Crafting software is a trade, not a profession. I say this without disrespecting either, because I do both myself (qualified lawyer, software dev)

A profession at the very least has a central governing body that is regulated and hands out certificates that have an inherent value because they enable the holder to do something that is typically restricted unless you hold it: law, medicine, accountancy.

The certificates you speak of are typically designed by commercial entities that are usually there to make money off people through education rather than regulate and control how their services are delivered.

So are they worthwhile in the real world? IMO no, someone who can demonstrate their ability to apply their skills as a dev in order to solve my business needs is much more attractive than someone who’s completed a course about how to use LangChain but hasn’t got a clue how to apply that to a real world problem.

For your bonus q, I can only speak to my own experience, but even holding an LLM in corporate tax from King’s College London was not a significant enough advantage when I was applying to become a lawyer 20 years ago - the firms wanted people with commercial knowledge and practical experience then, and I doubt anything has changed now - whether for law firms or software companies.