Given the recent hiring patterns of the regional airlines to hire pilots - who, though many consider unqualified, have this rating and and that-regardless of their limited apprenticeship- it's no wonder the rush to BUY the necessary ratings. I think one point that all flight instructors should emphasize is that the reason most jobs have an hour requirement is because experience is supposed to mean something. I posit that unless a person does a certain (flying) job for close to 1000hours they're still learning a great deal themselves. That first couple years of instructing - or towing gliders, towing banners, dropping jumpers, then flying 135, the learning curve is steep for us all.
Instructors should explain that a flying career is an apprenticeship. Move on only after you've taken the time to really do your current job well - market be damned. Do that and you'll have the chops when the next rung of the ladder comes your way. Doesn't happen every day, but occasionally I'll fly with a 90-day wonder who, I seriously doubt could manage a turbo centurion in IFR weather by themselves.