My experience has been that many, many untested juniors, whether they come from a 4-year CS program or a bootcamp, simply can't take a simple problem, break it

My experience has been that many, many untested juniors, whether they come from a 4-year CS program or a bootcamp, simply can't take a simple problem, break it down, and solve it with code on their own. I completely understand hiring managers that limit themselves to looking at devs with 3+ years of experience, because it tends to filter out folks that just can't do the basics of the job despite their credentials. Personally, I do like to hire juniors and help them grow their skills and their careers, but I need to see at least basic coding skills and a problem-solving mindset up front to make it worth the risk and the investment of time.