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My pops and I were talking about this. We have a theory that the real reason these leetcodes are done is to allow large organization to discriminate in whatever

My pops and I were talking about this. We have a theory that the real reason these leetcodes are done is to allow large organization to discriminate in whatever way they want without opening themselves to discriminations lawsuits. I don't actualy believe this is the "conscious" reason, but I think this may be one of the reasons that leetcode style interviews are popular. I can get everyone but the least skilled interviewer to pass if I provide enough assistance in the interview. Similarly, I can fail anyone but the strongest algorithmic candidates by being unhelpful in the interview. The interview allows enough "smoke screen" that I can basically end up passing/failing in a manner that is pretty detached from their "objective" algorithmic skill. Just a theory.

elahieh 5y ago
Your theory has been seen before in other contexts - https://arxiv.org/abs/1110.1556 https://arxiv.org/abs/1110.1556 The Mathematics Department of Moscow State University, the most prestigious mathematics school in Russia, was [around 1975] actively trying to keep Jewish students (and other “undesirables”) from enrolling in the department. One of the methods they used for doing this was to give the unwanted students a different set of problems on their oral exam. I was told that these problems were carefully designed to have elementary solutions (so that the Department could avoid scandals) that were nearly impossible to find. Any student who failed to answer could easily be rejected, so this system was an effective method of controlling admissions.
rafiki6 5y ago
It's much more simple than that. It's meant to prevent job mobility. Eng salaries are already absurdly high. Ever noticed how almost all the big tech companies do more or less the same ritual? It's entirely design to prevent seniors from moving around. They're too expensive already. It is almost collusion. Before the big tech companies used to have a secret handshake agreement not to poach each others candidates. They were caught and ordered to stop and forced to pay fines. This was around 2013/2014. Since then LC questions have become absurd. The process is designed to favor younger candidates who will accept less money and work harder for the company.

elahieh 5y ago

Your theory has been seen before in other contexts - https://arxiv.org/abs/1110.1556 https://arxiv.org/abs/1110.1556 The Mathematics Department of Moscow State University, the most prestigious mathematics school in Russia, was [around 1975] actively trying to keep Jewish students (and other “undesirables”) from enrolling in the department. One of the methods they used for doing this was to give the unwanted students a different set of problems on their oral exam. I was told that these problems were carefully designed to have elementary solutions (so that the Department could avoid scandals) that were nearly impossible to find. Any student who failed to answer could easily be rejected, so this system was an effective method of controlling admissions.

rafiki6 5y ago

It's much more simple than that. It's meant to prevent job mobility. Eng salaries are already absurdly high. Ever noticed how almost all the big tech companies do more or less the same ritual? It's entirely design to prevent seniors from moving around. They're too expensive already. It is almost collusion. Before the big tech companies used to have a secret handshake agreement not to poach each others candidates. They were caught and ordered to stop and forced to pay fines. This was around 2013/2014. Since then LC questions have become absurd. The process is designed to favor younger candidates who will accept less money and work harder for the company.