There's a critical kernel of truth here that I want to point out: work-sample tests. The longer I spend building teams, the more I am convinced: there are people who do WSTs as a way to qualify applicants, and there are people who just aren't serious about hiring.

It's easy to write a WST for simple things, like "can you literally write a computer program that does this trivial straightforward thing". It's hard to write WSTs for things that feel fluffy, like "can you manage a team". But here's the thing: as long as that fluffy thing feels fluffy, what that really means is you haven't bothered to figure out what success looks like for that role, and you couldn't even evaluate that person let alone hire for them.

There's a company in Indy called Woven (http://www.woventeams.com/) that'll do it for you, too. I have no relationship with them other than that they're nice people who are trying to unfuck hiring.