One thing that has worked for me is to just give easier coding interviews. Not fizz-buzz easy, but not totally unnecessarily hard either.
The trick from there is to be very well prepared yourself as an interviewer, and to make sure you’ve chosen a good problem. Good in this case can be anything, it should just be so thing that you know really well.
I like this approach a lot because if they’re great, then they should code the problem flawlessly in, say, 10-15 minutes. If it’s just an off day for them then there’s plenty of time to talk and see how they go about figuring out how to fix their first problem, ie they don’t know how to start. This also closely emulates how work is too. Most of what you have to do at work is actually quite easy if you really understand why you’re there everyday. If it’s not, then how do you go about fixing that? So this approach accounts for a lot of different styles.
Some people are just plain smart, and they’ll get it right away. Other people are very unassuming and just ask questions until they feel like they have the confidence to propose a plan.
Also you have a way of screening people who aren’t ready for the job. If they rush into a solution that’s bad and are defensive, then they’re not ready. Remember, this is an easy problem.
One thing I think is often left out when discussing interviewing is that it in fact is often a game, because work is often a game. You don’t get perfectly written asígnennos, delivered via email, where you just have to implement a function according to an interface. Instead, your job is to create business value for the company, while enjoying your life. I think a good interview format should actually lean into that. No, it’s not perfect, they don’t always perfectly test your coding skills, but real coding skills aren’t easy to test and are only part of what makes someone suitable. Ultimately, what matters is a.) can you recognize this is a game and b.) what trade offs do you make to win at the game, given your ability and character?
I think sort of easy, well chosen problems, based off personal experience are really the best for getting these answers from a candidate. Then again, it’s still not a silver bullet because it requires a really well prepared, interviewer who’s committed to giving the candidate a good experience and a fair shot at demonstrating what they can do.
I’ve had interviews where halfway I felt like the candidate was genuinely having fun, and others where we both knew this was the end for them. Like, the interview was so good at what it was designed for in either direction, yay or nay, both of us pretty much left agreeing with one another about how it went.