We've come up with a new idea to try out in the next round of hires (I might blog about it at some point). Basically we think up a tiny but worthwhile project

We've come up with a new idea to try out in the next round of hires (I might blog about it at some point). Basically we think up a tiny but worthwhile project related to the area were hiring in. i.e. a supporting app to go with our current software, or a feature extension (without going too deep into our source code :D) etc. Then we pick the most likely candidates (maybe interview them) and hold a week long coding sprint. We plan to pay the candidate expenses and a fair salary (something like £6-7 and hour). We'll have about 10 candidates maximum and pick 2 or 3 of our current development team to work with them. Spend one day of the week making sure they are roughly on the same page in their work practices then just let them come up with a solution and build it. And actual final product doesnt matter too much: but it's a quickfire way to see them working as a team and figure out who would fit into our process. Plus some of our current developers get to work with them and will be able to advise who they would find best to work with. It will either work really well or fail miserably: but it's a nice idea nontheless!