My comment from the blog: I've seen several variations of the "trial week" in effect on a smaller scale. In the cases I'm aware of, the timeframe was drastical

My comment from the blog: I've seen several variations of the "trial week" in effect on a smaller scale. In the cases I'm aware of, the timeframe was drastically reduced to a weekend or a single workday. Candidates were given a realistic problem to solve and a set amount of time to solve it. Most implementation details were left out beyond general scope and what constituted completion. If someone was truly interested in being hired for the company, they'd jump at the chance. Beyond this, I've also been in situations where the candidates were paid for their time, even on weekends. It's an incentive that the company is also investing themselves in the candidate. The company is essentially saying "We're interested enough in hiring you to pay you for your time." This bodes well with both parties in my experience.