“Experience”

I agree with most of what you are saying about how your skill and impact drive your trajectory once you get a job (and also the strong Codesmith alumni network who stay involved) - and I also add that many people can accelerate their careers by seeking outside training to increase that skill. One key thing I disagree on, which is that the blatant exaggeration harms those with similar experience who don't exaggerate. I gave the example before, but I did a four month long entire semester college thesis project that involved hours and hours of running around Toronto doing scientifically correct user research, building a prototype, repeating, launching a product, hundreds of pages of writing. If I don't create a facade to make this look like this was a company and work experience to boost my resume, I'm being harmed by those people that are doing that for less significant projects. At the end of the day we are individuals and people disagree on this "harm" but I don't believe it can entirely be dismissed. If it stays on the legal side of fraud, the net effect is an arms race of YOE requirements on entry level job posts that further worsen the problem. P.S. I'm by far not the angriest person about this based on this thread :D EDIT: This person posted a defamatory comment and then blocked me. I’m sorry they feel that way but please read through both of our comment histories on Reddit, all public for the world to see, and judge for yourself the accuracy of those statements before believing them.