I think this is true of netpen work, which is heavily commoditized, but much less true of vuln research and appsec, which are the fields you're shooting for by learning to code. I generally agree that developer -> security is the right way to go.

The clients dont care, the shops care. The shop that will hire the pen tester onto their staff are the ones that do the filtering of applicants based off certs.

The reality is that OSCP is very hands on focused in training and examination. For the most part, based in real world skills and tools. Certs like CEH, Sec+ do jack shit for real world application, and focus you into memorizing things. At least passing the OSCP means you are competent in at least the basic tool set usage and application in an lab environment, which is more than most can say. Sure, you can be a competent pen tester without it, many are. but when you are staring down 100 resumes, where people spend more time making their resumes look good than they spend on polishing their skills, OSCP actually does its job in creating a known baseline of skills better than most other certs. (What certs are supposed to do)

Rarely have I seen clients care about the pen tester having OSCP. It has always been the employer that has cared.