4 ms·

At some point in your career, you have the ability to simply reject leetcode-like tests. Just politely decline.

by dannyw 5y ago

neilv 5y ago
Is this the point in your career when you have so much money that you don't actually need a job?
- vitaflo 5y ago
  I’ve been a dev for over 20 years and have never had to do leetcode to get a job. You either find a place that doesn’t require it (more places than you think) or rely on your network to get jobs (which is probably what OP is referring to). No I won’t get a job at a FAANG this way, but I’m not particularly fond of megacorps.
- me_me_mu_mu 5y ago
  I mean how much money is enough money? You have FAANG tier people crying about TC - at some point it becomes clear that's their whole identity. Maybe they're just sad to be stuck in horrible cities (I'm also in one of them lmao) where no amount of TC buys them peace and happiness. It is pretty cringey, and honestly sad. I've been to so many meetups which basically turn into grieving sessions for highly paid engineers to cry about how their friend got an offer for xx amount while they make 6x the average US person in a year.
  - hiptobecubic 5y ago
    And you have people making 6x less than you working at different jobs than yours. These kinds of complaints really lack perspective imo. Getting paid less at work is the same as over paying when buying something. Would you call it cringey if someone doesn't want to pay 30% more than all their neighbors for their house? They can "probably" afford it, can't they? Just be happy you have a house at all, right? What's a few dollars anyway?
    - me_me_mu_mu 5y ago
      What? I’m not the one complaining about comp. I’m in a peer group that’s highly paid yet still cries over compensation.
      - hiptobecubic 5y ago
        My point is that "highly paid" is relative and context matters.
        me_me_mu_mu 5y ago
        Cool and I mentioned USA where I’m from. Idk if that’s not enough for you to piece together what I’m trying to say.
- vanusa 5y ago
  More like you gradually come to a realization that your time in this world is extremely, extremely precious. And that you just don't particularly see a need to cater to other people's made up (and sometimes downright farcical) rituals to such an excessive degree. No matter how much money they may dangle in front of you.
  - Hermitian909 5y ago
    > More like you gradually come to a realization that your time in this world is extremely, extremely precious. > And that you just don't particularly see a need to cater to other people's made up (and sometimes downright farcical) rituals to such an excessive degree. > No matter how much money they may dangle in front of you. I confess to not understanding this take, money can purchase back a substantial portion of time. Working at big tech can fairly easily reduce your working life to 10 years if you spend conservatively. Outside of big tech the norm seems to be more towards 20-30. The cost of those decades of saved time? About 100ish hours of prep for your first interview, 40-50 from there on (based on personal experience, conversations with my colleagues, and a friend who runs a FAANG interview class). Assuming 3 job hops in your 10 year working life, that's 200ish hours to save 20 years. Is there a reason you don't think that's worth it?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - vanusa 5y ago
      I'd say it's a combination of factors, based on: (1) Most chiefly, the egregiously unethical behavior of nearly all of the "big" players (the rest being merely moderately unethical) (2) Reports from close friends of the day-to-day grind at these places (literally none have anything more than superficially positive to say about it; some have suffered significant health problems, include one full-scale nervous breakdown) (3) And the intellectual dishonesty implicit in the LC process also, but only as icing on the cake, as it were. And independent of all that - it is by no means a binary (either you work or for big tech, or you grind along at for an extra decade or two at middle range). There are high-paying opportunities out there, if that's what you're out for -- they just aren't as immediately obvious to find as FAANG.
- throwaway675309 5y ago
  For every software engineering faang level company that requires leet code interviews, there are 100 others that do not. Your rhetorical question is patently absurd.
  - dottedmag 5y ago
    Do they pay the same salary?
    - hiptobecubic 5y ago
      By salary you mean total comp, and in my experience "not at all."
- boring_twenties 5y ago
  Finance jobs pay just as much as, or more, than FAANG and to my knowledge don't do any leetcode.
  - evercast 5y ago
    What finance jobs? The only companies in software engineering paying more than FAANG are trading companies like Jane Street. And AFAIK they have harder interview loops than Google.
    - boring_twenties 5y ago
      Yes, trading companies and even trading divisions at banks. I've interviewed at plenty of them (only one in recent years, though) and while I wouldn't say they were easy, they aren't doing completely irrelevant challenges like leetcode. I've certainly never studied for one, unless you count flipping through a book or two just to remind myself of things I may not have thought about in a while. Like 1-3 hours tops.
MichaelMoser123 5y ago
i am not sure that this is doable, especially when you have to find a job in order to pay your bills.

At some point in your career, you have the ability to simply reject leetcode-like tests. Just politely decline.

by dannyw 5y ago

At some point in your career, you have the ability to simply reject leetcode-like tests. Just politely decline.

neilv 5y ago

Is this the point in your career when you have so much money that you don't actually need a job?

vitaflo 5y ago
I’ve been a dev for over 20 years and have never had to do leetcode to get a job. You either find a place that doesn’t require it (more places than you think) or rely on your network to get jobs (which is probably what OP is referring to). No I won’t get a job at a FAANG this way, but I’m not particularly fond of megacorps.
me_me_mu_mu 5y ago
I mean how much money is enough money? You have FAANG tier people crying about TC - at some point it becomes clear that's their whole identity. Maybe they're just sad to be stuck in horrible cities (I'm also in one of them lmao) where no amount of TC buys them peace and happiness. It is pretty cringey, and honestly sad. I've been to so many meetups which basically turn into grieving sessions for highly paid engineers to cry about how their friend got an offer for xx amount while they make 6x the average US person in a year.
- hiptobecubic 5y ago
  And you have people making 6x less than you working at different jobs than yours. These kinds of complaints really lack perspective imo. Getting paid less at work is the same as over paying when buying something. Would you call it cringey if someone doesn't want to pay 30% more than all their neighbors for their house? They can "probably" afford it, can't they? Just be happy you have a house at all, right? What's a few dollars anyway?
  - me_me_mu_mu 5y ago
    What? I’m not the one complaining about comp. I’m in a peer group that’s highly paid yet still cries over compensation.
    - hiptobecubic 5y ago
      My point is that "highly paid" is relative and context matters.
      - me_me_mu_mu 5y ago
        Cool and I mentioned USA where I’m from. Idk if that’s not enough for you to piece together what I’m trying to say.
vanusa 5y ago
More like you gradually come to a realization that your time in this world is extremely, extremely precious. And that you just don't particularly see a need to cater to other people's made up (and sometimes downright farcical) rituals to such an excessive degree. No matter how much money they may dangle in front of you.
- Hermitian909 5y ago
  > More like you gradually come to a realization that your time in this world is extremely, extremely precious. > And that you just don't particularly see a need to cater to other people's made up (and sometimes downright farcical) rituals to such an excessive degree. > No matter how much money they may dangle in front of you. I confess to not understanding this take, money can purchase back a substantial portion of time. Working at big tech can fairly easily reduce your working life to 10 years if you spend conservatively. Outside of big tech the norm seems to be more towards 20-30. The cost of those decades of saved time? About 100ish hours of prep for your first interview, 40-50 from there on (based on personal experience, conversations with my colleagues, and a friend who runs a FAANG interview class). Assuming 3 job hops in your 10 year working life, that's 200ish hours to save 20 years. Is there a reason you don't think that's worth it?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - vanusa 5y ago
    I'd say it's a combination of factors, based on: (1) Most chiefly, the egregiously unethical behavior of nearly all of the "big" players (the rest being merely moderately unethical) (2) Reports from close friends of the day-to-day grind at these places (literally none have anything more than superficially positive to say about it; some have suffered significant health problems, include one full-scale nervous breakdown) (3) And the intellectual dishonesty implicit in the LC process also, but only as icing on the cake, as it were. And independent of all that - it is by no means a binary (either you work or for big tech, or you grind along at for an extra decade or two at middle range). There are high-paying opportunities out there, if that's what you're out for -- they just aren't as immediately obvious to find as FAANG.
throwaway675309 5y ago
For every software engineering faang level company that requires leet code interviews, there are 100 others that do not. Your rhetorical question is patently absurd.
- dottedmag 5y ago
  Do they pay the same salary?
  - hiptobecubic 5y ago
    By salary you mean total comp, and in my experience "not at all."
boring_twenties 5y ago
Finance jobs pay just as much as, or more, than FAANG and to my knowledge don't do any leetcode.
- evercast 5y ago
  What finance jobs? The only companies in software engineering paying more than FAANG are trading companies like Jane Street. And AFAIK they have harder interview loops than Google.
  - boring_twenties 5y ago
    Yes, trading companies and even trading divisions at banks. I've interviewed at plenty of them (only one in recent years, though) and while I wouldn't say they were easy, they aren't doing completely irrelevant challenges like leetcode. I've certainly never studied for one, unless you count flipping through a book or two just to remind myself of things I may not have thought about in a while. Like 1-3 hours tops.

MichaelMoser123 5y ago

i am not sure that this is doable, especially when you have to find a job in order to pay your bills.