The reason im doing this vs "traditional" way is 2 fold:
1. I dont want to spend endless time on back and forth and technical challenges. Not only I dont have that time, but I would be spending that time (hence money) that I could use to hire them for a probation period. 2. Interviews give lots of false positives. Its like unit tests - you think you covered 100% of your code and you'r done. But shit still hits the fan b/c your integrational/functional coverage sucked. Interviews are only the unit tests !
Do you guys ever try approach ? How does this work out for you ?
Anecdote: In one of the most successful jobs I ever had, there was a hard start. After a couple of months, my boss was clearly not entirely pleased with my work, and I suspect regretting having hired me. By six months, that had passed. When I moved on after a few years, he was rather obviously and dramatically unhappy to lose me.
My work didn't really change during that time. It just took him a while to figure out what I was doing and why. And for mutual trust and understanding to build up.
On the other hand, I have always used probationary periods when hiring people, and I have no problem accepting positions that come with a probationary period. As a hire, I really appreciate probationary periods because they cut both ways -- if I discover that I don't like working at the company, a probationary period lets me leave without it harming my career.
But none of those companies (including my own) that used probationary periods felt the need to indicate in advance that they don't have even a basic level of trust in people.