when i've interviewed people I generally get them to answer a question on the whiteboard. and... i couldn't care less what they write. What I do care about is

when i've interviewed people I generally get them to answer a question on the whiteboard. and... i couldn't care less what they write. What I do care about is how they go about the task. how do they approach the problem? do they plan or do they try first and fix it up? Giving the person a whiteboard marker and them being able to turn away from you helps overcome stage-fright. exact memorization of an algorithm for an interview is worthless in my eyes.