[bobbytran]

I've made a career out of working for and with smaller companies. My paycheck is very good and I'm always learning new/different technologies.

Most smaller companies dont have these sorts of interviews. Most of mine have been technical in nature and some involved take-home projects, which were then discussed.

I've also avoided the dreaded non-compete clauses that FAANG employees need to sign and work on my own side-business with no issues.

[mifreewil]

Non-competes are unenforceable in California

[ghaff]

Presumably he meant IP ownership or something along those lines.

To his other point, take homes have their own problems, especially for anything beyond the most trivial 2-3 task. That said, there are certainly many jobs where you want to see concrete evidence of ability. I'm not going to hire someone for a job that involves a lot of writing without seeing some writing samples. And if they don't have anything they can show me for confidentiality reasons, I'm going to ask them to produce something.