1) Recruiter Conversation. This was good, friendly and courteous. During this call they outlined the interview process, which included a presentation, a 6-8 hr take home, and a discussion about the results of the take home.
2) A Presentation on past work; this was easy if you have past work to present on and have a command of it. At the end, I was allowed to ask questions. The rest of the interview process was also reinforced (6-8 hr take home and a discussion).
3) The take home is where the issue lies. I was given a take home expected to take ~16 hours. This is double the upper bound I was given. I saw this as disingenuous and became completely disintered in the company.
Didn't complete the take home and up ended the process.
This is unfortunate as the role seemed extremely interesting and aligned well with my interest but I dont care to work for a company that likes to waste their interviewees time.
In the future, be more truthful with applicants. I am not a fan of take homes but was willing to do one given how interested I was in the role but not a 2-day take home (that's just ridiculous). Although, I did spend some time playing with the recommended library out of pure curiosity!