In conversations recently around technical hiring I've found a heavy emphasis on "AWS" knowledge rather than infrastructure know-how or proven experience buildi

In conversations recently around technical hiring I've found a heavy emphasis on "AWS" knowledge rather than infrastructure know-how or proven experience building on top of any stack. Sometimes, people don't even know what AWS is except that it is needed by their product. They need someone "strong in AWS." They don't know what AWS products they use or what they do. Separately, I have had a very senior developer convey a sense of respect for candidates that know AWS things that this developer does not know. I was surprised that the developer would give a pass on any subject so easily. There seems to be some sort of an implied belief in ability simply because the person can recite Amazon's branded solution names and have configured these things before. In part, because the interviewer doesn't know the buzzwords, they can't probe for the actual depth of experience. It feels almost like a "no one ever got fired for buying IBM" situation. And on the candidate side a "can't beat em, join em" by being able to recite AWS jargon, regardless of how well you can build and choose solutions to fit business needs.