My first dev job came after mid-way through a PHP course in college. Prior to this, I had also completed courses in Java and C++. At $10/hr (boy was I desperate), I was hired on to replace the outgoing fullstack web dev (basically at an email advertisement spamming company).
I was supposed to "get up to speed" with my replacement within a couple weeks of being hired. It was unwritten and unspoken, but basically I was to become the ad agency's sole fullstack web developer. At the time, I knew zero front-end and the PHP that I did know was murky (5.x) at best.
I had no chance in learning enough to replace the then sole fullstack dev and quit because, I just wasn't ready at the time to absorb front-end web technologies in that short amount of time. Boss warned me that when I give a deadline for a project, it may as well be prophetic - however, I was scared sh1tless giving any kind of projection on any kind of project with me as the sole developer doing things I've never done before; it seemed to me to be absurd.
Fast forward a few years, I just couldn't land any programming/web job because my experience didn't line up with what was requested - even when I thought I was around 70%+ qualified. After a while, I got fed up with the esoteric requirements, even for junior positions. It's exhausting reading through countless job listings trying to find something that may fit. So, to this day, I just code for fun - like a locally hosted movie server that I prefer over Plex. Sorry for the ramble. I'm estranged by the industry in regards to hiring for junior positions.