These days I give applicants a written technical test BEFORE I invite them to an interview. That way

• There is something tangible and technical to talk about during the interview
• Inappropriate applicants don't consume much of my time
• I get an idea about each applicant's coding style, attention to detail, approach to testing, etc, etc
• Applicants gets a better idea of what tech skills we are looking for

I recently interviewed someone who did ok on the preliminary test, although one of her answers failed (badly) under some conditions. During the interview I demonstrated the faulty code and asked her to debug it on the spot. It was very enlightening.

I would not recommend this approach if you think personality is more important than technical aptitude.

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