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Take-home assignments: structure and presentation
6 minutes · 8 steps · workout 5 of 6 in this module
What you'll be able to do
By the end of this workout, you'll be able to scope a take-home assignment, state your assumptions, structure the deliverable so the answer comes first, and present it in ten minutes.
A first look: The answer goes first
A take-home is judged by a busy person. Put the answer on page one: what you recommend, in two or three sentences, with the number that supports it. Then the reasoning, then the data, then the assumptions and what you'd need to confirm. This is the reverse of how you worked, and that's the point: the reader wants the conclusion, and only then the path. Keep to the time limit they gave you, and say so. Doing 12 hours on a 3-hour task doesn't impress; it signals you can't scope. If something in the data is unclear, make a reasonable assumption, state it, and move on. Perfect data never arrives in a real job either.
Example: Page one: “Recommendation: focus on repeat purchase, not new traffic. Repeat rate is 9%; a welcome flow that lifts it to 12% adds more revenue than a 20% traffic increase would, and costs almost nothing.”
What this workout covers
- The answer goes first
- Case: Which lever?
- Case: Ten minutes to present
- Handling questions
A question from this workout: Which lever?
The Green Garden spreadsheet shows last quarter's numbers below. The brief asks: “What would you do to grow revenue next quarter, with a limited budget?”
- Sessions
- 12,000 per month
- Conversion rate
- 1.8%
- Average order value
- $55
- Repeat purchase rate
- 9%
- Email list
- 4,800 customers, no automated flows
Which lever do you lead with in your recommendation?
- Buy more traffic; sessions are the top of the funnel
- Set up email flows to the existing 4,800 customers: a welcome series and a replenishment reminder, since repeat rate is low and email is nearly free
- Redesign the whole website
- Raise prices by 10%
Pick your answer first, then open the reasoning below.
Show the answer and the reasoning
Answer: B. Set up email flows to the existing 4,800 customers: a welcome series and a replenishment reminder, since repeat rate is low and email is nearly free
A 4,800-person list with no flows and a 9% repeat rate is money sitting still, and the brief says limited budget. The most common mistake is buying traffic: with a 1.8% conversion rate, most of it leaks out, and it costs the most. The point of a take-home is showing you pick the lever with the best return per dollar, not the most familiar one.
The other steps work the same way: you decide first, then see why each option is right or wrong.
How you practice here
- 2 short concept cards
- 1 multiple-choice question
- 2 campaign cases with real-looking numbers
- 1 put-in-order exercise
- 1 guided calculation
- 1 recall question from an earlier workout
Part of the module: Portfolio, Resume and Interviews
Prove what you have learned to a recruiter: a project portfolio, an ATS-friendly resume, a LinkedIn profile and case interview practice.
More workouts in this module
- Portfolio: turning your projects into case studies
- A marketing resume: write results, not duties
- Setting up your LinkedIn profile for recruiters
- The case interview: "How would you spend this budget?"
- Job offers: salary research and negotiation
Programs that include this workout