I've been on both ends of interviews of this type for a long time (ah, contracting). I was asked a question once that I liked so much I started asking it:
What's one thing you're proud of accomplishing in the past year?
This helps answer the second question: I have interviewed people that were proud of so much they had done (and rightly so) that they had trouble picking something. That is a good sign. I've also had people who had trouble thinking of an accomplishment in the past year -- that's a bad sign.
Other than that, the interview questions I like best (that aren't covered in the OP):
- Why do you want to do this type of work? (I don't care why they picked my company, but why do they want to develop this type of software/whatever?)
- How do you resolve disputes over design? style? (Best answer to date: "I get a copy of the other's .perltidy.rc and run it before I check my work back in." -- good pragmatic approach.)
- What editor do you prefer? Why? (There's no wrong answer, but the why gives insight into thought processes and problem-solving. Most interesting answer to the 'why' so far: "because all of the preferences defaulted to the exact choices I'd have made: I figured I'd be well off to use an editor written by a guy who thinks like me.")
- (If applicable) What do you know about the product you'll be working on? What's its biggest flaw, in your opinion?
- What would you do if someone with authority asked you to do something you considered unethical?
IMO, these give an insight into how the person deals with tough situations, how much they cared to research the job, and if they are capable of adapting and problem-solving. If they are smart, productive, and adaptable, they are usually a shoe-in.
<-radiant.matrix->
Larry Wall is Yoda: there is no try{} (ok, except in Perl6; way to ruin a joke, Larry! ;P)
The Code that can be seen is not the true Code
"In any sufficiently large group of people, most are idiots" - Kaa's Law
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