Like I said, they didn't do it to me.
But this was in the days of pre-ANSI K&R C. Very limited libraries. Very few coders. Using "real" Unix or original Tandy 6000 Xenix.
There were far fewer candidates in those days, and they were of much higher quality than now, simply because the barriers to entry were far higher.
It was not too much too ask then.
It would be now.