I second this. I freelance as a part time CTO and this has been my favorite appproach to hiring devs. A paid project goes a long way to establishing a good work relationship and gives both sides most of what they need to decide if it’s a good fit longer term. I also always offer my clients to start with a small contained project to see if we’re a fit. This ends up saving a lot of time: the risk is low for the employer, and the developer gets paid their market rate and has a chance to show that they are worth it. It’s then really easy to decide if we should continue working together or not.