I think the current interview process fails but...this idea of seeing if people can code a small project isn't much better - it might be worse. It's a lot different giving someone a tiny project to knock out in a weekend and working with them for weeks during crunch time, or getting estimates, or just if they are a good workmate. You're basing an entire hiring decision on whether the person can write some queries and a page?

I mean, I like the idea of proving what I can do, but software development - as in most jobs - are far more than technical ability.