[akg_67]

However, with the rise of the code puzzle/challenge test/work sample, I wonder if it might be time to forge a new professional ethic where it's understood that it is an important courtesy to give an applicant's work attention and useful feedback in return for investing time in completing a challenge.

I agree with you on this front. I have never received feedback on such tests from any of the companies I talked to. In one instance, company asked me to prepare a decent size report before the onsite interview but it was clear during the interview that none of the interviewers looked at the report beyond the summary on the cover.

I started to address this issue by posting any presentations and reports, I prepared on the request of a company, as part of my work profile online. I believe one of the responses I received from Who is Hiring? March 2014 thread was due to one such work that I did for another company as test.

Your tips on checking who is serious are good. I will try them next time.

I have stopped responding to companies who want me to create account and/or use their API to create something. I learnt, from an angel investor acquaintance, that a lot of early-stage startups are using such tactics to inflate their user/API usage metrics for investor pitches.