Empathy isn't enough, in my opinion. There are problems with most every alternative: 1. Show-off quizzes are of limited relevance. 2. Take home work is a huge

Empathy isn't enough, in my opinion. There are problems with most every alternative: 1. Show-off quizzes are of limited relevance. 2. Take home work is a huge stressor for people with limited amounts of outside time. 3. Open-source contributions are a) too restrictive as a filter, and b) favor people with lots of time, just like #2. 4. Personal connections narrow the pool that you have, promote nepotism, and tend to exclude people who are already at a disadvantage. 5. Looking at previous jobs screws over lots of junior people and just means you're depending on the last interviewer's shitty decision.