Stages of the programmers interview

Here is a short list of possible stages of the interview.

Phone screening. Usually is conducted by recruiter to assure that your phone is correct and you remember what is written in your resume. :-)
Time spent: 20-30 minutes.

Tet-a-tet meeting or Skype interview. This meeting is usually a technical interview where people try to check what you know and what you don't. Resembles like an oral exam. If you prepared well then you can come through it. But sometimes you are given a task which you need to solve or design a system.
Time spent: 1-1.5 hours.

Technical test over the Internet. As a rule you are given some time for a couple of easy technical tasks or a test with answer options. Many companies have their own platforms for such tests, but as a rule no one is supporting them, but the tests are chosen from a given limited set.

But there are exceptions. Some companies use third party sites which provide tests with different type of difficulty: from the middle one to hardcore.
Time spent: 1-1.5 hours.

Testing task. Usually you are given a code for refactoring or being asked to write a simple implementation of some task like a REST controller. It is not recommended to spend more than 3-4 hours on it. The less the better. Value your time. If necessary you can add something by saying when your task will be reviewed. If you are given a real peace of code and asked to do some "production" task then it is better to deny such offer as it may turned out that a company is doing its job for free.
Time spent: 1-3 hours.

Live coding. The most stressful part. People are watching you and how you code. Imagine how your productivity goes down with this approach? Usually no difficult tasks are given, but it is easy to fail. People try to check how you think, but in my opinion this way allows only to check your stress resistance.
Time spent: 0.5-1 hour.

Meeting with manager. At this stage manager is trying to understand how adequate you are and who you are from a business point of you? Are you a team player?
Time spent: 0.5-1 hour.


Mostly this is it. Usually there are no more then 3 stages including phone interview. This process is
very time consuming for you and a company. So it is better to keep short all the stages as possible.

If we'll talk about time then if we sum up all the timings it will be between 4 hours 20 minutes and 8 hours. Usually not all stages are being conducted. For example live coding is often omitted. This timings doesn't include your questions to the company. So expect to add between 0.5 and 1 hour for your questions and company's answers.