How to really do this
It's funny. I think the more 'abstract' interview tactics as proposed in this article (asking conceptual questions) are just emulated and copied from clueless ******** managers from years past.
While a few of these questions could be important to gauge the candidate's overall understanding of the SUBJECT of computer science... tech companies hiring programmers, specially start ups, need people who can build **** out of the box. I don't care about thesis' or analogies or most of these questions, I care that I can ship my product on time. If I have a bunch of brainy blowhards who can answer all these questions but suck at writing code my business will fail.
Here's what we've been doing. We must have read every interview suggestion article on the Web. We take a hybrid approach. We ask a few conceptual questions. Then, we ask some problem solving questions, and JOIN the candidate to help him work through it when struggling. This simulates working in a real environment: can we work with this guy?
Finally, the practical. Code something. Just do it. Show us what you can do.
We'll make the decision pretty much right away whether we want to hire or not.
