The Two Question Code Quiz: How to Interview Programmers Effectively

How to design a technical interview, with emphasis on what you’re trying to get out of each question. Code quizzes and behavioral interviewing are controversial because they have been misused, I’ll show the right usage. If time allows, also will cover strategies for narrowing a resume pool.

First thing I do when walking into an interview is to see if there’s a whiteboard hanging on the wall. If there is, there’s a good chance somebody’s going to ask me to write code on there, and nobody’s gonna get any useful information out of the experience. Either way, there’s a good chance somebody’s going to ask me to tell them about a time I handled a difficult situation, and maybe even how I’d move Mount Fuji.

This is a session on how to have meaningful technical interviews and really learn if a candidate will be good for your team, hard skills and soft skills. I will also give away the two question code quiz, explain why these two are valuable, and how to administer them well.

I’ve been involved in the hiring process in all 6 post-college jobs I’ve had. I received professional behavioral interviewing training in 2005. Since then, I’ve developed my own interview style and format that has proven very effective.