That's only sometimes true. There are plenty of intelligent developers learning the newest and coolest languages who'd I'd never hire. Why? Because learning co

That's only sometimes true. There are plenty of intelligent developers learning the newest and coolest languages who'd I'd never hire. Why? Because learning cool tech and Getting Stuff Done are two very different things. While it is true that most developers suck at writing code, knowing Scala doesn't tell me whether you: 1. Have enough discipline to do the boring, tedious parts of your job 2. Know how to prioritize tasks 3. Can write easily maintainable code 4. Can work well with others. Technical ability is only one part of an employee.