That probably could have been phrased better. Of course accomplishments in the field are important. What I mean is that if I'm kind of on the fence about a candidate, I'm more likely to say 'hire' if they show me who they are.
When someone in my research group went to interview at a national lab, a young professor in my department made a similar point to him. He said they're already impressed with your research - that's why they're flying you out to do go through the interview process in the first place. What they're evaluating now is you - do they want to work with you every day for the next ten years?