The programming talent myth

The programming talent myth

The problem with this is that it is very difficult for a recruiter to figure out whether somebody will be an asset or a liability in the concrete position that they try to fill.

It seems to me that the grandparent's comment about management telling them to hire programmers from a specific company only to discover they were adding nothing might even be an example of this. I doubt management wanted people from that company because they were intent on wasting money; they presumably expected those programmers to be great. Instead, they failed to produce.

It seems to me that this is a potential advantage for people hiring in FOSS. In that case, you may well be hiring somebody not based on their general reputation but for their specific expertise with exactly what you want them to work on. It seems like it would take a lot of guesswork out of hiring.