I'd give a real world problem that is quite large, for example: Develop a school management system which synchronises across several computers. I'd ask for 2-3

I'd give a real world problem that is quite large, for example: Develop a school management system which synchronises across several computers. I'd ask for 2-3 possible ways of designing the architecture. Then just drill down to the details, ask about the technology they would use, how they would go about implementing the algorithmic parts of things, the networking part of things, etc. You'll get a good sense of how the person works on a high level as well as on a more detailed level. You'd also find out if the person is current on available technologies. Algorithms are pointless to know, very rarely does one use that knowledge as a real life programmer. I know how quicksort works, but I've hardly ever _needed_ to know, and I've NEVER had to implement it.