Reading https://sockpuppet.org/blog/2015/03/06/the-hiring-post/#work..., it looks like your process is better than most!

However, I've walked away from interview processes that require a work sample that'll take more than a few hours or require lots of domain knowledge to get started. It just isn't worth my time, especially as a barrier to entry before talking to anyone.

Things I am happy to do to see if I'm a good fit:

- Pair with a developer on the team. I learn just as much about the team I'd be joining as the hiring company does about me. - Talking through code that I've written, talking through how I came to the implementation and how I might refactor/enhance further. You can't really bullshit this without the interviewer being a nit.

Things I'll do as a 1099: - Fix a real bug - Refactor real code - Do a project that isn't trivial, start to finish