A day long interview is a good signal the company is full of bull already.
What's wrong with meeting the guy, talking to him and then inviting to work one day at the company? Just give him some tasks, see how he manages it. If it doesn't work out, you got 8 man-hours for free.
They wanna judge people based on how they dress, what they do on their free time, etc. Not everyone is on their 20's, or wanna be a geek all day. Some software companies act like model agencies thinking they are the coolest the place in the world. It's embarrassing.
"If it doesn't work out, you had 8 man-hours for free."
Setting aside the legal, ethical, and tax implications of such a proposal, why should a talented developer be expected to donate a day of unpaid labor?
They were going to waste his whole day with corporate ego trip already. Why not make some productive use of his time then? At least if it doesn't work out, the candidate got some experience, learned how they work on the company, etc.
I remember I had an all-day interview once that was very similar to the one described in the original question. It was at an IT Department at a big university. It was brutal and I almost left. They asked me all these ridiculous brain-teaser PHP questions I was expected to answer off the top of my head. I never got lunch. I thought I had just wasted a day, but they hired me anyway. Later I found out that kind of interview was required by the evil bureaucratic HR department and everyone hated having to do them.
What's wrong with meeting the guy, talking to him and then inviting to work one day at the company? Just give him some tasks, see how he manages it. If it doesn't work out, you got 8 man-hours for free.
They wanna judge people based on how they dress, what they do on their free time, etc. Not everyone is on their 20's, or wanna be a geek all day. Some software companies act like model agencies thinking they are the coolest the place in the world. It's embarrassing.