As Your Mother points out, every company is different, and so my perspectives and opinions are ... well, just that.   In fact, the larger the company grows, the more rigorously-defined is the makeup and actions of “hiring committees,” who to their credit are often faced with a lot of candidates.   I do not work in that world, and never have.

And, yes, there are always interviewers who are going to “try to out-tech you.”   It is just as impossible to characterize how an interview(er) might go, as to characterize any other behaviors of real people.   All that I can express is what drives me, personally ... and, to a lesser extent, those of the committees that I have been part of.

Obviously, any technical position presupposes a certain amount of basic familiarity with the tools and techniques that are being used in the shop.   “We’re not running a school here,” even though you did hear me using the word, “teach.”   Some baseline competency and understanding is needed.   But I don’t necessarily want someone who is hip-waders deep “in Perl,” who has done nothing else in his life than “Perl,” who interjects how great he thinks “Perl” is, and especially who’s just a little too-quick to tell me how great he is.   Someone who has worked with a cross-section of tools beyond “Perl and JavaScript” will certainly draw my eye.   Someone who sees the fact that there’s Python and Java and a little C-sharp going on, and who seems glad to hear about that, will do the same.   A long-winded answer to, “so, which is better ... waterfall or agile?” won’t win points, especially if you produce a bible.

Full disclosure:   I have never, ever, hired at “entry level.”   Consider these comments (or, throw darts at them) accordingly.

I personally try to sense, “greatness without attitude.”   Where I feel that I can give this person a piece of work to do ... ideally, not in exhaustive pre-digested detail ... and know, not only that he will do a good and competent job, but that he will freely share what he is doing with the others and will work with the others so that the entire team reaches a mutual goal, and none of them rest until all the tests (including all the new ones) run clean again.   I need strong players, sometimes very strong, but they must be players.   Ability, professionalism, but not ego.

But, again ... that’s just me.   Hiring is a very tough thing to do, and everyone does it more-or-less differently.   This is my Humble and not one whit more.