I use this framework for giving raises/promotions/feedback to existing employees, not for new hires. With actual employees you have a lot more information, so I

I use this framework for giving raises/promotions/feedback to existing employees, not for new hires. With actual employees you have a lot more information, so I believe companies should generally hire cautiously but give promotions and raises aggressively (most do the opposite IMO.) I did actually have a case similar to one you described, where someone was a very advanced specialist in a narrow area, and relatively weak in others. I was willing to make him an offer at a 5, another company hired him at a 7. I think that was the best outcome. In another, less extreme case, we used to have one "data scientist" role. We found that this required too much breadth, and people with the same role ended up doing very different things. So I've advocated for separate "data analyst" and "data scientist" roles, each with their own set of 4 competencies.