[bunderbunder]

"Come freelance with us for a week" seems even worse to me.

For starters, there is a very small and fairly specific subset of the population that can afford to carve out a whole week for an extended interview, even if you do pay them for their time.

[CalChris]

Yes, this omits the people who already have a job and wouldn't want to quit just to freelance for a week.

But I doubt this would leave out genuinely interested people who aren't employed. Assuming a preliminary acid test on the employer's side for skills needed and on the candidate's side for interest, this seems reasonable.

You may want to have a Plan B for the employed.