I'd say that for senior positions generally companies are looking for qualities that go beyond technical expertise (where in coding or something else). This includes communication skills, poise, etc.
That's true but the more senior the position, the truer it is. If a new grad or candidate for a junior position seems to have the skills for an internally-facing position, I'm more likely to overlook some social awkwardness or so-so communication skills than in someone more senior.
In this particular case I guess questioning the business model of the company by bringing some controversy on the first interaction wasn't very strategic. Maybe the staff engineers they have hired don't do that!
I doubt that was the deal breaker. I always question the company's business model in the interview. If they can't defend their business model to an applicant, how can they possibly do so to investors, customers, and/or other companies looking to make strategic partnerships? Their due diligence is far more severe than mine (or the author's).
I asked the question because it's not the first time I've heard something similar to "learn to talk like other staff engineers". I've heard it a few times, I've read/heard other people being told some variation of it, and it even shows up in the Staff Engineer book by Will Larson. I was hoping to get more insight from people either hiring Staff engineers or other Staff engineers themselves.
Author here. I do hire staff engineers these days. A few points:
1. Spotify is a Swedish company with a strong brand identity. Conformity culture is a bit strong, so I can totally understand why they would want "someone like us" than someone who would ask the challenging questions. That's my take on that interaction but maybe I didn't write it well. I edited the article a bit.
2. Staff is a leadership position and like other leadership roles, the impact of your personal belief will not stay at the individual level but rather spread. A positive attitude pays dividents. In that particular example, I went in with negative prejudice. The right interaction would be to have an objective argument and share their view as someone who bought into it and is working at the company. The least they could do is to use that as an opportunity to set the record straight. At least that is what I do if a candidate asks the hard questions. I don't have to convince them, but I'll do my best to honestly answer it and quite frankly maybe I learn something about the company I'm presenting that I didn't know.
I've heard this from other people, too. Is talking the talk really this important to employers looking to hire staff engineers? And if it is, why?