Pop quiz style is much better than asking a single question and then diving deep into it.
The most important part is that the candidate can say "pass" and that you don't force them to squeeze out a shitty answer.
There is simply no better way to find out the breadth of someone's knowledge than to quiz them over a broad range of things. Think about it: this is exactly what engineers do with each other naturally and in a fun way over time.
"Hey, do you know about X?"
Compare this with Google's idiotic idea of asking a single question and judging the candidate on that randomly selected question.
No one who knows their stuff will fail to answer a long list of pop quiz questions well...but anyone of any skill level might not know the answer to any particular question.
This is the reason Jack Dorsey's return was doomed to failure. He was half-time and didn't take control like a general commanding troops must.
He was the Executive Officer but he was not a Chief Executive Officer.
For someone in this position, the natural human incentive is to build consensus and avoid ruffling feathers. An employee revolt could have gotten him fired. He had to worry what people thought.
Steve Job's return to Apple was dominating. He absolutely worked more than anyone else and ran circles around anyone trying to get in his way. And he fired people and replaced the board with friends. Things people would have faulted him for had he not had time to see his plans through.
But..even if he had gone full-time and led a successful coup, he probably would have still failed. Twitter was truly an accident and so no one really knows what it is.
The most important part is that the candidate can say "pass" and that you don't force them to squeeze out a shitty answer.
There is simply no better way to find out the breadth of someone's knowledge than to quiz them over a broad range of things. Think about it: this is exactly what engineers do with each other naturally and in a fun way over time.
"Hey, do you know about X?"
Compare this with Google's idiotic idea of asking a single question and judging the candidate on that randomly selected question.
No one who knows their stuff will fail to answer a long list of pop quiz questions well...but anyone of any skill level might not know the answer to any particular question.