I’d say that’s a common requirement — but aside from the candidates that flat out lie are the ones that study by rote the specific questions that come up time and time again without any detailed knowledge of what they’re doing.

There’s a case for asking deep questions, throwing in curveballs and the like specific to a role for sure. I’d like to see deeper questions that test knowledge and understanding, not the usual 5-minute ‘please share your screen and write a function to do X’ all-too-common scenario.

With more experienced candidates, I’d firmly hold the position that it’s borderline insulting to be asked to reverse a string!