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Really depends on the company and interviewer. I can't teach problem solving and critical thinking skills, but those are what I focus on during interviews and why I toss 98% of the applications that make it to my manager and myself after an interview. Given I am a hybrid SRE/SWE my role and team is a bit weird, but I can give somebody extra time on tasks while they're learning new tools or responsibilities, what I ca…
> what I can't do is have somebody tell me "I don't know how to do that" and require I sit with them and walk them through the entire thing Man is this underrated. My peers are so hyper-focused on whether or not new hires know SQL (of all things), and not whether they can adequately problem solve. And then they wonder why my hires, though they might start slower, end up being stars. To your other point, I’m even fine…
I love sitting down with newer employees, especially junior engineers, and going over stuff like that, along with explaining why specific design choices were made, and concepts they may be unfamiliar with. One of the ones that paired with me on many of my projects from my original team is now the maintainer of those very same projects now, and hot damn does it bring a smile to my face that somebody can send me a message about something and I can just @mention him and pass the buck without worrying. We’d mostly been a .Net+MSSQL shop and these projects were a mix of Python, Kotlin, and PostgreSQL, but he ran with it after I helped get him setup and walked him through the code and gave him some time to pick up the tools.
That success is what solidified my views that critical thinking skills, along with a commitment to lifelong learning, are the best indicators of success for new hires with my org. I can’t teach people these qualities, but those that have them will seek the answers and know how to apply them once they’ve picked them up.