[throwway_278314]

I've been out of work for close to 6 months now, actively searching, interviewing every week, and finding that what the job market seems to value is that you have done the exact same thing as what they are hiring for.

I've discovered breakthrough algos and delivered solutions which personalize medical care, sometimes with life and death outcomes.

Yet somehow that doesn't count when the company wants someone who has done personalization for consumer products.

I have other examples from other common DS roles/tasks, where I have done the equivalent thing to that role in a different context. And somehow that never seems to count.

So no, I don't have strong evidence that the job market values generic skills. Perhaps your experience has been different?

I can also hear someone saying "with the attitude that the poster is taking, I'm not surprised"-- so let me point out how difficult it is to extract attitude from text, and that the context here (presenting evidence to refute a claim) is very different from an interview context.