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> 2. Ask candidates to implement a simple project (~8 hours)

I've never understood why employers seem to think asking for 8+ hours free work before even possibly getting an interview is fair to the applicant.

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Its more fair then the "what can I make you code under pressure, without references, while I stare at you" tests, and its more like what you are hiring them to do. Its also good for figuring out who you don't want to fly across the country to interview with you. It also lets people self select and go- I don't know how to do this- maybe this isn't the right job for me. I'm assuming these tasks are toy tasks and the company isn't getting IP value from them- I'd let your candidates open-source what they build, so long as they don't say why they (really) built it.

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