"You’re looking for people who are 1) smart and 2) get things done" Number 2 is a lot harder to determine than number 1 in my experience. You can determine if

"You’re looking for people who are 1) smart and 2) get things done" Number 2 is a lot harder to determine than number 1 in my experience. You can determine if someone is a good programmer by having good programmers ask them increasingly challenging programming questions. The hard part is figuring out if they are an effective and productive employee.