[vonmoltke]

You missed a key part of what I said:

> the companies you describe are in such high demand by applicants that they have more qualified applicants than slots to fill

That applies to every company you named. It's great that you managed to get one of those slots. There are plenty of people who don't, though, and they can end up in a much worse position if they spend their time on learning that the majority of companies don't recognize.