Depends on "why" you are recruiting and what the end result of employing someone is. So much of the technical hiring process tends to be about trying to find p

Depends on "why" you are recruiting and what the end result of employing someone is. So much of the technical hiring process tends to be about trying to find people that match what you expect people to be. Which might be fine, you need to fill a particular position which requires a specific set of skills. You need to validate those skills. You do that by doing something semi realistic while trying to minimize the pressure of an interview situation. But, then there is the other kind of approach where you are looking to see what the candidate can offer, trying to find people who know different things to you and do things differently than you, in this scenario you are more inquisitive and let the candidate direct the interview process and get them to show you things that sound interesting (including coding). The first approach is all about finding specific skills. The second approach is all about being clear about the values you are looking for. The second approach requires more skill and more time while wearing the hat of a technical recruiter. You may need a little bit of both approaches. So the big thing is to be clear about who you want to work with at the end of the process.