Submitted an incomplete online coding test due to browser error

Question

So here is a maybe interesting but awful story that only just happened.

I'm applying for a well known game company, not EA big, but most of you will know if I say it.

They are interested in my CV and arranged an online coding test hosted on their site. The test is supposedly about two hours, and once submitted you can't edit it anymore. They said if my internet dropped I can reload the page as long as it is not marked as 'finish'.

So the time comes and I'm feeling good. When I'm working about 10% into it, I saw one of the pictures on a question was not fully loaded (part of it is blank), so I tried re-downloading the picture, but it is still the same (it is a blob instead of resource). So the next thing I do is trying to reload the page.

I use Firefox, and on top of the page there is a 'Firefox prevented this page from redirecting' message or something like that, and out of curiosity I clicked 'allow', but it ends up going to the 'finish' endpoint and finished my session. When I retried, it returns error saying that I have 'finished' the test.

I sent them email about it, but since they didn't reply until the time is up, I stopped waiting for their reply and told them basically I will try applying there again at some point in the future.

The thing is, I'm not sure what to expect.

I would totally understand if they are not willing to retry me, because that would be unfair to other candidates since I have seen the test, also I might have lied. But on the other hand, it is technically not my fault... or is it?

I guess now you could picture how I feel about the whole situation. I did the test fully expecting I can not do it, because it is a well known company and so far coding tests have always been difficult for me, but this one I can do just fine but this happens.

I mean, I still have a few interviews for other companies albeit less 'well known', so it's not like it is the end of the world, but still.

How do I, professionally, handle this situation? should I just move on even if they offered me a retry?

edit: Just in case you want to know the end of the story. They ended up not replying to my email. But the good news is I got accepted in another company that I interviewed few weeks earlier, with better salary too.

Answer 1

should I just move on even if they offered me a retry?

Absolutely not! If they offer you a retry, they're clearly OK with it. Why second guess what they might or might not really mean?

Of course - it might be that they don't offer you a retry, for whatever reason. If that's the case you'll just have to chalk it up to experience and move on.

Answer 2

I can see from the comments that it has only been three hours, it is likely that they just haven't seen the email, yet, especially if it is used for all recruitment contact.

How do I, professionally, should handle this situation?

Wait for a day or so longer, then you could try emailing again, or calling if you have the number.

should I just move on even if they offered me a retry?

Don't move on if they offer you another go! It's possible they can see how far you got into the test, especially if it is paged instead of just one long scrollable page. Always take the chance, this could be your dream job, no point not taking the opportunity just because you had bad luck the first time.

I would also take the opportunity to ask if there is a specific web browser they recommend for the test!