And then the job req might demand a "master" or "expert" or a "rockstar", but the responsibilities read like a remedial first semester intro to programming clas

And then the job req might demand a "master" or "expert" or a "rockstar", but the responsibilities read like a remedial first semester intro to programming class, and you'll ace the interview if you're not nervous about fizzbuzz. And lacking skilled lower level technical management, your personal success metric will be LOC, so rework makes you look more productive not less. A noob will do just fine on the job.