Not a "tech" job, but I found that the best hires were people who worked on contract for a few months. They did not necessarily have the skills when they started, but you could see drive, diligence and competence in those few months. This attitude needs to be maintained every day and cannot be faked as easily as you can an interview. A bonus is that they get paid for their time while getting valuable job experience.

It might only work for low-level entrants. For higher positions you are hiring the person for their experience, not on how well they can jump through arbitrary hoops.