Start elsewhere, there is a reasonably high demand for software engineers out there, get a job and go from there. I've done some reasonably complicated things

Start elsewhere, there is a reasonably high demand for software engineers out there, get a job and go from there. I've done some reasonably complicated things in my programming career (things having to do with encryption, threading, high volume systems) but I'm sure I'd fail a Google-style CS drilling (and have no interest in implementing a non-cyclical direct graph on the whiteboard :)). Guess what - hacker rank type challenges I'm semi decent but not great at. I do pretty good with take home mini projects though and with interviews where even if things get theoretical they are still relevant to the actual day-to-day, like let's say describing the thought process behind selecting a linked list vs arraylist for a given situation etc. Imo these things come with experience, so again if your goal is to get a job with "google" eventually, start elsewhere, get the chops and go from there.