Focus on the pain points hooks solved: "Logic reuse required HOCs or render props which created wrapper hell. Custom hooks let me extract and share stateful logic as plain functions."
Hooks solve logic reuse (custom hooks replace HOCs and render props), avoid the confusion of "this" binding, and allow related code to be grouped together instead of split across lifecycle methods. Strong candidates mention that hooks compose better, reduce boilerplate, and make testing easier. They should also note that class components still work and are not deprecated.
Baseline React knowledge. Candidates who cannot explain why hooks exist may have adopted them without understanding the motivation. Those who dismiss class components entirely may lack experience with older codebases.