The question I ask at the beginning is "tell me about something you are proud of". This helps sets them at ease, gets them to brag/market themselves and is pos

The question I ask at the beginning is "tell me about something you are proud of". This helps sets them at ease, gets them to brag/market themselves and is positive. Later on I pick something prominent on the CV/resume and ask them to explain it in detail on the whiteboard. I try to pick something with multiple components communicating over time (web browsers/mobile clients talking to servers is good). That requires sequencing, boxes, and arrows. The answer also helps set expectations on other items on the CV/resume - if they can't explain something they claim to know well then the other items are likely an exaggeration too. I never penalize answers of "I don't know" to questions about parts, but am astonished at how few candidates will say that. For example they'll say "there is a POST". I'll ask what a POST is. They'll mumble something incomprehensible about HTTP. So I'll ask what a POST is, again. They'll mumble something about GET, and I'll give up. There is no problem with not knowing - Google/Wikipedia/Stackoverflow will address almost all things - but it is a huge red flag not understanding something, being unable to explain it, and being unprepared to say so.