>>a pretty big cultural divide here between people for whom this is a job and people for whom this is their identity Precisely. :) Still, as ganley points out,

>>a pretty big cultural divide here between people for whom this is a job and people for whom this is their identity Precisely. :) Still, as ganley points out, "truth is a long spectrum between the two". Simply put, question is whether the candidate is passionate about programming and software systems (and if so, is he competent enough ;)) or not. For few it is their identity, and for many, it is just a job. Even those who loathe(or do not care a damn about) programming/software/computers/technology could be given fancy designations and be employed in IT, thanks to that thriving segment in the industry (yeah, the one that provides 'cost-effective means to get anything done based on a checklist'). Real fun (read 'misery') is when there is a misfit around; i.e. like when there's a guy totally passionate about programming/computers with a bunch of 'I-won't-even-touch-computer-outside-work' types who abhor programming. /* yeah, the latter ones are for real. :) */