I'm a bit concerned about such advice as "make 6-hour interview".
It's the open market out there and hiring is a two-way process. If a company willing to hire a great engineer, it should show some real value to potential candidates, otherwise, engineers won't be willing to spend 6 hours which usually costs quite a lot in the case of good specialists.
Also, please don't make managers assess engineers. Engineering is a form of art and managers thinking only with numbers and treating engineers as less talented only by how much it took for them to execute a test assessment, won't be able to hire good engineers. Only an artist can judge another artist. Make engineers assess the engineering skills of potential candidates and managers to assess their soft skills, then you'll be able to get an objective decision.
I think this last one with 6 hours interview and increasing complexity of the tasks - it is an exceptional cases for some kind of "advanced" engineers. And you should be ready to reward the candidate. Not money, but something really unique and valuable - very detailed feedback or in person meeting with someone known in the industry (i assume in such case this person works for you).
I'm a bit concerned about such advice as "make 6-hour interview".
It's the open market out there and hiring is a two-way process. If a company willing to hire a great engineer, it should show some real value to potential candidates, otherwise, engineers won't be willing to spend 6 hours which usually costs quite a lot in the case of good specialists.
Also, please don't make managers assess engineers. Engineering is a form of art and managers thinking only with numbers and treating engineers as less talented only by how much it took for them to execute a test assessment, won't be able to hire good engineers. Only an artist can judge another artist. Make engineers assess the engineering skills of potential candidates and managers to assess their soft skills, then you'll be able to get an objective decision.
I think this last one with 6 hours interview and increasing complexity of the tasks - it is an exceptional cases for some kind of "advanced" engineers. And you should be ready to reward the candidate. Not money, but something really unique and valuable - very detailed feedback or in person meeting with someone known in the industry (i assume in such case this person works for you).
Hard to argue with this :)