I think the best (though not prefect) method to test new devs is with a take-home exercise, no time limit, that is representative of your domain. The key things

I think the best (though not prefect) method to test new devs is with a take-home exercise, no time limit, that is representative of your domain. The key things I look for are: - did they understand the requirements? If not, did they ask for clarification? - did they choose appropriate abstractions? - is the code easy to read? Is it overengineered? Are they trying to show off by overcomplicating things, or optimising prematurely? - the simpler the solution, the better - are the tests good, readable, not too brittle I then ask them how would they extend the code to fit new/changed requirements, they don't necessarily need to write any extra code in my presence, whatever they're most comfortable with.