[atto]

Startups in general are less dogmatic in hiring methodologies. We've screened candidates based on very strong personal references, Github, Stack Overflow, etc. However, we've found many people don't have a lot of available work "out there" for us to look at; at which point, we fall back to coffee meetings to establish fit, and technical interviews.

If you want to skip this "hiring manager" game, find startups that are small enough where the people hiring will be the people you'd work with. You'll get a better culture fit idea, and can be a lot more flexible regarding what they expect.

[devplusplus]

My experience re: startups is similar. However, what if (hypothetically) I don't want to work for a startup? If I want to work for, say, Amazon, in a senior/lead/managerial capacity? Assuming they have a more rigid structure, how do you leap-frog the programming exercise and jump a little further up the chain and demonstrate more advanced skills?

The coding exercises are fine for junior roles, but I think the farther up the seniority ladder you get, the less relevant those tests become. And like many others, I think there's gotta be a better way.

(As an aside, recently I had an interview regarding a tech manager role that was mostly management, less development, and they barely even asked me about technical skills. I wound up passing on the job since it would require moving, but I thought that was interesting. If I apply for a Lead Engineer position in San Francisco, I have to reverse a string or something, but if I apply to be that guy's boss, there's little to no code screening. Very interesting...)