I'm 40 (ouch!) and I've done about 6 serious interviews - other conversations over lunch and whatnot, that I didn't pursue - I'm not a serial interviewer, grant

I'm 40 (ouch!) and I've done about 6 serious interviews - other conversations over lunch and whatnot, that I didn't pursue - I'm not a serial interviewer, granted. Three job offers I declined. Where I work today, I'm in the last round of interviews, to try and reduce the time consumption. My real point is that a work sample is really hard to get in an interview, and it's really not fair to fire someone in their evaluation period because they're only average, and not extraordinary, with what they come up with in day to day work.