I think OP implied a better solution when mentioning interviews that mimic the job: present interviewees with a small take-home case study based on a real on-the-job problem. I have done a few of these and they have been much more enlightening experiences than any paired programming boilerplate live coding exercise. Even in situations in which my proposed solution weren’t up to snuff to land the job, the conversation with the team about my solution felt like an actual representation of what it would be like to be a member of the team.