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.
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.