[Fishkins]

When hiring, I agree that aptitude is probably a better signal than experience. However, I also think aptitude is much harder to assess during an interview. It's pretty easy to look at someone's work history, github, and ask them a few questions about what they currently know. I'm not sure if I know a truly effective way to figure out their aptitude in a short amount of time.

[Swizec]

Teach them something.

There was an article about it making the rounds a few days/weeks ago. A guy basically takes on a class of 30+ people for two days when hiring, teaches them something, then hires the one who did best. The rest are still happy to have learned something.

Another good approach might be flat out asking "Tell me about the last time you learned something new"

[tptacek]

This (a hiring funnel premised on teaching people stuff) works amazingly well. It is almost unfair how well it works.

[pmiller2]

Anyone have a pointer to this submission? My search-fu fails me.