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I'm just gonna glom on to this for visibility, but I'd like to say I wish there was a good list of companies that don't do leetcode-style interviews. Frankly,

I'm just gonna glom on to this for visibility, but I'd like to say I wish there was a good list of companies that don't do leetcode-style interviews. Frankly, I'm sick of leetcode, and I feel like it takes a lot of fun out of working in tech to have to grind this skill that's completely unrelated to any sort of real work. (Rant mode off) Anybody know of such a list? Edit: I should add that I'd really like to be pointed toward companies that use a structured interview process. Literally fewer than 1 in 10 SF tech companies seems to have any idea what they're doing when it comes to interviewing, and a structured interview process goes a long way toward fixing that deficiency. I'm familiar with the "hiring without whiteboards" list, and that does't seem to be quite what I'm looking for.

01100011 5y ago
Do you want companies that don't do leetcode, or companies that don't do leetcode yet pay you a FANG salary? The list of companies that don't do leetcode are probably quite long, but you're looking at an average salary in an average town(i.e. $120-180k/year salary with decent benefits and meager stock opportunities). There's nothing wrong with that. I'd certainly go that route if I could afford to. If you're looking at making above average pay, you'll probably have to jump through those hoops though. For what it's worth, as an "embedded guy" who went into programming with a EE degree and no algorithm experience, I used to loathe the leetcode dance. After working at a FANG where I actually needed to know some of that stuff, I now don't see it as pure evil. Sure, it's a bit overboard, but some of the problems you'll encounter at some of these companies really do require a level of competence and dedication that is something I rarely encountered in 20 years outside the valley. Maybe it's the particular company I ended up at, but I am working with some insanely smart and dedicated folks. I definitely do not belong among them but it's certainly been a learning experience and something I'm thankful for.
- jitl 5y ago
  Android, iOS, and front-end interview tracks tend to be more “hands on” even at companies that use leetcode/algo questions for full stack or backend roles. Airbnb pays very competitively (compare to Google and Facebook https://www.levels.fyi/SE/Airbnb/Google/Facebook https://www.levels.fyi/SE/Airbnb/Google/Facebook) and is lighter on the algo stuff for the specialties I mentioned.
  - pmiller2 5y ago
    That would be fabulous if I knew the least little bit about any of those things. :-) I've done a lot of backend and data engineering. Occasionally that's enough to get me considered for a full stack role, but not often, and that's the furthest out of my lane I've been.
- pmiller2 5y ago
  I'm totally fine going the "average" route. At my last company, I was making around $225k TC, and that worked just fine for me. At that level, I'm making enough money put back a considerable amount for savings and investment, while not living in a tiny hovel, and even enjoying an expensive hobby or two. My ideal job would probably be the lowest stress job that I could make at least that much, to be honest. But, of course, it's just me that I'm looking out for here. I don't have a wife and family to provide for. I'm sure I'd be writing a different comment if I did.
- honkdaddy 5y ago
  Not sure how well updated it is anymore, but I remember this juicy list floating around HN a couple years ago. https://github.com/poteto/hiring-without-whiteboards https://github.com/poteto/hiring-without-whiteboards
redis_mlc 5y ago
For Devops/SRE roles, these companies are asking actual LeetCode problems: - Twitter - Vindicia - Google (has a reputation for dynamic programming problems) But almost all companies are asking non-trivial questions in 2021 for Devops/SRE. Not LeetCode, but still high effort with intricate problem descriptions.

01100011 5y ago

Do you want companies that don't do leetcode, or companies that don't do leetcode yet pay you a FANG salary? The list of companies that don't do leetcode are probably quite long, but you're looking at an average salary in an average town(i.e. $120-180k/year salary with decent benefits and meager stock opportunities). There's nothing wrong with that. I'd certainly go that route if I could afford to. If you're looking at making above average pay, you'll probably have to jump through those hoops though. For what it's worth, as an "embedded guy" who went into programming with a EE degree and no algorithm experience, I used to loathe the leetcode dance. After working at a FANG where I actually needed to know some of that stuff, I now don't see it as pure evil. Sure, it's a bit overboard, but some of the problems you'll encounter at some of these companies really do require a level of competence and dedication that is something I rarely encountered in 20 years outside the valley. Maybe it's the particular company I ended up at, but I am working with some insanely smart and dedicated folks. I definitely do not belong among them but it's certainly been a learning experience and something I'm thankful for.

jitl 5y ago
Android, iOS, and front-end interview tracks tend to be more “hands on” even at companies that use leetcode/algo questions for full stack or backend roles. Airbnb pays very competitively (compare to Google and Facebook https://www.levels.fyi/SE/Airbnb/Google/Facebook https://www.levels.fyi/SE/Airbnb/Google/Facebook) and is lighter on the algo stuff for the specialties I mentioned.
- pmiller2 5y ago
  That would be fabulous if I knew the least little bit about any of those things. :-) I've done a lot of backend and data engineering. Occasionally that's enough to get me considered for a full stack role, but not often, and that's the furthest out of my lane I've been.
pmiller2 5y ago
I'm totally fine going the "average" route. At my last company, I was making around $225k TC, and that worked just fine for me. At that level, I'm making enough money put back a considerable amount for savings and investment, while not living in a tiny hovel, and even enjoying an expensive hobby or two. My ideal job would probably be the lowest stress job that I could make at least that much, to be honest. But, of course, it's just me that I'm looking out for here. I don't have a wife and family to provide for. I'm sure I'd be writing a different comment if I did.
honkdaddy 5y ago
Not sure how well updated it is anymore, but I remember this juicy list floating around HN a couple years ago. https://github.com/poteto/hiring-without-whiteboards https://github.com/poteto/hiring-without-whiteboards

redis_mlc 5y ago

For Devops/SRE roles, these companies are asking actual LeetCode problems: - Twitter - Vindicia - Google (has a reputation for dynamic programming problems) But almost all companies are asking non-trivial questions in 2021 for Devops/SRE. Not LeetCode, but still high effort with intricate problem descriptions.