I think your article is excellent. I think mentoring is great but expensive and most companies aren’t willing to spend the money. I have been mentoring a junior developer since the beginning of the year and it takes time to mentor someone especially when they aren’t that interested in learning. It probably works well in larger companies.
I read with interest about the problems faced trying to hire senior developers. What is a senior developer these days? I have seen people with less than 5 years of experience holding that title. It’s very subjective. Each company decides what the differences are.
Your article focuses on Javascript but most of the position postings that I see are looking for someone who has more than just Javascript and some of the requirements are absurd. For example, it’s a rare developer who has a lot of experience with Java and C#. Many companies are looking for Superperson rather than looking for developers with the potential to grow into Superperson.
I complete agree that understanding design patterns helps immensely when developing new applications but it’s not as helpful when enhancing an older application unless you are adding in a completely new functionality.
It’s difficult for both employers and potential employees. I don’t see that changing because the number of languages out there and the frequency in which changes are added to those languages makes it difficult to keep up as a developer.