philomathie

What exactly were their requirements for a 'perfect' candidate? I'm not sure what one could need apart from a clean genetic history and ovaries.

good grades / looks / health / happiness

Are you single? (Joking!)

Agreed. My day is very similar to yours. It's not that I don't want to learn; I just lack the willpower (or the willingness to cut out other parts of my life that I find important).

Most people lack the motivation to do this however. It would also be difficult to persuade your employers that you actually know your stuff.

There might be some standardised exams you could take though, for certain subjects.

For an incredibly specialised field however, I would still imagine that most HR departments would see a candidate as "self-taught" and just throw their CV out.

I am not criticising whether this is right or not, just saying what would happen.

Tis the British way.