What questions do you think are fair to ask in an interview? The position is for an entry level developer, probably right out of college.
Hiring managers: What are the fallback questions you typically use and why do you think they are affective?
Developers: Are there any questions you have been asked which you really enjoyed while interviewing?
Thanks in advance as we are evaluating our hiring process.
I think a real good first-cut question is something like "Write me a program that will tell me all of the multiples of 3 and 5 between 1 and 100."
They can write it in any language, on paper, and you wouldn't be too concerned with any minor errors as long as the algorithm is correct.
Everything I've read on this topic says that you'd be surprised at how few Comp Sci graduates cannot do this simple program.
What I always dislike
Detailed specific questions which dig deep into a tool, framework or language. Knowing or not knowing the answer to an advanced question tells nothing about the skills and abilities of one to perform well and produce good quality code. Who cares what arguments some PI function has? It's googled for and found in 30 seconds.
What I miss
When I'm not asked general questions about software design, architecture, quality and organization. Do you only need a coder?
What I like
When I'm asked about my personal projects and interests.
I had logic questions once in an interview, which I liked. Here is a good read about it: http://imranontech.com/2007/01/10/why-logic-puzzles-make-good-interview-questions/
The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing (version 3.0) contains several examples of both good and bad questions, as well as a nice discussion about what makes a good or bad question, and why. Highly recommended reading.
Concentrate on problem solving and logical thinking. Things like that are a great foundation and are an indicator of potential. Don't worry too much about what frameworks or patterns they've used because that can be picked up quickly.
They won't have much work experience so pay attention to which classes they've taken; ask about projects in those classes, how they solved the problem and what they would have changed with their solutions now that they have a little more experience (even if it's only been a month since the class), this will help you find out if they are applying new knowledge to their old problems.
Give them a logical problem to solve, something that makes them think outside the box, my favorite is "How are M&M's painted so that the paint is uniform?"
Ask the prospective employee what they enjoy about programming, what projects have they worked on and liked, and what drove them to the profession. You say the employees are likely right out of college, so ask what classes they liked and why.
This will give you a good summary of what they know and enjoy. If you've never heard of the projects they describe, ask for a technical description.
I firmly believe that programmers that are enthusiastic will gain the ability they need to do the task. Learning an API is trivial if you want to.
Obviously though, if the position requires in-depth knowledge of a certain system, you should also ask questions about that, but for overall ability, asking a programmer what he likes is quite revealing.
"Why should I hire you?" is a question I enjoy getting asked as in a way it cuts through a lot of BS that are some interviews at times.
After that, I'd think any question that has a certain measure if being impossible to solve precisely but can be solved approximately can be fun. So "How many Piano Tuners are in NYC?" or something else that if the question is taken in a very literal sense is extremely hard to do but there are various approximations one could do and various questions to help refine exactly what is really needed instead of what was initially asked.