It is a total failure of industry to ask people who are productively writing software one day to waste dozens of hours learning to dance an artificial interview

It is a total failure of industry to ask people who are productively writing software one day to waste dozens of hours learning to dance an artificial interview game to get hired somewhere to start writing productive software again weeks later. If the candidate has no resume and nothing to prove they have any skill then yes, give them a rigamarole. But for don't ask a staff artist to speedpaint you the view out the window with crayons in a lined paper binder in half an hour. They give you their porfolio, you inspect it, and if they are accredited and recognized you don't waste their time on quizbowl. Arguing about it though is mostly pointless. The awareness is out there that these companies are throwing away not just the on hand candidates they turn down for failing their charade game but also the legions of potential employees turned off by the theatrics and immaturity of software hiring. The OP is absolutely right to say interviewing in tech is draining because you go from thinking yourself competent on the outside to interviewers trying to beat you into a sobbing mess on the inside. Its adversarial from the start at almost every company, it certainly contributes in large part to the lack of women participating in development, and businesses seem to be just fine with the outcomes since they know what they are doing is awful but so long as they are "hip" and popular they can get away with it, with an endless list of potential hires to give the rigamarole to.