The OP is describing the new grad tech hiring process.   It looks like an exam because it&#x27;s for hiring people straight out of school.<p>For experienced people, it&#x27;s not what you know, it&#x27;s who you know.    You tell your connected friend that you&#x27;re looking for a job, he tells you who&#x27;s hiring and gives you a recommendation.<p>You still have an interview, but it&#x27;s no longer adversarial, it&#x27;s a formality, it&#x27;s friendly, it&#x27;s just a screen to make sure you&#x27;re not faking it.    One of the people on the other side of the table has seen your work before, so is on your side.   So when you get those stupid questions, it&#x27;s a joke that you all laugh at.   You handwave at it, and it&#x27;s enough.<p>There are obviously problems with the above process -- it leads to hiring friends rather than the &quot;best&quot; candidate, but I&#x27;m surprised that we&#x27;ve moved so far away from it that the obviously well-connected OP is having so much trouble.