There's more than a hint here. It's not hard to hire competent people and then give them space to grow. As engineers, that is what we want, to grow, challenge yourselves. And it is the only way that experience occurs. If you as a company are not willing to invest in that, don't be surprised when people don't walk in your door and agree to do exactly the same things they've done 5x already, with no opportunity for growth.
I'll take a job that offers great opportunity and a mediocre salary any day. The vice versa not so much.
Just because you are specializing does not mean there is not room for growth of your knowledge, it just may not be in programming manner.
Consider specialization in say Expert Systems, you get to learn immense amounts about each domain which you are developing expert systems for, but I can understand employers wanting you to have a firm base in expert systems before hiring for you such a job.
The same can be said for 3D graphics, real time simulation software, and most other types of programming you could specialize. Just because you know everything there is to know about making realistic vehicles with 3D graphics does not mean there isn't plenty for you to learn about making realistic 3D dinosaurs and the nuances necessary to make them look amazing. You may not always be given tasks that require you to learn and develop new skills, but if you actually care about challenging yourself and learning you can generally find a way to incorporate challenges and learning new things into your job. You just have to be willing to put in the initiative to avoid forcing problems to be solved with the solutions familiar to you, and put in initiative to try new things learning enough about them to be able to advocate for their use when necessary.
TLDR: Just because the job doesn't force you to learn and be challenged, doesn't mean someone who wants to can't learn and challenge themselves on the job.
"I'm teaching myself 3D graphics"
There's more than a hint here. It's not hard to hire competent people and then give them space to grow. As engineers, that is what we want, to grow, challenge yourselves. And it is the only way that experience occurs. If you as a company are not willing to invest in that, don't be surprised when people don't walk in your door and agree to do exactly the same things they've done 5x already, with no opportunity for growth.
I'll take a job that offers great opportunity and a mediocre salary any day. The vice versa not so much.