I'm also in Europe now (Germany). If you haven't figured out by the end of the trial period that the person can't do their job, it's not he who's the problem.
It has also been my experience (20+ years) that sociopaths and egotists (the ones who will try to bullshit you beyond a few ham-fisted attempts) are in such a minority that they're not worth basing your interview process around.
The only cases of hiring engineers who couldn't code that I've ever heard of directly from colleagues over my entire career (that weren't third-hand re-tellings) have been where he either was not interviewed at all, was only interviewed by someone non-technical, or was hired by someone non-technical over the objections of someone technical.
It has also been my experience (20+ years) that sociopaths and egotists (the ones who will try to bullshit you beyond a few ham-fisted attempts) are in such a minority that they're not worth basing your interview process around.
The only cases of hiring engineers who couldn't code that I've ever heard of directly from colleagues over my entire career (that weren't third-hand re-tellings) have been where he either was not interviewed at all, was only interviewed by someone non-technical, or was hired by someone non-technical over the objections of someone technical.
TBH I think this is a manufactured problem.