During my recent search for a programming job, two companies gave me tests to assess my technical skills. The first company's test was similar to that which th

During my recent search for a programming job, two companies gave me tests to assess my technical skills. The first company's test was similar to that which the OP describes. A manager gave me a list of company contacts and asked me to build an interface for sifting through it. It was a boring, tedious task that benefited the company, but wasn't particularly representative of my skills or knowledge. Contrast that with the second firm, which gave me a coding challenge. They gave me a list of prompts, including interesting ones such as "Build your own A.I. algorithm that can interpret poker hands." Not only was the second test more interesting and indicative of my skills, it made me respect the company a lot more. I ended up accepting a job with the second company because their creative interviewing approach made me more excited about their offer.