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> When there is a cottage industry focused on training people to pass your interview then you have a problem. Doctors have board exams. Lawyers have bar exams.
by PragmaticPulp 6y ago
> When there is a cottage industry focused on training people to pass your interview then you have a problem.
Doctors have board exams. Lawyers have bar exams. Financial professionals have their own set of exams. Electrical and mechanical engineers have professional engineer exams.
The difference is that they're standardized, so the prep industry caters to passing those exams more so than passing the interviews.
Software engineering is far from standardized because the subject matter is far too varied, so instead companies handle their own type of exams customized to their needs.
There is also a cottage industry around interview prep for lawyers, doctors, and other professions. It's just not well known because it's extremely expensive relative to spending a couple hundred bucks (if that) on Leetcode. It often takes the form of expensive 1:1 coaching that starts in the hundreds of dollars and can easily enter five figures. Students from wealthy families frequently have private coaches for this.
- peruvian 6y agoYep. I hate interviews as much as everyone else but I'll take grinding Leetcode or Interview Cake for a month or two over having to deal with law school and the bar, for example.
- ryandrake 6y agoI guess it depends on how often you plan to change jobs. I don't like the idea, and kind of hate the concept of gatekeeping, BUT at this point, I'd be willing to go pass a single "programming bar exam" if it meant I would not have to grind for months before every. damn. time. I. job. hunt.
- peruvian 6y agoThe problem is nowadays a lot of companies don't reward loyalty. In the US coastal markets, you are hurting yourself by staying at once place for 5+ years (FAANG and some big corps excluded).