[pbhjpbhj]

>why would I want to hire the second person and ...

Someone commented on here recently that they would take motivated candidates over knowledgeable candidates. That's one reason. I can easily think of at least two others.

There are balance points here that vary according to all sorts of things.

[xyrouter]

I said, "Given two candidates with all things equal except ..."

I mean if there are two candidates who are equally motivated and are more or less equal in all things except that one is strong at CS fundamentals and another isn't, is there a good reason to reject the candidate who is good at CS fundamentals.

In many hiring decisions, I am faced with a similar choice, and I go for the person who is good at CS fundamentals. If two candidates are good in all other ways, then the understanding of CS fundamentals becomes a tie breaker. I see no rationale for selecting the guy who does not demonstrate his strength in CS fundamentals.