> I think the experience of building something atop a framework should absolutely have bearing on how to build the underlying framework.
You'd be wrong. If your job is maintaining a framework then your focus is on internal details, and how the framework is used would be limited to your concerns in putting up test sets.
Believing that working on a framework gives you equivalent or even similar experience to using said framework in professional settings is a kin to believing that all mechanics are excellent drivers just because they work on cars.