> And later, when joining a better company, s/he more deeply understands the reasons behind their good practices -- because s/he has seen the mess, without.
There are two assumptions here:
1. that the person will be accepted into that better company, even with these pre-existing sub-optimal practices which may manifest in a coding interview or a take-home task
2. that the person will be open to learning these better practices, instead of being set in their ways, after having had their first experiences shape their views without the desire to challenge them
I agree that there is definitely potential for growth, but in some respects, for certain individuals such pre-existing views might be a liability. Though that also speaks of one's quality as an engineer, of course.