I think on a phone screen (which is typically something that is done in order to not waste everyone's time) something like fizzbuzz is fine. It's very easy to

I think on a phone screen (which is typically something that is done in order to not waste everyone's time) something like fizzbuzz is fine. It's very easy to lie about projects and to have some friends back you up - verifying all this takes time. Simply having something that takes five minutes to be sure you are talking with someone who can actually code is worth it from a phone screening point of view. I have only once asked this question in an actual interview. I had a "senior architect" in who told me he had led all kinds of projects but something just seemed off with him - he was very very good at steering the conversation away from the technical details of what he had actually done and instead talked in lots of generalities. The guy was supremely confident and likeable. Sure enough, he couldn't actually code for shit. When I later asked how he got past the phone screen, it turned out that he managed to intimidate the (junior) engineer giving the screen enough (by implying it was beneath the architect to even answer such a question) that he managed to get a "pass" even though he didn't actually do the task we asked. Some people are REALLY good at bullshitting.