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I'm clinically diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and this has stopped me cold as a developer. It's been a very tough road for me and Iv'e been searching for work for over

by egfx 5y ago

I'm clinically diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and this has stopped me cold as a developer. It's been a very tough road for me and Iv'e been searching for work for over 2 years. Although I land a countless amount of interviews and second and third rounds, I'm never able to pass the coderpad or leetcode stage. This is because for me to work, I need to be in my own head and in my own space. I produce work but the idea of someone watching me over a computer screen while I work on some problem that is frankly much simpler then the things Iv'e had to tackle to build what I build - zaps my brain. And I just can't do anything about it. I'm in a technically hot market, frontend developer with years of angular and react. I made full-scale projects over years like gif.com.ai, qKast, LiveLink and 2fb.me and I'm even working on a new secret project in Jamstack. None of my actual work and what I know really matters to ultimately land the job. Richard Branson is my inspiration. I heard he started Virgin because he basically had to and maybe I must be an entrepreneur for the same reason. Because all I have is my projects and not a job that lets me do my best work.

tartoran 5y ago
If you hate leetcode refuse to apply for jobs that require it. I’ve never had a leetcode session and never will, yet I switch jobs every couple of years (im more on the backend side, not sure how much that matters). There are other ways to land a job. Recommendations from past coworkers seems to be a good way for me so it’s good to be in some kind of network. Perhaps your unemployment gap is what holds you back. You should do something about that as in obfuscate it somehow to not look like a redflag when someone is glancing at your resume. Also don’t mention your ADHD regardless of how good a coder you are.
- brailsafe 5y ago
  You must be rather lucky. Being in a similar position to parent, almost all companies will do leetcode or leetcode style homework now. It's too cheap and easy for them not to, when you cna literally just pay HackerRank to generate a test for you and send it to thousands of people.
- the_only_law 5y ago
  > If you hate leetcode refuse to apply for jobs that require it. The problem is outside the big companies everyone knows, it’s hard to get documentation on a companies interview process. Glassdoor exists, but often is little help, as there’s a complete lack of information about the actual process, it seems too included only people who didn’t get an offer complaining about something that may or may not apply to you, etc. Even the sites made specifically for aggregating those sorts of companies often fail. I’ve looked at them and seen stuff like “X company, but only very specific team” or “Y company”, but when people talk about them nowadays, they seem to have switched to utilizing leetcode or similar for screening or something. And god forbid you out any filters on.
- jjav 5y ago
  > If you hate leetcode refuse to apply for jobs that require it. Very much this. I've never actually done a single leetcode problem and never will. Recruiters will tell you what the interview process is like (if not, just ask). If it is based on whiteboard puzzles like this, just refuse. Be sure to tell them why you're not interested! We can improve the maturity of hiring in this industry but only if we collectively refuse to participate in these bad practices.
  - egfx 5y ago
    Very much not this in the frontend development world! By the way I had this same thought (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17080251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17080251) As long as newbie frontend engineers out of coding bootcamp continue dominating the hiring market this will never change. It's factory mentality.

by egfx 5y ago

tartoran 5y ago

If you hate leetcode refuse to apply for jobs that require it. I’ve never had a leetcode session and never will, yet I switch jobs every couple of years (im more on the backend side, not sure how much that matters). There are other ways to land a job. Recommendations from past coworkers seems to be a good way for me so it’s good to be in some kind of network. Perhaps your unemployment gap is what holds you back. You should do something about that as in obfuscate it somehow to not look like a redflag when someone is glancing at your resume. Also don’t mention your ADHD regardless of how good a coder you are.

brailsafe 5y ago
You must be rather lucky. Being in a similar position to parent, almost all companies will do leetcode or leetcode style homework now. It's too cheap and easy for them not to, when you cna literally just pay HackerRank to generate a test for you and send it to thousands of people.
the_only_law 5y ago
> If you hate leetcode refuse to apply for jobs that require it. The problem is outside the big companies everyone knows, it’s hard to get documentation on a companies interview process. Glassdoor exists, but often is little help, as there’s a complete lack of information about the actual process, it seems too included only people who didn’t get an offer complaining about something that may or may not apply to you, etc. Even the sites made specifically for aggregating those sorts of companies often fail. I’ve looked at them and seen stuff like “X company, but only very specific team” or “Y company”, but when people talk about them nowadays, they seem to have switched to utilizing leetcode or similar for screening or something. And god forbid you out any filters on.
jjav 5y ago
> If you hate leetcode refuse to apply for jobs that require it. Very much this. I've never actually done a single leetcode problem and never will. Recruiters will tell you what the interview process is like (if not, just ask). If it is based on whiteboard puzzles like this, just refuse. Be sure to tell them why you're not interested! We can improve the maturity of hiring in this industry but only if we collectively refuse to participate in these bad practices.
- egfx 5y ago
  Very much not this in the frontend development world! By the way I had this same thought (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17080251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17080251) As long as newbie frontend engineers out of coding bootcamp continue dominating the hiring market this will never change. It's factory mentality.