I know this sounds unkind, but it is not a question of whether someone knows a particular tool, which I agree is not always essential. The overwhelming chances

I know this sounds unkind, but it is not a question of whether someone knows a particular tool, which I agree is not always essential. The overwhelming chances are that if a person has never used any version control system at all, they have not written software of any complexity and/or they have not written software in collaboration with others. The fact that they could, in fact, happen to be brilliant at both of those given a chance is an unknown quantity - and a pivotal part of hiring is to minimise the risk of someone not working out. Of course there are always good answers to questions even when the skill is not there; personally, I have yet to get one on this question. My advice to anyone who is a non-comp-sci grad (or lacks real software engineering experience for other reasons) that wants to turn into a programmer is to join an open source project and cut your teeth on that; not only is it going to give you an introduction to many things that count but it does so in a way that makes it very easy for a potential employer to verify them.