For a small/startup company it is often easier if they can ask the new joinee to complete a few tasks beforehand, even before joining. Some places are keen on background checks, HR-onboarding etc before even an ID can be issued.

I was once asked by a founder to help setup mongodb and react on their laptop to get started with a hello-world application while we were sitting in a cafe. Little did I knew it was a job interview. Interesting way to identify if a person is self starter or not.