There's definitely a place, probably the majority, for programming jobs that are relatively 'turn key'. There's probably a decent analogy in product photograph

There's definitely a place, probably the majority, for programming jobs that are relatively 'turn key'. There's probably a decent analogy in product photography. Unless you're going high end, bashing out well lit, well edited and well presented product imagery lies firmly towards the technical end of the photography technical - art spectrum. Trouble is, many companies think the want these 'product photography' programmers but in reality they need the equivalent of 'stock photography'. And stock photography is one of the most difficult and challenging technical/artistic balances in the industry. Both turn out similarly neutral end products that can be used almost anywhere and replicated, but getting to those final products requires very different mindsets and approaches. That's likely stretching the metaphor more than it can handle but hopefully illustrates the point! And as you mentioned, having that 'personal portfolio' that allows you to sell yourself (another important distinction I made in another comment) will get you the job ahead of someone who doesn't have one.