If your concern is to ensure that you're not getting a coding bozo, I think that your tests are designed incorrectly.
Instead of having a 'simple test', just find some random, buggy sub-optimal code sample online (shouldn't be hard) and ask them to identify the problems with it and refactor.
I can almost guarantee you that bozos won't see half the problems, and they definitely won't know how to fix them.
Asking someone to code up simple examples on a board ends up just testing a dude's ability to code up simple coding questions. Bug finding/fixing, creating readable and elegant code and the ability to refactor are all much more relevant and important than asking if someone can implement a sorting algorithm or parse a custom data structure.
In the end, I think that by testing candidates this way it'll make it more likely that the people you hire actually have skills that are important to their daily work.
Comments
If your concern is to ensure that you're not getting a coding bozo, I think that your tests are designed incorrectly.
Instead of having a 'simple test', just find some random, buggy sub-optimal code sample online (shouldn't be hard) and ask them to identify the problems with it and refactor.
I can almost guarantee you that bozos won't see half the problems, and they definitely won't know how to fix them.
Asking someone to code up simple examples on a board ends up just testing a dude's ability to code up simple coding questions. Bug finding/fixing, creating readable and elegant code and the ability to refactor are all much more relevant and important than asking if someone can implement a sorting algorithm or parse a custom data structure.
In the end, I think that by testing candidates this way it'll make it more likely that the people you hire actually have skills that are important to their daily work.