As an interviewer I am upfront with our hiring process and that part of it is we ask candidates to do a "exercise" after the first face to face meeting. This ex

As an interviewer I am upfront with our hiring process and that part of it is we ask candidates to do a "exercise" after the first face to face meeting. This exercise is crafted to be representative of the job we are trying to fill and is followed up by a second face to face code review session of the code. The key of the exercise isn't necessarily to complete the whole task (though often people do as the exercises are interesting) but to provide a discussion piece for the code review session. Candidates are told this so that they don't feel like they have to put too much work into it (2 hours is suggested). The code review session is key, walking through someones code and discussing decisions and trade offs. It provides a layered insight into their smarts, communication skills and thought processes. It is the closest I've gotten to actually working with someone in the interview process. And isn't that what both parties are looking for?