This post and the thoughts behind it are appreciated. I always found the 45 minute coding test to be counter productive. As an example for my Google interviews (I did get that job) I was interviewing for a leadership role but spent hours making sure I had memorized things like an O(n log n) sort and log n search (FWIW I memorized heapsort - can’t get fooled by the siren of quicksort). What value does memorizing show - nothing. If one of my engineers or peers checked in their own sorting code instead of using a library I would, at the very least, have a discussion.
I do like the route of thought exercises - we have taken a similar path in hiring for my team. The process and lead time and especially any questions provide insight and help demonstrate sincere interest by the candidate.
Nice post and great thoughts,
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Mark