What I've seen done at my last jobs have been the following: - A pretty simple take-home problem (something that just implements two or three classes) - An exe

What I've seen done at my last jobs have been the following: - A pretty simple take-home problem (something that just implements two or three classes) - An exercise to refactor really terrible code (this is offered in alternative to the take-home) - Questions about architecture that they've worked on in the past, the problems they've had to deal with, etc. Just asking those questions and seeing how they do with the simple challenge is enough to see if they have at least good code instincts. In person, they can justify their decisions (and it's good here to see if they can take feedback, run with it, and come out with a better solution). Ultimately the interview process should smell out if 1) they're an asshole to work with 2) if they're able to have good code/architecture instincts.