While I agree that having you jump through these hoops is really time consuming and annoying, for most if not all companies it's a necessary evil in order to identify potential employees. How else do you assess a potential employee? It's gonna be either through whiteboarding/live coding with the interviewer(s) or through you portfolio, which your github repos and contributions serve as a good example.

Having said that, some companies take it to the extreme, and honestly they sound like a more traditional office type of environment where I doubt you want to work at from what I can infer from your comments.

I also do not agree with the assumption that only the privileged have time to contribute to open source (aka free projects). You either do it because a) you love it, or b) because you need to beef up your portfolio and you are motivated enough to do so. I'm considered a minority in the tech industry as well, yet I got into it many years ago by working on pro bono projects after going home every day from my telemarketing job at 2.am.

Either in technology or in any industry, you'll get your foot on the door and you will advance faster if you enjoy what you do. This is easily recognized by potential employers when they see you participate in hackathons and that you contribute to OSS.

Sure, I began doing free projects to get into the industry, but I keep doing it today because I love it and that's what makes it so easy for me to find employment as a software developer. In fact I get contacted by recruiters at least twice a week on linkedin and it's somewhat annoying. I hope Anna learns enough at her job to the point where she'll be able to easily find a job and be able to recognize toxic environments that make you jump through excessive hoops.

Just my 2 cents.