I am expecting an email soon that consists of a technical challenge / puzzle for a company that I applied for

What exactly do you think I should expect the puzzle to be like?

They say it needs to be returned within 48 hours, would it be smart to work quickly and turn it in early, or turn it in closer to the deadline but more finished / thought out

Any pointers would be appreciated

Latter. it's called a deadline for a reason.

Just make sure you aren't over-engineering a solution to a simple problem. Keep it concise, elegant, and to the point. Don't try and doctor it to make yourself look like a bad ass.

Good point. Doing that could scare of the employer or make them think your arrogant.

What will he be doing with his arrogant?

Thanks for the advice guys. I wrote a clean and working solution but I don't have to turn it in until tuesday. Would it be beneficial to also turn in a testing script?

This post was edited by oOn on Feb 3 2014 12:32am

Not if they didn't ask for it.

out of curiosity what was the project?

It really depends on the task. If you feel 100% comfortable and know there is nothing else you can do to better your chances handing it in early might be a good option.

If it was me I'd probably wait until the it's due in the event of me having an epiphany after sending it over to them.

As 0n35 said, I'd like to see the project as well.