I've worked in the valley for ~9 years, have ~20 YOE if you include self-taught web dev and game dev work with a commercial game engine in online teams during h

I've worked in the valley for ~9 years, have ~20 YOE if you include self-taught web dev and game dev work with a commercial game engine in online teams during high school, and this has absolutely been my experience. The first thing I tell anybody starting out who asks me for advice is to study algorithms. Not because I think it will be inherently useful to programming, but because I think it will do more to help them interview for high-paying jobs than actual coding skills.