This is so true it hurts.

We're engineers and problem solvers, so we should be able to solve this issue too. But as long as recruiters and HR and less-technical managers have their say, it's not going to get fixed.

When I'm on the other side of this (when I'm interviewing a prospective hire) I like to throw out the rule book and simply get to know the candidate. My bullshit indicator isn't infallible, but if someone says that they can do the job, I assume we'll find out soon enough whether or not that's true. We can show them the door at any time.