A lot of companies don't care if you have x years of experience. They hire based on what they think is talent, and then train them. Even for senior-level positions, they may only care that the person is senior, not necessarily, "has x years in language x".

To be sure, there are companies that do care about domain experience - and I personally value it as well. But that experience often carries a price that some companies will jump through hoops in order to avoid paying. I've seen that first hand, unfortunately.