In my opinion, the best hiring interviews for tech positions should include the type of interactions that will actually take place in said job, but also resembl

In my opinion, the best hiring interviews for tech positions should include the type of interactions that will actually take place in said job, but also resemble the usual way in which people in the given culture do intellectual work (e.g. for someone out of university, that would be the way he would usually sit an exam). The best I can think of is to have a 45-60min written test with technical questions/problems going from very easy (where failure to solve is a red flag) all the way to more moderate, some difficult, and maybe even one very hard problem (solving which is a green (?) flag). No need to be in the room with the person. Can put a webcam to record test if cheating is a concern. After the test, the candidate gets a 5-10 min break, a drink, while the hiring team of 2-3 people take a quick look over the result of the test. In the second part of the interview they all go into a room to have a chat based on the problems in the test. The candidate gets a chance to defend his choices, show additional skills, while the hiring team gets to ask tangent questions (how would you speed this up? why this data structure? if space was at a premium how would you improve this?). I think the secret is to adapt the tone of the discussion to keep the candidate on the edge but avoid intimidation. If the candidate is a confidence artist, test him with more and more direct questions that he cannot weasel out of. If the candidate is more shy, engage him/her with a brainstorming like discussion, and go of on tangents from there. The written test plus the opinions/notes of the 2-3 people present at the discussion should paint a decently detailed picture of the candidate, and also provide a written record of his/her performance for reference and comparison with other candidates.