I disagree that sim assessments are a waste of time, or even an imperfect form of evaluation. What do we do for a living, if not fly in crappy conditions, sometimes to unfamiliar places? What do we have to do every six months, if not face the pressures of a check ride?
Sometimes it is better to put the candidate into a sim type he/she has never seen before. With a proper briefing and a little time to prepare, it's a great way to see whether the candidate will be able to adapt to new types or situations. If it is just a 'canned' exercise over a familiar route in a familiar type, obviously the guy who is current on that type will show better than one who is not. Or, should show better.
By putting pilots in 'uncomfortable' situations at the assessment stage, it levels the playing field. The only caveat to this, is that the examiner must be able to weigh relative experience levels against performance. A 45 year old Captain should do far better at all the management stuff and bad weather circling etc than a kid straight out of flying school. But the kid out of flying school should master steep turns and basic tracking etc very quickly and display orientation throughout the exercise.
The face-to-face interview is very important, but a pilot who talks the talk but can't walk the walk, is as useless as the proverbial tits on a bull.