The best way to figure out if someone is a culture fit? Ship code with them.
If you can start off on a contract, do that. It is the best way to even out the power dynamic of the interview process.
If you are not in a place where you can do that, check out what we are building at www.commit.dev to Re-build career transitions around the engineer.
But, I do think they can be a decent part of a larger interview process.
I've had some very reasonable whiteboard exercises where the interviewers were very clear that the problem was tricky and I wasn't necessarily expected to solve it - the emphasis was on conversation and hearing my thought process. I actually enjoyed some of them.
If you can start off on a contract, do that. It is
the best way to even out the power dynamic of the
interview process.
Counterpoint: why not just just take a fulltime job and quit / move on if it's not a good fit?
The company doesn't want to be on the hook for unemployment or wrongful termination I think.
> I agree in principle but in practicality, there are some difficulties such as needing healthcare coverage for my family. (Yes, the US system of employer-subsidized healthcare is utterly broken, but that's what I'm dealing with)
I actually did this for my last job, because I'm terrible at interviewing (I both hate practicing leetcode, and have fairly bad anxiety). I had the same concern as you, and the way I got around it was to ask for them to pay me on contract an amount equivalent to what my salary would be AND benefits. I guess if you're employed then that doesn't work so well, but as an unemployed (at the time) person it worked out great.