entry level is bar far the easiest to interview for.
with experienced people they always think they are at or near the top of the scale, but dont understand that you have a different scale entirely.
with a junior person, ask them to describe a project they worked on. if they 'i dunno, school stuff', then you're done.
if you can engage with them meaningfully about their school work, or if they've done personal projects, have developed any kind of insight, show a spark of excitement or creativity then you're done - hired.
just keep an eye on them for a while to make sure they're engaged and absorbing culture. invest a good amount of time in their success (mentorship, pair debugging, whiteboard talks). if they dont start contributing more than they are costing in time after a few months, find them another role or fire them.
I love your attitude, but when I got out of school, nobody gave a flying eff about personal projects. This was before Google Analytics, so I had to track IPs myself, but I think something like .1 percent of companies looked at my website--and that might have been a false positive.
Even the company that eventually hired me didn't look at my website.
if you've spent years programming and dont have anything to say about it, there isn't anything for me to go on. you obviously dont have any real interest in it, and you're below the bar where i'm willing to invest the time to see if you're teachable. what would you suggest instead? gpa? top school? test? those dont seem particularly relevant.
edit: oh, maybe i wasn't clear. school projects are fine grist, you just have to be able to say something interesting about them
with experienced people they always think they are at or near the top of the scale, but dont understand that you have a different scale entirely.
with a junior person, ask them to describe a project they worked on. if they 'i dunno, school stuff', then you're done.
if you can engage with them meaningfully about their school work, or if they've done personal projects, have developed any kind of insight, show a spark of excitement or creativity then you're done - hired.
just keep an eye on them for a while to make sure they're engaged and absorbing culture. invest a good amount of time in their success (mentorship, pair debugging, whiteboard talks). if they dont start contributing more than they are costing in time after a few months, find them another role or fire them.