>but what baffles me is that even a lot of smaller companies do this You named the exact problem with the industry. No one is going to complain if FAANG does

>but what baffles me is that even a lot of smaller companies do this You named the exact problem with the industry. No one is going to complain if FAANG does this with top tier, life changing salaries. No one will object to learning and memorizing DS&A at a job where DS&A is used heavily. What people are upset about is your average no-name company hiring individuals based on things they won't use during the job, of which the knowledge is still incredibly varied[0], and they still complain about not being able to find anyone and play the "woe is me" card. [0]: Dare I say it, DS&A is such a big topic not everyone learns the same things. Thinking in terms of a tree is different from thinking in terms of a linked list, graph, tree, heap, stack, queue, you name it. Most LC medium/hard require time you won't get, information you might not have. This knowledge isn't as universal among skilled graduates as people like to believe. And we all know the moment candidates are able to just memorize questions about linked lists, hiring will jump to the next topic.