Comment Re:Checking for fundamentals is the way to go (Score 1) 809
One of the problems that I have in IT is that many companies expect that new candidates have experience with all the equipment they would be expected to handle.
I just interviewed several people to fill a position. I don't expect that they have experience in everything they will be touching, but I did ask each candidate about everything in our stack so I could guage how quickly the ramp-up time would be. For example, if you are an expert in 4/6 things in our stack, and haven't touched the last 2 items but have done work with comparable technologies, I can probably get you up to speed faster than if you have middling to mediocre experience in all 6.
In fact, that's exactly what I did. I took the candidate who was strongest in certain areas, with no experience in another, over the person who had less expertise, but better coverage across the list of technologies. I will restructure the team and task assignment to take advantage of the hire's strengths, and find training where lacking.
It's a lot easier to train an expert on 1 thing, then to try to improve an intermediate's skills in 5 things.