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I've been looking for work for 3 months now, while I do have some weakness I do have a set of technologies that is rare. I tried to give many exercises test but this one is different.
The potential company wants me to spend the whole day with them and from the interview, it seems they are going to keep me a whole day to work on a project.
My question is: How do I know to set a boundary of what I can do for free and in a 7 hours long day?
You need to make sure they are not trying to get you to do work for free. Ask them what the format of the tests will be, and ask them what sort of compensation you will receive for giving them a day of your time. If you find that the format is unreasonable, tell them that and do not be afraid to walk away.
Ask yourself whether this is something that you really want to do or not (the job, not the interview tests).
Can you see yourself working there and being able to do the work? Can you relate to the people you've spoken to so far? Is the working culture a match to your expectations?
If you honestly believe that you can see yourself working there and working happily, then view this as being a "trial day" with them rather than an interview exercise. This would be a good way of seeing whether you're a good fit for the company, and the team - don't look at this as them getting free work out of you, treat this as you seeing if they're good enough to work with.
If you don't feel happy about working there or question the fact that you might be a good fit, then walk away.
This sounds normal, at least for the duration.
It's not uncommon to have an 8 hour day of interviews, and I quite like this idea. It gives everyone in the team the opportunity to meet and work with the new hire. I've even had people work with business in discussing technical requirements - just to see how potential colleagues communicate/get along.
This also gives you the chance to suss out what the work environment is like, what your colleagues are like, what the work is like and other things you will care about.
Often people get worried about being "taken advantage of". But... there's not much you can really "take advantage of" in one 8 hour day. The effort the company will have to go to monitor you, check in, trust your work - what about bugs, what about malicious code? It's just too crazy to try for anything but the simplest challenge. And if that's the case, you might as well get a cheap freelancer to do it over a day.
And yes, it is legal to interview someone for a whole day.
Unfortunately, I am finding small companies are starting to pose "interview tests" as a cheap (free) way to get some long time bug tickets completed. I even had this one place wanting a proof-of-concept application of something they want to do but nobody had the time to test/build so they gave it to me with a one week deadline. It isn't very common but common enough in smaller shops.
Like what @user1666620 mentioned below, I would ask about what the format of the test is and if you get compensated for it. If the test isn't some sort of common test like building a simple page or program to show your skills, I would just walk out, especially if you are unpaid and they want to keep you for an extended time.
Also as @BillLeeper mentioned, don't ask like they are doing bad. Just ask generalized information acting as if you are preparing but really trying to gauge what is going on. Ultimately you may have to show up and gauge on what is going to happen before walking out.
In 30+ years as a degreed professional programmer, I have never been in an interview that lasted more than 2 or 3 hours, and I have never given an interview that lasted more than 2. In that time period, I have never asked an interviewee, or been asked as an interviewee, to write anything that could be mistaken for production code.
If you are desperate, sure, do what you have to do. But to me it either sounds like abuse or clueless interviewers. I would be inclined to ask my recruiter (you DO have a recruiter working on your behalf, right??) to find better opportunities.
This sounds very much like a pairing exercise. In organizations where they pair 100% of the time it is very important that the candidate be able to handle this. It is not for everyone.
They should have told you this in advance, but this sounds very much to be the way these types of interviews are setup.
Additionally you will get to see what it is really like to work at this place. Typically they have very rigid structure, so you have to be up for that. For example, you cannot just take a break, your partner has to take his/hers at the same time since you are both working on the same thing.
So as others pointed out about asking for compensation, deleting code, etc. Not going to happen, this just is not how these places operate. Many are very opinionated about how pairing is the ONLY way to code, so be prepared for that.
I would not ask any of those questions either. Again, they are very opinionated and going against the grain on their 'process' is going to get you passed over.
Every interview is a two way street. See if this is some place you can handle.
Coding as part of an interview should not involve fixing bugs/tickets in their current code. This doesn't demonstrate your coding skills as much as it uses your time to get around to things they are avoiding. Remember that if you do fix bugs as part of your interview - don't commit and leave the changes in the code when you leave. Always remove your work if you feel you are being used.
Actually on the contrary, the practice of asking an interviewee to spend time working on the project, reviewing the code or writing some code to show they are capable, has become more widely accepted in the industry. This is because of a few reasons, first and foremost the number of applicants who over-sell themselves and are not able to handle the technicality side of the job. Other reasons are to measure your coding skill, the way you write your code and your attention to detail.
While these are important and can help you get the job if you don't want to be taken advantage of, there are some things you can do.
I have always spent a few hours working after interviews both in my developer jobs and when I was taken on to be a chef for the day. While you may not wish to have an interview for the full day it often increases your chances of getting the job. You have to assess it on a case-by-case basis. Some may seem sketchy and sometimes you can tell.
However I have had one interview where they did use me for the day, but they made the mistake of discussing someone else they were going to hire and that they wanted to "let [me] finish the work before telling me so that they don't need someone else to take it over and finish it off" in a room nearby while I was coding still. At that point you can bet I was annoyed. But being a professional I finished the last few bits - cutting corners and what not before demoing the changes to them. When the demo was complete they said thanks and that I can leave. At this point I turned around and said "sure, let me just delete MY code and I'll be on my way, wouldn't want you guys thinking this interview was free labour".
Best of luck to you.
What are they having you do? If it's totally unrelated (such as write me a Minesweeper clone) as a test of skill and style, that's acceptable as a practice. If it's code they intend to ship, then you should be paid.
Note that it isn't uncommon for big tech companies to bring you in for 4-5 one-hour interviews plus a lunch. So a full day interview isn't too much of a stretch.
I somewhat doubt you are being taken advantage of. Having a software developer for a day would probably take more time out of their workers than you are worth.
If you want to be careful, develop the program on a USB drive, show it to them and take the drive with you explaining that you like to keep all of your personal coding projects for future reference. If you are there to be interviewed it won't be a problem, if not tell you can tell them you would be more than happy to sell them the work.
