I understand the appeal of hiring somebody who needs minimal training, but they may still not be the best pick. When it comes to a long-term position, it is better to hire the great developer who takes two weeks to get up to speed with some language or technology than it is to hire the mediocre developer who happens to have used Node.js or whatever.
The key to overcome that is to not give a fuck and just apply anyway. I applied to countless jobs right out of University that turned me down, but that didn't matter since more than one didn't. Nearly all of them expected more experience than I had, but again it is just meaningless HR talk.
When Java was young, I remember many tales of Java job advertisements demanding experience extending back before the language existed.
My impression is that the current insanity isn't so much the absurdity of the bureaucratic demands but the degree to which people take them seriously...
I need a developer with 10 years of professional
experience, and he needs to know Java.
Developer with 10 years of Java experience