Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Avoiding Leetcode Anxiety

leetcodetherapy.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 157 posts

Re: Avoiding Leetcode Anxiety

#81

Post by phist_mcgee »

sumtechguy wrote: post #75
cebert wrote: post #10

I wonder ten years from now how common LeetCode like interviews are. These types of interviews favor those who have the luxury of ample time to prep for difficult interviews and aren’t representative of most daily working environments. This process fails to consider candidates that would be good fits. When I help with interviews, I place much more values on communication skills, teamwork, mentorship, and a general pa…

I do not think they are going away. They are a filter some like to use. I personally use a dead simple 'leetcode' style program because I want to see they have the basics and can communicate them. I have had to filter more than a few people just because of that. If you can not handle some simple if's and for loops you are in for some real trouble later on. Sometimes they will come in and bust on through it quickly. W…

Dude come on...

1. You seem to think that your interview version of basic concept of 'simple ifs and for loops' is the base tier of programming. It's not man, everyone has their blindspots and you are selecting for candidates who are most similar to you.

2. You display hubris in your skills test by assuming that people who can brag the most are somehow more qualified than those who are more humble. Protip, people who code outside of work are not better developers. They are just enterained by their work skills in their personal time.

3. You display immense superiority claiming that your 'class' could not achieve what you wanted them to achieve. You attach meaning to this result. Not many people really want to study at work.

Re: Avoiding Leetcode Anxiety

#82

Post by jeffreyrogers »

dhanna wrote: post #79

I honestly think leetcode is a pretty terrible way to learn how to do algorithm problems, especially without a formal education in algorithms. The large test case bank is the most useful feature. The discussion and solutions shared on the site tends to be lacking in breadth and depth. I was happier to learn algorithms properly via the algorithms Coursera course taught by Sedgewick. The next time I need to go through…

You need both. The theory is important for seeing what class of problem you're trying to solve and to give you an idea of what general approaches might work. The actual problems are needed to get you skilled in actually applying the theory and for learning how to adapt the basic algorithms/techniques under different conditions.

Re: Avoiding Leetcode Anxiety

#83

Post by nomy99 »

phist_mcgee wrote: post #78
nomy99 wrote: post #67

I started doing leetcode when the pandemic hit. I wanted to be ready in case I got fired and I have to do an interview... surprisingly I fell in love with it. I am one of those ppl that writes codes in their head, so I just look at a problem and go on with my day until I have a solution. Then I write it and test it out. It's enjoyable to me, and I have been forced to learn a lot of CS concepts I had forgotten and tec…

I sure as shit hope you don't breeze through. Why should practicing mental leetcode questions prepare you for a job interview in the real world? In my company, you wouldn't breeze through, because we don't participate in 'whiteboard culture', or maybe those sorts of companies you have self selected out of?

I'd rather breeze through a process I've no control over. Don't hate the playa, hate the game!!!

Re: Avoiding Leetcode Anxiety

#84

Post by pjmlp »

resolaibohp wrote: post #74
goatcode wrote: post #72

More and more tech companies are beginning to hire for soft skills as a main emphasis, with basic technical skills as a given. They're tending to intentionally NOT hire l337 folks, with a lot of emphasis on avoiding the "brilliant jerk." So, if you are personally interested in the work, willing to learn, and aren't a jerk, you'll probably go further than someone who has traveling salesman memorized in 8 languages.

Curious what companies these are or where you are seeing this data. This has not been what I have seen, I actually think leetcode is becoming more and more common in interviews. Just adding some of my own anecdata.

Fortune 500 consulting shops for example.

Granted, this is most likely not where most HNers would not like to spend their work day, but it does have its own perks.

Re: Avoiding Leetcode Anxiety

#85

Post by whymauri »

honkdaddy wrote: post #65
osti wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't possess advanced understanding of Chinese, then don't even think about trying to read it. I came to Canada in my teens and I often have trouble understanding. The forum rules dictate that you write cryptically. But it is incredibly useful if you understand it imo, especially the interview experiences. That's why they can charge like 80usd per month for VIP access..

Can you shed a bit more light on what kind of thing is discussed? Is it similar to Blind in that it's a lot of people talking about how to pragmatically game the interview process?

It's a little more on the nose. I just checked the subforum for a random quant firm and it goes something like:

* Just interviewed at {firm}, here are the questions:

1. Question One: here are the math and stats subquestions.

2. Question Two: here is the Leetcode question they asked.

3. Question Three: here is another question and my solution.

4. ...

Followed by other users posting stuff like "Thank you Landlord {OP}" or "Giving rice {forum clout points} to this Landlord {OP}." Guests without accounts are tourists. I'd say it's like the Leetcode discussion forums except they're leaking actual company interview questions.

Re: Avoiding Leetcode Anxiety

#87

Post by pjmlp »

988747 wrote: post #80
onion2k wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These types of interviews favor those who have the luxury of ample time to prep for difficult interviews... Interviews that test for anything that isn't directly related to the job the candidate will be doing are essentially codified discrimination - the expectation that someone will have a skill or significant knowledge outside of the job itself is effectively a way to filter out candidates based on arbitrary criter…

That's one way of looking at it. But there's also another side of it: this type of interviews let you change career path. Imagine that you're run-of-the-mill java programmer, but you'd like to dive into Machine Learning, or BlockChain, or whatever. Some companies will require you to have 3 years of previous experience before considering you for such job. Others will give you a Leetcode interview to ensure that you're…

That is wishful thinking in most cases, because unless you are targeting a startup without ageism agenda, unless the techonology is listed as something that you actually worked on (side projects don't count), the CV won't survive HR review.

Re: Avoiding Leetcode Anxiety

#88

Post by jeffreyrogers »

cebert wrote: post #10

I wonder ten years from now how common LeetCode like interviews are. These types of interviews favor those who have the luxury of ample time to prep for difficult interviews and aren’t representative of most daily working environments. This process fails to consider candidates that would be good fits. When I help with interviews, I place much more values on communication skills, teamwork, mentorship, and a general pa…

It's not that different than lawyers needing to take the Bar exam (have to study on your own, and not all of it covered in school), or doctors having to pass boards. In both those fields practitioners spend a lot of time outside of "work" preparing.

There will always be some sort of arbitrary selection screen as long as there are more people who want these high paying jobs than there are actual high paying jobs.

Re: Avoiding Leetcode Anxiety

#89

Post by say_it_as_it_is »

OP doesn't seem to realize that leetcode questions are used verbatim by companies other than FAANG. Do you need to know how to solve leetcode questions? That depends whether you're going through the front door or the back door. If you're going through the front door, regardless of your experience level, you are going through the leetcode hazing process because that's what your interviewers did and they have no intention of having spent hundreds of hours doing work without a purpose.

Re: Avoiding Leetcode Anxiety

#90

Post by say_it_as_it_is »

nomy99 wrote: post #67

I started doing leetcode when the pandemic hit. I wanted to be ready in case I got fired and I have to do an interview... surprisingly I fell in love with it. I am one of those ppl that writes codes in their head, so I just look at a problem and go on with my day until I have a solution. Then I write it and test it out. It's enjoyable to me, and I have been forced to learn a lot of CS concepts I had forgotten and tec…

What do you love about leetcode problems? Mindset makes a huge difference.
Post reply on HN