If you&#x27;re a top ten percent programmer who charges $137&#x2F;hr then this whole discussion probably isn&#x27;t oriented at you. By definition, most programmers are not in the top ten percent. They make money by sitting down and writing code, not by projecting confidence and machismo. So why shouldn&#x27;t they prove their abilities and evaluate the company and it&#x27;s general environment by sitting down and actually coding?<p>I&#x27;m very old and out of the loop, I have no idea what modern work-sample tests look like. I remember when I did one many years ago it was to the effect of &quot;Write a script that checks to see if a URL returns a valid response code, and trigger an event if it does not&quot;. My prospective employer liked my coding style and I got hired. What was so wrong about that?<p>As I recall, they intended to modify the script and use it in production whether they hired me or not. I also don&#x27;t care about that. It took less than an hour, and it seemed like a valid form of evaluation. Maybe it&#x27;s a pride thing, but I had no problem with it and I think a lot of other people would have been ok with that practice as well.