Those used to be called "junior engineers." You should always try to hire smart people, right? The "academic-seeming" ones are probably fairly fresh out of coll

Those used to be called "junior engineers." You should always try to hire smart people, right? The "academic-seeming" ones are probably fairly fresh out of college. What they're lacking that the grizzled old vets have is experience. So is your question about how to give them experience? Let them experiment and fail in small ways that would hurt everyone else. We learn best through failure. Give them cordoned-off pieces of things to work with. Work with them on how to plan work - what factors matter and why. Do frequent check-ins with them to see how they're approaching things and what problems they're facing. Ask lots of questions, provide advice, but don't offer too much of that advice unsolicited (because failing is a better teacher than you are). Mentor them!