It's a description of reality. We can agree the situation is unfair, and that the big companies show an arrogant approach, but if you want to get hired you have to conform to what is asked and expected.

I get what you're saying but this attitude is what essentially says "Developers are ok with this crap so keep doing it please". Or, in other words, you say it's unfair but then participate anyways and whatever you say no longer has value.

It really doesn't take much effort. Non compliance to this kind of interview BS would make at of these unfair practices go away.

There are thousands of people looking for jobs at any particular moment who "can do the work."

If you are searching for your next position out of need, then you are not special. The employees who can afford to have egos are those who are being recruited.

Maybe it is his job to execute the interview design.

Absolutely! You get fired if you don't. The hiring firm wants a quantitative & unbiased comparison of all candidates.

If an applicant needs the job more than the company needs that applicant, then yes it is the applicant who will have to blink first.

I take it you have never heard about the Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (or similar) that every candidate has to take nowadays even before being invited for a technical interview.

I’ve spent past 2 years interviewing at all sorts of companies (from FAANG to small startups to fintech) while working at my current place, and just recently accepted an offer.

Only counting those where i got all the way to the final rounds, my sample size is roughly 15-20. Not even once have I encountered anything even remotely similar to the Criteria Cognitive Aptitude test, and neither have I heard of it from friends of mine who were interviewing as well. I had a couple “take home programming challenge” things as a filter before the initial interview, but they were either leetcode-like or project-based, not some diet coke version of IQ testing.

With that in mind, it seems blatantly wrong to say that “this is everywhere these days”. Out of curiosity, what type of companies did you encounter that tested you with a cognitive aptitude test? No need for company names if you arent comfortable sharing, just curious about what type of companies those were (e.g., small startups or big tech or non-tech big companies or etc.).