Not exaggerating at all. I've never been in a position where I felt I had to lower my standards below "the best in the world (for our team)", and I've always been able to turn down a candidate who doesn't meet that criteria without having to worry about having an empty seat. That's how tech hiring should be; you're building an effective team rather than laying bricks.

Maybe I've been lucky with the organizations I've been associated with, but none of them has thought of hiring as filling slots, or of internships as anything other than nurturing the most promising young people to become great hires later.

Are people really hiring interns to get work done? No wonder we have so much unimaginative cookie-cutter software! I mean, there's no doubt that tons of people use absolutely abysmal hiring practices where making certain decisions would make them even worse, but that's not really interesting to talk about.