Reality depends on the market one is subject to. But in my own reality, My tangible options were: 1. Pay upfront and study endless hours for a whiteboard inter

Reality depends on the market one is subject to. But in my own reality, My tangible options were: 1. Pay upfront and study endless hours for a whiteboard interview + hours with phone screening + day spent onsite. 2. On-demand take home challenges (vary from 1-2 days, depending on the company) 3. 1-week payed project with presentation at the end 4. Some cocktail mix of the above Unless you know the founder, senior managers, or have built rapport with most of the engs of a company, I never been able to push back, not even in markets where the demand was extremely high.