Ed Wagner (11/21/2015)

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I think HR being the first interview is simply to get the housekeeping questions out of the way. These are things like determining if the person is employable, if they're capable of having a conversation and if they meet the employment requirements of the company.

The next interview should be something technical. I find that you don't have to pepper the candidate with a zillion questions, trick questions unanswerable questions, etc. I find that just a few key questions reveal a lot about how the candidate approaches problem solving. Yes, it's about the answer, but it's also about how they approach the problem and why they answer the way they do. If they can't explain why the gave the answer they gave, then you have to ask if they understand the topic or if they've memorized the standard answer from a web page somewhere. This will also give you a feel for their style of communication and you'll have an idea if they'll fit into your environment. Don't underestimate personality and how they'll fit in.

If you do an interview over the phone, remember that a lot of laptops have very quiet keyboards, so you might not be able to tell if they're searching for the answers as you ask the questions. I know, this is sad, but it's also true.

I hope this helps.