[roblocop]

I think the article side steps the value in learning something well by doing it yourself (in the case of the new hire). I appreciate the confidence gained by pair programming and hand holding. But oftentimes even though they were able to be productive with a senior team member, that does not translate to having confidence or being productive when alone. Depending on how the pair worked together, the new team member could have blindly nodded their head. They'll still need to take the additional time to relearn or do it again themselves. In that case, I'd rather pair program to get them ramped up, work on something by themselves, then come back later to review what they've done without side stepping the value in self learning and exploration, which enables them to take ownership of the idea/methodology. Perhaps they'll even have a new approach which is healthy for the team at large.

[Calamitous]

When pairing, my recommended approach is to switch who is driving for every new test or method being written (sometimes called 'ping-ponging'). I can attest that, done correctly, this is extremely valuable when learning an unfamiliar technology. As a newb, you get to watch how the experienced developer does it, then it's turned right around and you have to do it yourself.

You can tear through some code pretty damn fast, and it is an awesome way to learn.