I Don't Agree That There Really Is a Tech Worker Shortage

Well Said. I too am in a similar position you have explained. I have a Computer Science college degree (graduated in November) and I have been applying to junior/graduate level jobs that have inflated expectations of what a regular graduate should know (especially technologies).

All these claims of tech worker shortages recruiters talk about is hard to believe. I think there is a communication breakdown with companies and education centers breakdowns when it comes recruitment.

And that is while sitting at a desktop computer, full internet access and no one eyeing behind them.

I don't. Probably your definition of "engineer" is different from mine.

"Another problem is that us engineers are expected to have real-world, paid experience in whatever technology the hiring company uses"

Generalization and obviously not true. I have a company, I don't care about paid experience, in fact we hired lots of people from open source projects, or directly from University with no experience at all.

"At one time, a college degree and a demonstrable grasp of computing technology was all one needed. Companies were happy to train. No longer."

During the dotcom bubble anyone that could click a button was hired. But it was a bubble.

The better demonstration of grasping computing technology is actually having done something with a computer.

When computers filled a room it was impossible for people to code on their own. Now you could find people with college degree AND experience writing software for others or for their own.

"yet one cannot get a job writing Swift code, unless one already has PAID Swift experience on one's resume."

This is your belief not reality.

"It's not enough to just read a book."

Of course. Programming is not about reading books. The better programmer is not the one who reads the most books.

In fact, I consider books obsolete. Everybody in my company has free Lynda accounts.

Tech is one of those fields that ends up a lot like dating. You know there's people out there that could re-write your whole system overnight--the "rockstars". Because of this I get the feeling that people are turning down tons of job applications just because they feel the applicants aren't "rockstar-y" enough.

I think the experience mentioned here also holds true. Companies want people that can get the ball rolling, but also underestimate how much training can help. At my current company, I'm probably at a training, that is beneficial to myself, at least once a week. I know I'm an outlier, but tying this all together, I think hiring managers are to the point where they're expecting too much from applicants, while undershooting the ability of even the mediocre applicants.

I would rather employ a self-taught developer with some experience and pragmatism born out of real-world experience than I would someone with impeccable academic credentials.

Forgive me if I sound touchy but I'm self-taught, my knowledge of algorithms is extremely patchy - but I think I'm a competent developer in the domains to which I apply myself.