Hiring is a difficult process and I presume that you are specifically interested hiring for tech-focused positions. For my employer, they knew they needed a spe

Hiring is a difficult process and I presume that you are specifically interested hiring for tech-focused positions. For my employer, they knew they needed a specific skill set and knew how to look for it. The interviewer told me later that she was looking for someone who had competence in the local language, who could stay engage at several levels in a conversation, and who could demonstrate quick thinking. Those aren't easy skills to extract from someone on first meeting or through conversation, but their firm consistently does so. For a tech position, I think a similar approach could be possible, but I have to admit I neither know how, nor do I know how it can be initiated. Maybe the same thing could be accomplished by a savvy tech interviewer at a conference or other networking event? Again, knowing what they need, using casual chatter, directing a conversation toward a tech problem and seeing how it engages the person (and how they handle the puzzle). That approach might work, but it probably isn't practical for a huge corporation. In any event, thinking about it is a neat exercise.