[mianos]

Where "turn out not to know basic C programming or systems level algorithms" is failing some leetcode puzzle they have not touched in the last 20 years while they have been full time writing C and C++? So hell of a time not finding your definition of 'good people' would be kinda expected.

[01100011]

No it's more like failing to understand how to implement a basic memory allocator which is a very relevant task for a systems engineer.

[mianos]

OK, yep I get that. Excuse my cynicism. True, most of us system programmers could describe, in detail, malloc and free from scratch and write a basic malloc from scratch and then know why the basic K&RT whipped up malloc would actually be quite crappy when faced with real world use.

[Gollapalli]

I am looking to transition into this sort of work from a more "general development" sort of background. Any resources you could recommend?

[hackable_sand]

I seriously doubt you and ivalm are having a hard time finding SWEs capable of memory management in C.

Something is terribly wrong with your hiring practices. You just need to admit it's a "you" problem.