I have found that hiring engineers often is done with strict objective criteria: do they know the language and tools well and can demonstrate that live in front of a bunch of peers. Also they are measured on subjective "does everyone on the team like then enough to go out for a beer with them?" I've seen Sr. engineer positions stay open for years with 50+ candidates interviewed.
Hiring managers tends to be done with subjective criteria like "did the CTO get a good vibe from them in a 15min call?" I've seen engineering managers hired by just being the first friendly person through the door.
That said, I've met so many former engineering managers who just can't find work and now haven't written code in years. There's a lot of competition for a few jobs, and no real way to distinguish yourself. They are a very sad lot, and the biggest reason I left the management track to become an IC again. After talking with the 30th sad former manager who can't write an if statement I saw the writing on the wall and got back into engineering.
