[daveslash]

I'm sure it depends on your organization, and with large orgs maybe even your particular subdivision. That said, I can sympathize. I'm involved in the interviewing process of my niche in the org and try my best to hire quality candidates, but I can say that a non-trivial amount of devs are hired into the org without demonstrating any ability to code.

I think even a simple fizz-buzz can be a good litmus test. "I see here that you put JavaScript on your resume - good, we need that here. Let's open a console window in Chrome and do FizzBuzz". I've honestly gotten blank stares - developers who don't even know where to start.

[Edit: Spelling]