The BEST way to figure out if someone has built large systems is to ask them about it - how it was designed, who initiated which part, edge cases, people involv

The BEST way to figure out if someone has built large systems is to ask them about it - how it was designed, who initiated which part, edge cases, people involved, etc. The candidate will often start talking more than they would if asked a simple yes or no answer. BS sniffing here is fairly simple. It also tests soft skills - if the candidate can communicate to others (engineers even); often, large systems cannot be built and maintained by a single developer, hence communication to build and scale a team is another sign of large systems (people and tech) experience. How would a portfolio demonstrate large system experience, unless the system was completely online? It's much more difficult to put a large system into a portfolio than small code samples. And if the large system is of value - why interview at all!? =P For pure programmer/tech chops, sure, the interview ideas are fine. However, that's only one aspect of finding the right person for the right position at a company. The hotseat approach is not right for all companies.