These engineers are not hired to invert binary trees. They're hired to change glorified forms. If they need to invert a binary tree, they will google it in 30s

These engineers are not hired to invert binary trees. They're hired to change glorified forms. If they need to invert a binary tree, they will google it in 30s. My friend (40+) prepared for a couple of months and got hired at FB a few months ago after a career spent in smaller companies. Great comp, mindlessly boring job (the usual, change this form button, change this endpoint) but hey, now that FANGs are remote and you don't need to commute to an office, they're worth a shot. He's already thinking of quitting but unfortunately he already forgot the algorithms exercises and he doesn't want to do the same interview dance again at Google with the hope that things will be better over there. Whenever I've been in the hiring manager roles, I skimmed over people not knowing theory well and I read with interest their CVs and their personal project (and asked them about it!). Your behaviour is exactly why I didn't want to work for a FANG and I pursued starting a business instead of growing my career as a IC.