Ask HN: How to interview software developers?

[qvst]

Everybody is doing these hiring processes for software developers differently. How do you best assess hard and soft skills? I think it would be interesting to get different perspectives and to discuss the pros and cons of each type of interview/assignment.

Some processes I have done when applying for jobs are:

phone screen, non-technical interview, 1-2h home assignment, technical interview

non-technical interview, 4-8h home assignment, technical interview, hr interview

4h home assignment, technical interview, team interview, hr interview

non-technical interview, hr interview (no technical)

I think the first one is a good balance between technical and non-technical interviews and it has a good pace too. I dislike doing a long home assignment before any other interview as it feels a huge potential time waster.

Are employers still doing whiteboard problems? They seem to be disliked by most developers I have met.

[golergka]

I'm not ready to write an overall post right now, but one of the best questions I've found is to ask the developer about the best, most interesting thing she'd ever develop. Or the most interesting piece of technology that she worked on, in general. I usually say something among the lines, "if you're seeing this interview as an exam, imagine that you're able to write the best possible question for yourself, the one that you can answer really incredibly, inspired, and in great detail - and answer it". And when they do, just be prepared to dive into details of something you, as an interviewer, is less prepared for.

It's an awesome way to understand the basic values of the developer, what she thinks are good practices, good goals, what are her motivations and what she's capable of. Also, you would be surprised at the amount of developers who will still be flaky on technical and conceptual details even with such a question.