It depends on how much effort we want to put into training entry level programmers. Different companies have different requirements. If we intend to train the

It depends on how much effort we want to put into training entry level programmers. Different companies have different requirements. If we intend to train the programmer from the ground up, then we can probably look for programmers who are smart, resourceful and self-sufficient. We can train the rest, like good coding, etc. If our expectations are higher, then what I look for is code sensibility. Do they cut and paste the code without thinking "hey, this is kind of dumb to do"? Do they see repeated code and think "this can be collapsed into something more succinct"? This is the hardest thing to train for, and the most time consuming from a mentor point of view, so if we have a high bar for entry level programmers, then code sensibility is one of the factors on top of the 3 above that I look for. I've rejected interns that worked for me from a permanent position because after 4 months, they still had terrible code sensibility. I had to pour through their code with a fine tooth comb because it was riddled with tiny bugs, and it needed constant rewrites because they just didn't improve over the course of the internship. I've had other interns that just "got it" and wrote great code from the start, or only needed a few reviews and then "got it". Those are the ones that will be productive quickly and won't hamper the rest of the team with lengthy reviews.