Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I address it (briefly) in a follow-up: https://www.natemeyvis.com/on-studying-for-your-upcoming-job....

People might not know what the code base is actually like; they have incentives to overstate its quality; and, even if they can point you to a relevant, authoritative book, that doesn't entail that the hour spent with it is better than an hour spent learning a tool.