You have between 10-16 hours of time with a candidate depending on the desire ability of your job. I like to break it into: 1 hour of pitch/expectation setting where the only screening is for ability to complete the process (language, appropriate background, etc) and to catch obviously fraudulent candidates, 4 hours of take home technical assessment (programming project), 4 hours of soft skill assessment (3 hours of prep and 1 hour of presentation is my favorite format) and 1 hour of meeting with the hiring manager.
But, the format is not really the point. The point is to have a specific thing you are trying to discern from your filter and to focus your efforts on making that the only thing you are judging on.
But, the format is not really the point. The point is to have a specific thing you are trying to discern from your filter and to focus your efforts on making that the only thing you are judging on.