I'm generally on board with this point - encouraging everyone to shoot for the top 10% inherently means letting down 90% of people.
But I think in this case, the issue might be that rather than one job being the first step to the other, we're talking about two totally distinct tracks. If a company is sufficiently shoddy and certification-happy, it's possible that they don't even provide meaningful experience for someone seeking the top-tier options. You might be better served by hardening systems at some general software job than getting an entry-level security job and blindly throwing Nessus at client's systems.
But I think in this case, the issue might be that rather than one job being the first step to the other, we're talking about two totally distinct tracks. If a company is sufficiently shoddy and certification-happy, it's possible that they don't even provide meaningful experience for someone seeking the top-tier options. You might be better served by hardening systems at some general software job than getting an entry-level security job and blindly throwing Nessus at client's systems.