[esonderegger]

That is a very good point. Most top-tier orchestras have tenure for their permanent positions and it's not uncommon for musicians to stay 20-40 years.

As a result, the consequences for a bad hire are extremely high. Many orchestras have the audition winner perform with the group for a probationary period of a season to help guard against this. That said, I read a lot on HN about the consequences of a bad hire for a an early team member, so although the timeframes are different, the fear is similar.

[pmjordan]

The long tenure (and prestige of the organisation) probably also contribute to the willingness of candidates to subject themselves to such a process. Getting someone who is currently employed to sacrifice multiple days of (paid or unpaid) holiday for your hiring process is presumptuous, particularly if they're actively looking for a new position and thus probably going through this with multiple companies simultaneously.

As you say, it's all about making the relevance of the process obvious to the candidate. Also, companies should be as accomodating as possible in terms of timing of appointments, etc.