I think the problem here is the company never knows if it is looking for a specific skillset or not, and "how specific" to hire. Then using that as a crutch to avoid asking hard questions of itself if it can hire-to-train.
Most specific skillsets can be trained with a broad enough education. That's what most other industries/career paths rely on. Software uses the excuse that technologies move "too quickly" to avoid hiring to train or hiring generalists that would be fine with a specific skillset if given the right guidance/time/budget.
> I would be willing to bet that you have at least one thing on your resume that is embellished ever so slightly.
I don't. Why would I?
This is exactly what I'm complaining about. As an industry we've taken a "guilty until proven innocent" mentality and interviews aren't about respect but presuming lies and always about "ferreting out" the liars. It's awful and just about no other industry works that way in hiring decisions.
I've had interviews find lies that a recruiter edited into my resume, but that's a problem with the industry's relationship with bad recruiters and doesn't seem a good reason to call me a liar, when I'm not the one doing that.