I have a friend who didn't know how to code in C++ (although he graudated from CS major) but still got into samsung as a developer, got trained how to write code there. It's a typical conglomerate thing in south korea though. The main strategy here is to assetize(they call them selves as samsung family member) their in-house trained developer. He's going to spend rest of his life there as a samsung developer, enjoying social prestige as a 'samsung employee'.

I recently heard they are now considering to move their code base from svn to git, and write some test code to stabilize the firmware that goes into the ssd products.

I don't think I can explain in short how a mediocre developer who never actually coded something into reality got a degree, and got a job in allegedly the biggest company in south korea... All I can say it is a complex korean thing that requires some cultural understanding of our society.