Hiring is fundamentally broken at the vast majority of companies. Maybe the "senior" label is just to try and deter low quality candidates or maybe it's because they don't want to invest in any employee anymore for right or wrong reasons - employees leaving after a few years or maybe the company/management are focused on excel spreadsheets only.

Anyway, try applying to a job today or even pre-pandemic. Unless you went to a top school, are in the right geographic region (West Coast US, or NY area), or you have strong network connections, you're going to be going through a ridiculous number of job applications, then a non-nonsensical number of interview rounds, and maybe you'll get an offer.

Alternatively you spend 3-6 or more months studying leetcode and planet-scale system design, because random startups, banks, insurance companies also wants people who are only the of the best and pay "competitive salary".

The number of places that rejected me for trivial reasons is insane. I can only imagine what people entering the industry right now have to face, it can't be any better than it was.