4 ms·

> algorithms are useful and learnable, but some companies take it too far. This is my take too. So I don’t see where the disagreement lies. Except it’s not ju

> algorithms are useful and learnable, but some companies take it too far. This is my take too. So I don’t see where the disagreement lies. Except it’s not just some companies doing it. All companies paying over a certain threshold seem to be taking this to ridiculous levels. And please do share your ideas for what people should do or what finally convinced you that you weren’t bad at this

anyfoo 4y ago
> All companies paying over a certain threshold seem to be taking this to ridiculous levels. They can afford it. And assuming they are a tech company, they need that in key roles. You cannot write things that scale without solid knowledge and intuition in designing and analyzing algorithms, something that can be learned and furthered through experience. Now of course it's true that not every job in a larger tech company is like that, so there would be some room to adjust the interview based on the exact role. And there actually is. But overall, if you have a massive amount of people applying every week, why take chances, why not take someone from the pool who can demonstrate the skill and allow for some horizontal movement within the company, into a tech-heavier team? > And please do share your ideas for what people should do or what finally convinced you that you weren’t bad at this For me, back then, it was something that was fun for me. Part of why I got into computer science in the first place. I would be totally lying if I said I didn't study for the most relevant of my interviews, beyond what I would have done without them. But I distinctly remember for example freshing up some graph algorithm skills not by doing leetcode examples (I don't think "leetcode" was already a thing back then), but by arbitrarily taking the Debian package database and do fun self-made exercises like: Let's find the largest strongly connected component in the debian package library, i.e. the largest set of packages where installing one will always install all of the others.
- mikymoothrowa 4y ago
  I work at a mid-large tech company ~5k engineers. > You cannot write things that scale without solid knowledge and intuition in designing and analyzing algorithms, something that can be learned and furthered through experience. The point is not whether people need to learn algorithms, they of course need to, but that Leetcode questions seem to test people’s ability to solve riddles more than their ability to design algorithms
  - granshaw 4y ago
    Bingo – I've seen some of the interview requirements – like 20 mins to solve an LC medium, and you can only hit "Run" once so you have one shot...!?!? Basically if you weren't already familiar with the question and knew the trick you're screwed. Plus they're really blatant about it too – the recruiters will _actually tell_ you to practice LC, and to try again in 6mos/a year if you didn't make it this time!
    - mikymoothrowa 4y ago
      > the recruiters will _actually tell_ you to practice LC, Here they do this before you even take the interview for the first time The recruiters actually email me all the leetcode prep material and tips
      - granshaw 4y ago
        Exactly, even before the first interview, that’s what I’ve seen too
  - anyfoo 4y ago
    > The point is not whether people need to learn algorithms No, I said design and analyze algorithms, which is a distinct skill from "learn algorithms" (although that certainly helps). And which is certainly very riddle-like.

anyfoo 4y ago

> All companies paying over a certain threshold seem to be taking this to ridiculous levels. They can afford it. And assuming they are a tech company, they need that in key roles. You cannot write things that scale without solid knowledge and intuition in designing and analyzing algorithms, something that can be learned and furthered through experience. Now of course it's true that not every job in a larger tech company is like that, so there would be some room to adjust the interview based on the exact role. And there actually is. But overall, if you have a massive amount of people applying every week, why take chances, why not take someone from the pool who can demonstrate the skill and allow for some horizontal movement within the company, into a tech-heavier team? > And please do share your ideas for what people should do or what finally convinced you that you weren’t bad at this For me, back then, it was something that was fun for me. Part of why I got into computer science in the first place. I would be totally lying if I said I didn't study for the most relevant of my interviews, beyond what I would have done without them. But I distinctly remember for example freshing up some graph algorithm skills not by doing leetcode examples (I don't think "leetcode" was already a thing back then), but by arbitrarily taking the Debian package database and do fun self-made exercises like: Let's find the largest strongly connected component in the debian package library, i.e. the largest set of packages where installing one will always install all of the others.

mikymoothrowa 4y ago
I work at a mid-large tech company ~5k engineers. > You cannot write things that scale without solid knowledge and intuition in designing and analyzing algorithms, something that can be learned and furthered through experience. The point is not whether people need to learn algorithms, they of course need to, but that Leetcode questions seem to test people’s ability to solve riddles more than their ability to design algorithms
- granshaw 4y ago
  Bingo – I've seen some of the interview requirements – like 20 mins to solve an LC medium, and you can only hit "Run" once so you have one shot...!?!? Basically if you weren't already familiar with the question and knew the trick you're screwed. Plus they're really blatant about it too – the recruiters will _actually tell_ you to practice LC, and to try again in 6mos/a year if you didn't make it this time!
  - mikymoothrowa 4y ago
    > the recruiters will _actually tell_ you to practice LC, Here they do this before you even take the interview for the first time The recruiters actually email me all the leetcode prep material and tips
    - granshaw 4y ago
      Exactly, even before the first interview, that’s what I’ve seen too
- anyfoo 4y ago
  > The point is not whether people need to learn algorithms No, I said design and analyze algorithms, which is a distinct skill from "learn algorithms" (although that certainly helps). And which is certainly very riddle-like.