Sorry, but take home test as the first step to filter them is a big no for me. Why should i waste time on a test before even meeting anyone?
1, 2 and 5 should be more than enough. You get to talk to them about their past expertise and even combine it with some design discussion, you get a pair programming session and a final casual discussion. Why do you need everything else?
They call it a funnel for a reason - most candidates are not worth bringing onsite - which is expensive for both sides. So you need a screen anyway and homework should, if it's well designed, take similar amount of time to a screen. In my experience it takes most teams at least six months to get an engineer productive and a year before they're really hitting on all cylinders. If you're asking a company to spend six months to a year training you, giving up a day isn't (IMO) a huge ask. As a candidate you really shouldn't need to go onsite at more than a handful of companies or you're really wasting everyone's time.
