I know my personal experience may not apply here, as I've been in the industry for quite some time now, but this is my take: reject code assessments.
There is nothing to be gained from them. Candidates waste time trying to solve problems that may never face in a real work environment. Companies end up hiring people who has prepared for the interview, not for the job. Even worse, some companies seem to have standardised the same useless process across many levels, and end up asking senior candidates to e.g. reverse a binary tree.
Personally, never in ten years has a code assessment helped me choose the right candidate.
I feel your advice is more directed at employers than the OP.
As a job candidate, refusing to participate in interviews that involve code assessments is going to severely limit your career, since the vast majority of companies make use of code assessments.
I give lots of interviews. If someone refuses the assessment, I have to fail them. HR says we have a legal obligation to interview al candidates for a given permission with the same format and criteria for evaluation. I imagine most companies are the same.
I think there definitely an opportunity for employers who can evaluate candidates without code assessments to get talent at bargain prices, but IMHO refuse code assessments is bad career advice.
There is nothing to be gained from them. Candidates waste time trying to solve problems that may never face in a real work environment. Companies end up hiring people who has prepared for the interview, not for the job. Even worse, some companies seem to have standardised the same useless process across many levels, and end up asking senior candidates to e.g. reverse a binary tree.
Personally, never in ten years has a code assessment helped me choose the right candidate.