[igorhvr]

What works for me is:

a) Making the candidate interested - I want them to be really interested in being hired, to ensure he will give his best shot (this is much easier when hiring with a specific spot in mind, which is not always the case);

b) Using a coding test that the candidate can do remotely at the time most convenient for him (http://www.codility.com/ currently - they are really good for this) as a first filter. This establishes basic programming skills, and allows me to...

c) Call the candidate for an in-person conversation and spend much more time discussing higher level questions, validating problem solving skills, and understanding the candidate past history. Unless it is remote position, in which case this will be a phone screening - notice I say an phone and not some kind of crappy can-barely-hear with-echo-or-lag-or-some-other-crap VOIP solution.

Finally, keeping this in mind has helped a lot: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3690544