I get what you are saying. And equality is tremendously, spectacularly important; I have more than once been That Guy at companies, making management uncomfortable when asking why the whole place is White Dude Central. But I very strongly feel that your value prop isn't an effective one from the perspective of the employee. You are not telling me why I should give a damn about your work-hire test, as somebody you need to hire to make your company work. What are you offering, aside from Yet Another Startup with Yet Another Startup Problems and Yet Another Startup Under-Market Salary? Why should I be your monkey?
And, FWIW, when salaried, I not once have taken a vacation day to interview. I've said "hey, I'll be in late," and because this industry is so deranged as to think that 50+-hour weeks are normal, no manager has had the temerity to get mad at me for taking a morning off because invariably it will be cashed in when I have to pull a sixteen-hour day to deal with a problem. (The days around Heartbleed earned me some goodwill at that gig, if you follow!)
And, FWIW, when salaried, I not once have taken a vacation day to interview. I've said "hey, I'll be in late," and because this industry is so deranged as to think that 50+-hour weeks are normal, no manager has had the temerity to get mad at me for taking a morning off because invariably it will be cashed in when I have to pull a sixteen-hour day to deal with a problem. (The days around Heartbleed earned me some goodwill at that gig, if you follow!)