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Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

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Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#191

Post by _whiteCaps_ »

MarcelOlsz wrote: post #172
tracker1 wrote: post #77

My biggest problem with leetcode type questions is that you can't ask clarifying questions. My mind just doesn't work like most do, and leetcode to some extent seems to rely on people memorizing leetcode type answers. On a few, there's enough context that I can relate real understanding of the problem to, such as the coin example in the article... for others I've seen there's not enough there for me to "get" the ques…

100%. I just went through an interview process where I absolutely killed the assignment (had the best one they'd seen), had positive signal/feedback from multiple engineers, CEO liked me a lot etc, only to get sunk by a CTO who thought it would be cool to give me a surprise live test because of "vibe coding paranoia". 11 weeks in the process, didn't get the role. Beyond fucking stupid. This was the demo/take-home (fo…

That is an insane amount of work for a job application. Were you compensated for it at all?

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#192

Post by tavavex »

yepitwas wrote: post #118
nice_byte wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

If the candidate asks if you're sure you want them to use any language and you say "yes", and then get pissy when they do, the candidate isn't the one who sabotaged anything and they're dodging a bullet if they "fail".

I feel like I'm entering a whole different universe on HN. Maybe things are this equal and fair on the senior, high-paying part of the spectrum that most people here seem to occupy, but in general there's a huge power imbalance in job interviews. Unless you're special and the company wants you in particular, it costs them nothing to turn you down in favor of the other 10000 perfect applicants, while you must find a job to survive.

As someone just starting out, the general feeling among my peers is that I must bend to the interviewer's whims, any resistance or pushback will get you rejected. If this is dodging a bullet, then the entire junior field is a WW1 trench, at least where I am. Why would a company hire someone who gets 9/10 on the behavioral portion when they have a dozen other 10/10 candidates? Of course when the interviewer asks me to use "any language", I'll assume they want Python or Java or C++ or Rust, not Bash or ALGOL 68. Stepping out of line would just be performatively asking them to reject me.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#193

Post by _whiteCaps_ »

MarcelOlsz wrote: post #172
tracker1 wrote: post #77

My biggest problem with leetcode type questions is that you can't ask clarifying questions. My mind just doesn't work like most do, and leetcode to some extent seems to rely on people memorizing leetcode type answers. On a few, there's enough context that I can relate real understanding of the problem to, such as the coin example in the article... for others I've seen there's not enough there for me to "get" the ques…

100%. I just went through an interview process where I absolutely killed the assignment (had the best one they'd seen), had positive signal/feedback from multiple engineers, CEO liked me a lot etc, only to get sunk by a CTO who thought it would be cool to give me a surprise live test because of "vibe coding paranoia". 11 weeks in the process, didn't get the role. Beyond fucking stupid. This was the demo/take-home (fo…

A surprise live test is absolutely the wrong approach for validating whether someone's done the work. IMO the correct approach is to go through the existing code with the applicant and have them explain how it works. Someone who used AI to build it (or in the past had someone else build it for them) wouldn't be able to do a deep dive into the code.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#194

Post by MarcelOlsz »

_whiteCaps_ wrote: post #191
MarcelOlsz wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100%. I just went through an interview process where I absolutely killed the assignment (had the best one they'd seen), had positive signal/feedback from multiple engineers, CEO liked me a lot etc, only to get sunk by a CTO who thought it would be cool to give me a surprise live test because of "vibe coding paranoia". 11 weeks in the process, didn't get the role. Beyond fucking stupid. This was the demo/take-home (fo…

That is an insane amount of work for a job application. Were you compensated for it at all?

No. Should I invoice them? I'm still livid about it. The kicker is the position pays a max of 60-120k euros, the maximum being what I made 5 years ago.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#195

Post by MarcelOlsz »

_whiteCaps_ wrote: post #193
MarcelOlsz wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100%. I just went through an interview process where I absolutely killed the assignment (had the best one they'd seen), had positive signal/feedback from multiple engineers, CEO liked me a lot etc, only to get sunk by a CTO who thought it would be cool to give me a surprise live test because of "vibe coding paranoia". 11 weeks in the process, didn't get the role. Beyond fucking stupid. This was the demo/take-home (fo…

A surprise live test is absolutely the wrong approach for validating whether someone's done the work. IMO the correct approach is to go through the existing code with the applicant and have them explain how it works. Someone who used AI to build it (or in the past had someone else build it for them) wouldn't be able to do a deep dive into the code.

We did go into the assignment after I gently bowed out of the goofy live test. The CTO seemed uninterested & unfamiliar with it after returning from a 3 week vacation during the whole process. I waited. Was happy to run him through it all. Talked about how to extend this to a real-world scenario and all that, which I did fantastically well at.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#196

Post by dsff3f3f3f »

MarcelOlsz wrote: post #180
samiv wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, what.. you did this as a take home for a position? Damn that looks excessive.

Yes. I put a ton of work into it. I had about 60 pages worth of notes. On inverse kinematics, FABRIK, cyclic algorithms used in robotics, A*/RRT for real-world scenarios etc. I was super prepared. Talked to the CEO for about two hours. Took notes on all videos I can find of team members on youtube and their company. Luckily the hiring manager called me back and levelled with me, nobody kept him in the loop and he fel…

Their hiring process seems absolutely absurd.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#197

Post by bluGill »

Apocryphon wrote: post #150
chaboud wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I interview with problem solving problems, the point is to understand how the candidate thinks, communicates, and decomposes problems. Critically, problem solving questions should have ways to progressively increase and decrease difficulty/complexity, so every candidate "gets a win" and no candidate "dunks the ball". Interviewers learn nothing from an instant epiphany, and they learn next to nothing from someone…

> the point is to understand how the candidate thinks, communicates, and decomposes problems Interviewers always say this, but consider: would you endorse a candidate who ultimately is unable to solve the problem you've presented them, even if they think, communicate, and decompose problems well? No interview in this industry prizes those things over getting the answer right.

Every interview I know is severely time limited. I don't care if you can solve the problem, so long as your are clearly making progress and have proven you could solve the problem if given longer.

Now I give you problems I expect to take 20 minutes if you have never seen them before so you should at least solve 1. I have more than once realized someone was stuck on the wrong track and redirection efforts were not getting them to a good track so I switched to a different problem which they were then able to solve. I've also stopped people when they have 6 of 10 tests passing because it is clear they could get the rest passing but I wouldn't learn anything more so it wasn't worth wasting their time.

In the real world I'm going to give people complex problems that will take days to solve.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#198

Post by MarcelOlsz »

dsff3f3f3f wrote: post #196
MarcelOlsz wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I put a ton of work into it. I had about 60 pages worth of notes. On inverse kinematics, FABRIK, cyclic algorithms used in robotics, A*/RRT for real-world scenarios etc. I was super prepared. Talked to the CEO for about two hours. Took notes on all videos I can find of team members on youtube and their company. Luckily the hiring manager called me back and levelled with me, nobody kept him in the loop and he fel…

Their hiring process seems absolutely absurd.

They probably think they are geniuses who "weeded out another AI guy!" High fives all around! It was a great process (for me) right up until it wasn't.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#199

Post by MarcelOlsz »

samiv wrote: post #188
MarcelOlsz wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I put a ton of work into it. I had about 60 pages worth of notes. On inverse kinematics, FABRIK, cyclic algorithms used in robotics, A*/RRT for real-world scenarios etc. I was super prepared. Talked to the CEO for about two hours. Took notes on all videos I can find of team members on youtube and their company. Luckily the hiring manager called me back and levelled with me, nobody kept him in the loop and he fel…

I feel bad for you, and I support you in naming and shaming this company. It's just horseshit to jerk people around like that. I hope you can at least leverage this demo. Maybe remove the identifications of it and shove it into your CV as a "hobby project"? It looks pretty good for that. Best!

Thanks man, I'm pretty much forced to do exactly that.

Re: Many hard LeetCode problems are easy constraint problems

#200

Post by bluGill »

erikerikson wrote: post #76
cratermoon wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Selecting for people like themselves.

I think this is one of the more true answers but can you be more specific? Like in race? Like in wealth? Like in defection willingness? Like in corruption? Asking for a friend who is regularly identified as among the most skilled but feels their career has been significantly derailed by this social phenomenon.

People decide what is like. I know some people who would never work with some group, but they have no problem with some other group.

In this case the group is people good at leetcode - the people I know of in that group are perfectly fine with any race so long as they can solve leetcode. There are people who care about race, but I've never had much to do with them so I can't guess how they think.

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