I've never worked in a place that doesn't have whiteboarding sessions for design, architecture, algos, etc. but YMMV on that one. In 30 years I've never met an

I've never worked in a place that doesn't have whiteboarding sessions for design, architecture, algos, etc. but YMMV on that one. In 30 years I've never met anybody that can't write well enough to be read--that counter-argument I don't even understand. ¯\(°_o)/¯ I also do pairing, but that won't solve the introversion issue at all. If anything it might exacerbate it because of personal space issues. Remote pairing is fine for this, and I do that as well, but it's a little weird for an onsite. I've never had the resources for a short-term contract, and there are often legal issues involved regarding IP, NDAs, HIPAA, whatever. Personally I think that would be the best approach, but you have to get to the point where you want to offer them a "short-term" contract. That's not something I'd ever be willing to do without having a pretty good handle on whether or not hiring them is a possibility. I've mis-hired precisely once in twenty years. It may not be an ideal process, but it's worked for me so far.