[chrisbuchino]

I have hired (and fired) a lot of software developers and cannot stress enough the importance of having candidates write code up-front. Having made poor hiring decisions myself by not doing this well and having "inherited" team members who whose coding skills left something to be desired, I would argue that few things are as crippling to an organization as bad programmers. Someone can be the nicest person ever, but if they don't write code well - they will cost you in time, money, and unnecessary technical debt.

I don't agree that FizzBuzz tests are the ways to screen developers though. These types of questions may give insight into IQ but I've seen really bright people be really sloppy coders. The way the problem is solved is just as important as getting the problem right and making it fast. If it isn't readable, you better hope that person does not get hit by a bus because if you need to modify it later, you're in trouble.