Obviously if you don't have a job, do whatever you need to in order to get one. But code challenges are making it increasingly difficult to move forward in your

Obviously if you don't have a job, do whatever you need to in order to get one. But code challenges are making it increasingly difficult to move forward in your career without subjecting yourself to inordinate risk. I've been going back and forth on how best to handle this newest trend. I don't think it's a good approach to just refuse to do them. But accepting the challenge and then not following through is even worse. So a mutual understanding of the deliverables and level of effort is required, otherwise job hunting approaches second job status. My current stance is to first negotiate the code challenge until it's fully in your wheelhouse. If you are unable to do this, politely decline to do the code challenge, citing time constraints. One job wanted me to do a basic web app wholly in vanilla Javascript with no libraries. That's a challenge I should have just declined. Second, refuse to accept time limitations. No company that's not paying you should be allowed to monopolize your time. One job had a hard 20 day limit and the task was both outside my wheelhouse and expected to make a measurable delta in their production application. I definitely should have declined that one. But if a company is willing to work with you rather than subject you to an inhumanly-inflexible meat grinder, that's the one I want to work for.