I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at END. (London, England) in Aug 2020
Interview
I applied online to End Clothing.
Had a 30 minute chat with the Recruitment Advisor at End. They called back and set me an assignment, which I returned within 48 hours.
The Assignment let the candidate interpret a JSON API for an iOS device. Unusually the challenge seemed bare-bones (grammar and formatting errors, a single document with no designs), but I completed it and as far as I know with all of the requirements (and bonus point requirements).
Unfortunately after submitting the assignment (and receiving an acknowledgement that it had been received and would be reviewed by the Head of Department) I didn't hear anything further. I did follow up multiple times, to no reply.
After several hours of work on the assignment, I had the minimum expectation that an employer would reject an application if the assignment was not suitable. I understand it can be difficult to reject a candidate, but I feel that I did deserve a response to my assignment rather than ignored multiple times.
I am thankful that the application process did not go further, as this is the worst experience I have had as a candidate and it rather does call into question the values of the company (they do have rough time from employees on Glassdoor too).
I can see that End Clothing do periodically advertise for iOS and Android developers. I feel any candidates should decide whether an application is worth their time, as I found this application to be a poor use of time and humiliating in a wider sense.
Employers are often correct in thinking that candidates have little power when rejected from a position, and that the process does not matter as candidates will never be seen again. In this case it should be noted there is a small iOS community and word of mouth matters. I not only assure End Clothing I will never again use their product, but will also inform my professional network about the experience I had with this particular company and advise according to my experience.