You are setting yourself up for failure using these methods. - You're being misleading by asking them to write a concat method when you really want unit tests

You are setting yourself up for failure using these methods. - You're being misleading by asking them to write a concat method when you really want unit tests for that method. Just be straightforward. You're being too clever for your own good. - People rarely code in a linear fashion. For example, I often write the meat of my methods first. Then do edge cases / error handling in a second or third pass. I have been dinged for this in interviews before. But imo, it says nothing about me as a programmer. - You want them to be comfortable with tools, but they are behind enemy lines and under enemy fire. Dont expect them to achieve any kind of comfort level (and I would put 'thinking to use debugger' up there as something you would forget/ignore while being uncomfortable). - When you are in extreme concentration mode, do you talk to others? Probably not. If you want them to talk, ask them questions. Again you're expecting them to read your mind. (also, keep them away from a keyboard if you want them to talk. Put them in front of a white board instead) As others have said, talking to people and getting to know them and how they solve problems is much better than giving them mechanical interviews.