Internal recruiters(which is what I'm talking about) often times are stuck between a variety of competing interests in the company. Being sympathetic to this is

Internal recruiters(which is what I'm talking about) often times are stuck between a variety of competing interests in the company. Being sympathetic to this is only going to help you land a position. Recruiting in general is a more complex issue then just fitting a square plug into a square hole. This complexity combined with the internal politics that are at any company make for a stressed person. Regarding the technologies other folks answered this already. If you have a candidate that can hit the group running rather then having to get up to speed that can be very valuable. I'd imagine even more so due with a startup where you have a limited runway and a need for agility.