recently for a AAA studio and i got the job due to adding extra features that they didnt ask for over sending it back early. Hope that helps.

Do you know any more about the test?

If it's a 3-day test it's probably either a "develop xyz from scratch" or a "here's a half-working project, fix it and add these features".

Either way, I'd recommend brushing up on the tools that you'll be using. It's surprising how much time you can save by remembering how to use your debugging tools effectively. You don't want to cost yourself time that could be spent making progress in the test trying to remember how to use your tools or recovering from accidentally deleting a bit of code.

Other than that, continue to practice by writing C++ code for challenges, and I would also recommend reading a bunch of programming help forums about C++. It can often be a useful refresher to see the kind of problems other people are having and what solution are provided.

Well, I'm using VS mainly along with it's debugger, mostly for every game I've worked on; If I used unity I used to debug the games manually, no other debugging tools.

I had a 3 day test recently for a AAA studio and i got the job due to adding extra features that they didnt ask for over sending it back early. Hope that helps.

Ohh, they skipped the on-site interview or that was the last part of the interview process ?? (I'm still on the second phase)
How about their requirements if you can give an example, If not .. it's okay :D

A 3 day programming test?!

I guess if you were desperate for a job that may be acceptable, but no way would most businesses even attempt such a thing.

Even a mediocre recruiter or project lead should be able to tell if you can code well enough within a half hour, maybe an hour, of your time. Requiring a three day exam means they are inept at interviewing AND they don't respect your time.

I can understand a studio bringing you in for a full day, providing lunch, and asking you to program something over a half day of that. I can understand when companies ask you to write some code that may take an hour or two to develop and test, but I dislike anything over a few hours.

In my own past I've set time limits of 2 hours -- or 4 hours on jobs I like -- stopping their quiz at that point stating that if they want more time they can bring me in for an interview or pay me for the time. This has landed me job interviews in the past. If they want me to write some sorting routines, some functions that show I can work with pointers and memory and such, I get that. I'll give an hour or two to the test. One wanted an A* implementation so I just wrote a link to three web pages with implementations and a statement that I'm not going to spend a few hours re-inventing the wheel just for a simple interview. Cheeky, but I wasn't that desperate for the job.

I've also had companies ask for full day programming tests, and I write an email asking first if it is mandatory, and second how if they don't value my time now BEFORE I am a member of their company, how can I expect them to value my time AFTER I am an employee? This has landed some scathing emails back, but also caused two businesses I know of to rethink their practices, plus landed me interviews (without the quiz) as well.

Now if it was three days of paid time that would be something different. But there are plenty of other companies out there who respect job candidates enough not to force them through a three day programming test. Either you can do the job and show it quickly, or you cannot.

No hiring team should require a three day programming test. No matter the prestige of the company, they aren't worth that. They aren't looking for a professional programmer, they're looking for cheap labor they can abuse.

A 3 day programming test?!

I guess if you were desperate for a job that may be acceptable, but no way would most businesses even attempt such a thing.

I think that they will just send him a test and want his results within three days. That would be exactly the same as my test at my current employer was. I got some code and had make it compile as well as fix logical errors and improve the performance. In total I probably spent about 5-6 hours on it before sending it back. They simply gave me three days to do it in case I had other things to do during that time.
As for preparation, I don't know if you can really prepare if you don't know how the test will look like. You should make sure that all your tools are working and you know how to use them.

Ohh, they skipped the on-site interview or that was the last part of the interview process ?? (I'm still on the second phase)
How about their requirements if you can give an example, If not .. it's okay

That was the first part the next part was an interview but all they did was show me around and asked a couple of questions.

I had to fix a few issues and add several things (nothing really complex). i had plenty of time so i also added a simple ai. It only took about 4 hours to do what they asked but it was written in c not c++ which threw me off

A 3 day programming test?!

I guess if you were desperate for a job that may be acceptable, but no way would most businesses even attempt such a thing.

Even a mediocre recruiter or project lead should be able to tell if you can code well enough within a half hour, maybe an hour, of your time. Requiring a three day exam means they are inept at interviewing AND they don't respect your time.

I wish it's like what @Jan2Go just said, I heard they have a 10-days test that someone did in like 10 hours or so, but your opinion was unexpected reply .. really

That was the first part the next part was an interview but all they did was show me around and asked a couple of questions.

I had to fix a few issues and add several things (nothing really complex). i had plenty of time so i also added a simple ai. It only took about 4 hours to do what they asked but it was written in c not c++ which threw me off

I wish it's like this, en sha2 Allah, I'll update you with what happened in that test :D

A 3 day programming test?!

I guess if you were desperate for a job that may be acceptable, but no way would most businesses even attempt such a thing.

Even a mediocre recruiter or project lead should be able to tell if you can code well enough within a half hour, maybe an hour, of your time. Requiring a three day exam means they are inept at interviewing AND they don't respect your time.

I wish it's like what @Jan2Go just said, I heard they have a 10-days test that someone did in like 10 hours or so, but your opinion was unexpected reply .. really

Depending on how far you've come with the interview process, frob's opinion might not be that "unexpected". While I was applying for my current job I had another application sent out to another company. This other company told me during the phone interview, that the next step of there interview process would be a two-day onsite "test". I never found out how this would look like as I accepted the offer for my current job the day after that interview. However I don't think (i.e. I don't hope so, for both them and the applicant) that they would just place a candidate in front of a problem for two days, but instead want to see how that person is able to communicate with and integrate into the group. Which would basically be the same as what was done during the onsite interview for my job, but this one was only about five hours long.

Anyway, I interpreted your opening post in a way that this test will be the first part of the interview process. If that is the case, you probably won't be working on the test the whole time.