Having read through it, I think he's trying to hire for fit with himself and his team. An inbuilt assumption is that the candidates are capable of doing the role - he mentions going through their CV, or perhaps he's already covered off skills. I don't think he's saying that skills to do the role aren't required: so he's not hiring graduates and then giving them the skills for the job, for example.
It's a tough one, if you don't look at whether a candidate could fit within the team (in this case they care about 'passion') then you're storing up problems on the team dynamic front. On the other hand, as you point out, it's difficult to hire on personality without subconsciously hiring people you like which is often people like you: which means less diversity.
Comments
Having read through it, I think he's trying to hire for fit with himself and his team. An inbuilt assumption is that the candidates are capable of doing the role - he mentions going through their CV, or perhaps he's already covered off skills. I don't think he's saying that skills to do the role aren't required: so he's not hiring graduates and then giving them the skills for the job, for example.
It's a tough one, if you don't look at whether a candidate could fit within the team (in this case they care about 'passion') then you're storing up problems on the team dynamic front. On the other hand, as you point out, it's difficult to hire on personality without subconsciously hiring people you like which is often people like you: which means less diversity.