> ... someone I had worked with in the past
> and knew to be good at what he did.

That's an interesting addition.
Apparently he, by your standards (which are high), was deemed to be
good at what he did, but his resume was a disaster.
It's not at all unknown for people to be highly competent experts in a
specialist area but unable to perform at all well in others. Sometimes
this is a complete disqualifier for a role. In other cases Old-Joe in
the backroom lab may be unable to tie his shoelaces and may always
have coffee stains on his short, BUT be the secret weapon that gives
the company its edge.

Who gets to judge the merit of such things may be important. Old-Joe
may have worked out just fine at HP, coffee stains and all.


       Russell
--=20
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
.