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It also shows you have the time to prepare. Not everyone has that luxury - think working parents with some other challenging happenings thrown in and you have a

It also shows you have the time to prepare. Not everyone has that luxury - think working parents with some other challenging happenings thrown in and you have an advantaged and disadvantaged class of people for these interviews

mikojan 4y ago
Naturally, but how is that a flaw?
c7DJTLrn 4y ago
The cynic in me says that's intentional. They want young, enthusiastic people willing to work for less that they can throw away when they're done.
- noasaservice 4y ago
  It's more than cynical: https://www.britannica.com/event/Griggs-v-Duke-Power-Co https://www.britannica.com/event/Griggs-v-Duke-Power-Co outlines that IQ tests are unconstitutional due to racial biases. It was out of that judgement, that companies started to require degrees for office jobs of all sorts, as you could discriminate based on education but couldn't on an arbitrary IQ test. And naturally, tests on the topic of a job can also be administered. And I do think you're right - Leetcode does select for recent graduates who likely were taught in a throwaway language for academic purposes. And selecting for young college graduates are highly likely what they're searching for, as they also do not know their worth.
  - troon-lover 4y ago
tlextrait 4y ago
I had a 3 and 2 year old when I prepared for interviews and I did alright enough to get a job at a FAANG (and it's not Amazon). I took about 2 months and blocked some time every single day. I still managed to cook meals for 4 and put two kids to bed, and wake up at 1am and 3am for night time milk feedings... yes that's not delegated to a housewife it's done by me.
- lfowles 4y ago
  Glad that worked out for you. After a day of watching my now 1.5 year old the brain fog sets in. I tried grinding Leetcode for a while but the pace of progress was glacial and nowhere near the recommended pace for BigCo interviews. I'm glad I went back to doing my own thing even though nothing has come of it yet. Doing Leetcode felt like memorizing party tricks that wouldn't even guarantee a job at the end.
  - samhw 4y ago
    Honestly, do you want a BigCo job? Would it make you happy? The experience of being a tiny cog in an unthinkingly vast machine is more alienating than you might think, even if you like the money. I think lots of those who stay on long-term in that environment, say >3-4 years, effectively become institutionalised, condemned to spend the rest of their life philosophising about whether they can ever be L8 material. These are people who are, by and large, smart but not wise. Yes, the money is good, for an employee, but it barely equals what even a small business owner could make - and these are people whose smarts would allow them to thrive in the software niche, at least with a minimal amount of commercial nous. The truth is that FAANG (or FAAG, considering what's going on at Netflix?) keeps these people there by creating a value system. If you've ever read the internet-classic 'Five Geek Social Fallacies' post (https://plausiblydeniable.com/five-geek-social-fallacies/ https://plausiblydeniable.com/five-geek-social-fallacies/), you'll know that people like us - frankly - are suckers for taxonomy. If you tell them that they are the best because they work for you, and the only thing that can make them any better as an engineer is creating maximum returns for the Borg, and surround them with others who mirror and validate that behaviour, they will fall for it for the rest of their lives. Don't fall for it. There are a fuck ton of smart people at FAANG companies – that's one of the few marketing points which is unvitiated in its merit, they do scoop up very many of the smartest (again, smart-not-wise) people in the world – but that doesn't mean the only way to be smart is to join. It doesn't mean you - as a unique human being - will be happy there. Carve your own path, be suspicious of people selling you axiologies and hierarchies, find a middle road between excessive cynicism and excessive credulity.
    - 4y ago

mikojan 4y ago

Naturally, but how is that a flaw?

c7DJTLrn 4y ago

The cynic in me says that's intentional. They want young, enthusiastic people willing to work for less that they can throw away when they're done.

noasaservice 4y ago
It's more than cynical: https://www.britannica.com/event/Griggs-v-Duke-Power-Co https://www.britannica.com/event/Griggs-v-Duke-Power-Co outlines that IQ tests are unconstitutional due to racial biases. It was out of that judgement, that companies started to require degrees for office jobs of all sorts, as you could discriminate based on education but couldn't on an arbitrary IQ test. And naturally, tests on the topic of a job can also be administered. And I do think you're right - Leetcode does select for recent graduates who likely were taught in a throwaway language for academic purposes. And selecting for young college graduates are highly likely what they're searching for, as they also do not know their worth.
- troon-lover 4y ago

tlextrait 4y ago

I had a 3 and 2 year old when I prepared for interviews and I did alright enough to get a job at a FAANG (and it's not Amazon). I took about 2 months and blocked some time every single day. I still managed to cook meals for 4 and put two kids to bed, and wake up at 1am and 3am for night time milk feedings... yes that's not delegated to a housewife it's done by me.

lfowles 4y ago
Glad that worked out for you. After a day of watching my now 1.5 year old the brain fog sets in. I tried grinding Leetcode for a while but the pace of progress was glacial and nowhere near the recommended pace for BigCo interviews. I'm glad I went back to doing my own thing even though nothing has come of it yet. Doing Leetcode felt like memorizing party tricks that wouldn't even guarantee a job at the end.
- samhw 4y ago
  Honestly, do you want a BigCo job? Would it make you happy? The experience of being a tiny cog in an unthinkingly vast machine is more alienating than you might think, even if you like the money. I think lots of those who stay on long-term in that environment, say >3-4 years, effectively become institutionalised, condemned to spend the rest of their life philosophising about whether they can ever be L8 material. These are people who are, by and large, smart but not wise. Yes, the money is good, for an employee, but it barely equals what even a small business owner could make - and these are people whose smarts would allow them to thrive in the software niche, at least with a minimal amount of commercial nous. The truth is that FAANG (or FAAG, considering what's going on at Netflix?) keeps these people there by creating a value system. If you've ever read the internet-classic 'Five Geek Social Fallacies' post (https://plausiblydeniable.com/five-geek-social-fallacies/ https://plausiblydeniable.com/five-geek-social-fallacies/), you'll know that people like us - frankly - are suckers for taxonomy. If you tell them that they are the best because they work for you, and the only thing that can make them any better as an engineer is creating maximum returns for the Borg, and surround them with others who mirror and validate that behaviour, they will fall for it for the rest of their lives. Don't fall for it. There are a fuck ton of smart people at FAANG companies – that's one of the few marketing points which is unvitiated in its merit, they do scoop up very many of the smartest (again, smart-not-wise) people in the world – but that doesn't mean the only way to be smart is to join. It doesn't mean you - as a unique human being - will be happy there. Carve your own path, be suspicious of people selling you axiologies and hierarchies, find a middle road between excessive cynicism and excessive credulity.
  - 4y ago