[Arisaka1]

>When I interview people, I ask them to describe one of their difficult work projects

This only leads to a "rich get richer" kind of situation, where people who happened to get jobs that provides them with the kind of impressive difficult projects will keep working on difficult projects.

[joenot443]

This is just a reality of hiring, I think. People with more experience tend to find it easier to get hired, thus granting them even further experience.

IMO, the best way to avoid this chicken/egg is with government subsidized technical internships like we have in Ontario. It's a great deal, businesses get junior technical labor at 50% on a fixed contract, and the students get access to learning they'd never have during school.

[klez]

That's not meant to see who works on impressive projects. It's meant to see how you work in projects you find difficult and how you face that kind of difficulty.