When I'm looking to hire a software developer, I would personally would rather hire someone who can write well-structured and maintainable code, can describe a system architecture they worked on in a way that is accessible to people not familiar with the domain space, and is able to say "I don't know that, but I know how to Google it".

Now, if I'm hiring a sysop / devop / security engineer, it's going to be differently focused to some extent, but the same principles apply - core knowledge, communication, humility, ability to research.