[coyotej]

I don't think the above commenter suggests you want people who DON'T have a basic understanding of computer-science at all. The problem is that the traditional 45min-per-interviewer style of interviewing really isn't sufficient to know if someone is a viable candidate or not. You don't know until they actually work on something.

That's what is refreshing about Pulse's process: you actually work on something and present it to them. This is very practical approach, and requires the use of the candidate's facilities which include, but are by no means limited to, computer-science understanding.

As an aside, I've also worked with people who have good technical skills but had serious attitude problems. Those people tend to have a very negative effect on company culture.