I am on my 50's now, if I have to prove that I am worthwhile being an employee with such teasers instead of what I have done thus far, I rather spend my time elsewhere, unless I am desperate for getting the position.
Yeah, I was recently asked to do a coding assignment for a company I wasn't even sure I wanted to work for. Sorry, but I'm not going to start an interview process with extra work. I'd do it if I was really sure I wanted to work there, but that's something I discover during the interview process.
Honestly that may be just the reaction the company was hoping for which is both valuable for you and them. You save time not going through an interview for a place you might dislike and they get to move on quickly.
Seniors are not welcomed by most companies, because we already seen all movies management pulls up employees to trick them "doing more with less".
Ironically the same companies are more than willing to get the same seniors as highly paid external contractors for exactly the same tasks, and without these kind of time wasting interviews.
