Missing out on jobs because of LeetCode • Hacker News Board

Re: Missing out on jobs because of LeetCode

#31

Post by dwaltrip » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 10:06 PM UTC

skarlso wrote: post #25

some-guy wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a staff engineer with ADHD and extreme test anxiety. When looking for another job during COVID I was rejected by every company at the screening stage I spoke to. The only offer I got was for Netflix which gave me a take-home assignment. It was wonderful because I had confidence in my code when I brought it back to the interviewers and could explain very clearly what was going on. I ended up not taking the job due…

I feel you. I have adhd as well. I have routines when I code which some people don’t like or can’t follow and that caused problems during interviews. When I do pair coding today with people I worked with for a while now that’s not a problem because they understand my style and they don’t mind because they are good people. But most people don’t understand why I do the thing I do and start saying no and that’s not supp…

Anyone who doesn’t understand “make it work, then make it nice” isn’t a real engineer :)

Re: Missing out on jobs because of LeetCode

#32

Post by nunez » Thu, Jan 09, 2025, 11:36 PM UTC

oaththrowaway wrote: post #6

I know some people hate take-home assessments, but for me it's a total life saver in interviews. I don't "think" out loud while I'm working, and there's no way in hell I'm doing it nervous while someone is looking over my shoulder. Using Leetcode as a filter is great if you're looking for someone who interviews often, but in my experience it's not a great gauge if someone is a good engineer or not. As a hiring manage…

I generally dislike take homes because the grading criteria is often extremely arbitrary and making time for them alongside your day job can only be done on nights and weekends.

The only exception to this are take homes that you pair on during the interview.

Re: Missing out on jobs because of LeetCode

#33

Post by jacknews » Fri, Jan 10, 2025, 9:36 AM UTC

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #20

ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #10

Leetcode is slavery for developers. Shun any company that uses that for interviews because they are cargo culting idiots.

I don't like leetcode either but you harm your point when you compare it to slavery. You are not compelled to work. If you don't like it, you are free to walk out of the interview room and go on with your life.

"You are not compelled to work."

I'm not the OP, and I agree with you, but actually, you kind of are compelled to work, if you want to eat.

Re: Missing out on jobs because of LeetCode

#34

Post by redserk » Fri, Jan 10, 2025, 1:50 PM UTC

bdangubic wrote: post #24

redserk wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an employer's market. Why would an employer want to wait 3-4 weeks for someone to interview elsewhere when there's a dozen other candidates in the pipeline?

OK - if it is “employer market” than you as a candidate can suck it up and either stay up all night and finish all three take-homes or pick 1 or 2 of the employers to interview with. on a side note - if employer does not want to wait and wants to rush the hire chances are you don’t want to work there anyways…

I disagree with the assertion of “rushing the hire” right now.

Nobody in their right mind is waiting on 1 candidate for several weeks to maybe hear from them unless there aren’t other good options.

And unless you’re notorious and exceptional, there are a lot of good options in the stack of resumes right now.