How I Hire Programmers Aaron Swartz's Raw Thought

Best thoughts I have read on the hiring process, written from a programming perspective but I think it applies to any type of hire made with a little modification.

So when I hire people, I just try to answer the three questions. To find out if they can get stuff done, I just ask what they’ve done. ...

To find out whether someone’s smart, I just have a casual conversation with them. ... Ask them what they’ve been thinking about and probe them about it....

Finally, I figure out whether I can work with someone just by hanging out with them for a bit. Many brilliant people can seem delightful in a one-hour conversation, but their eccentricities become grating after a couple hours. ...

via How I Hire Programmers Aaron Swartz's Raw Thought.

Also really liked another post that he references from this one on small talk. Recommend you follow the link.