Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by golergka 2999 days ago
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.