I sympathize 100%, I feel much the same as you do. I have decades of experience, doing real work, creating systems, making products. Back In The Day, these kinds of quiz-cage interviews simply did not exist, and, having sat on both sides of the interview table a great many times, I can confidently say that they don't need to exist. I would no more ask a candidate to implement a quicksort than I would ask a candidate for a trumpet chair in my orchestra to recite to me the frequency of every note in the F major scale or demonstrate how to weld a new bell onto this extremely broken horn that I just happen to have with me. The whiteboard stuff you describe is -nothing- more than hazing, as you, I think, have instinctively surmised.
At this point I don't bother to apply to corporate jobs, or even to jobs at startups that are larger than a few people, because I know I'll get the same kind of idiotic hazing each and every time. I'll found my own company (there have never been more opportunities than now) or do freelancing for companies that will treat me with respect. In your case, since you sound like you're sharp, I think that freelancing might be a good choice in the short term. You can bring in some bacon while you work on product ideas, do some networking, and find partners.
You sound like a good developer and the problems that you have with these interviews (which I share) are no reflection on that fact. This may sound a bit odd -- but do keep an open mind about leaving the field. There's a lot of interesting work out there in the world, some of it creative even. Software geeks tend to live in this very narrow, ant-farm-like world, have a hard time seeing outside of its walls, and assume that beyond the glass is a land that can only offer just drudgery and pain, which is simply not true. Best of luck.
At this point I don't bother to apply to corporate jobs, or even to jobs at startups that are larger than a few people, because I know I'll get the same kind of idiotic hazing each and every time. I'll found my own company (there have never been more opportunities than now) or do freelancing for companies that will treat me with respect. In your case, since you sound like you're sharp, I think that freelancing might be a good choice in the short term. You can bring in some bacon while you work on product ideas, do some networking, and find partners.
You sound like a good developer and the problems that you have with these interviews (which I share) are no reflection on that fact. This may sound a bit odd -- but do keep an open mind about leaving the field. There's a lot of interesting work out there in the world, some of it creative even. Software geeks tend to live in this very narrow, ant-farm-like world, have a hard time seeing outside of its walls, and assume that beyond the glass is a land that can only offer just drudgery and pain, which is simply not true. Best of luck.