Most of my job as a software developer is communicating with other people (stakeholders, peers, management), including written (pr comments, emails to various people, Teams chats, design documents) and vocal. Even writing code is ultimately a form of communication (code structure, variable names, comments, etc...).
Even new developers who are primarily going to be mentored greatly benefit from being able to effectively communicate with their mentor and the rest of the team (plus being able to grow into more senior roles).
Someone doesn't need to be perfect at communicating or anywhere close, but just like I wouldn't hire someone who cannot show a baseline of programming skills and knowledge, I also wouldn't hire someone who cannot show a baseline of communication skills (and I have regretted getting swayed by other interviewers when a candidate did well in other aspects).
I agree. I'd assess a technical writing sample though. I'm actually shocked this doesn't occur. Some months I spend 75% of my time thinking, writing about designs, diagramming, then meeting, communicating, reviewing and iterating on the doc. Coding is the easy part.
Even new developers who are primarily going to be mentored greatly benefit from being able to effectively communicate with their mentor and the rest of the team (plus being able to grow into more senior roles).
Someone doesn't need to be perfect at communicating or anywhere close, but just like I wouldn't hire someone who cannot show a baseline of programming skills and knowledge, I also wouldn't hire someone who cannot show a baseline of communication skills (and I have regretted getting swayed by other interviewers when a candidate did well in other aspects).