If Bill (a) has the position(s) and (b) says TAOCP master is best candidate, then yes the person is "the most suitable candidate" for whatever job he has in mind. The End.
Besides, I can teach anyone software development. Kids do it with Scratch, average people did it with BASIC in school, and lay business people used COBOL, Excel, and Visual Basic. I'm sure someone who can learn everything from algorithm optimization to assembler coding can handle C++ with some on-the-job learning. In all likelihood, they already were programming in various languages if they tried to get such a job.
Nonetheless, Bill says they're a good hire for stuff at Microsoft. That's where it went from "I wonder" to "Yes they are." No need to speculate.
Besides, I can teach anyone software development. Kids do it with Scratch, average people did it with BASIC in school, and lay business people used COBOL, Excel, and Visual Basic. I'm sure someone who can learn everything from algorithm optimization to assembler coding can handle C++ with some on-the-job learning. In all likelihood, they already were programming in various languages if they tried to get such a job.
Nonetheless, Bill says they're a good hire for stuff at Microsoft. That's where it went from "I wonder" to "Yes they are." No need to speculate.