8 ms·

The Leader of the LeetCode Rebellion: An Interview with Roy Lee

70 points by distalx 2y ago

hahaxdxd123 2y ago
IDK if this guy is the leader - these interview cheating tools have been around for at least a year at this point and some have been VC funded.
LZ_Khan 2y ago
I feel like covid started the remote work revolution and AI cheating is about to end it. Or at least bring back on-site interviews.
- kevinventullo 2y ago
  On-site interviews are pretty clearly the antidote to this, but that costs money this quarter. In contrast, the cost of hiring a total fraud cannot be pinpointed to any one metric or line item.
  - roxolotl 2y ago
    Good interviews are the antidote to this. Outside of certain fields ability to do leet code puzzles does not correlate with job performance. An interview where you do some realistic work is the direction we should be moving. Build some small functionality that’s similar to what the company you’re interviewing for does. Let them use tools they enjoy, ai or not. If they fly through it expand the tasks. Talk about why the code they, or an ai wrote works. The tradeoffs in their designs. I’ve given hundreds of interviews without asking a single leet code style question and not regretted it.
  - mountainriver 2y ago
    I’m not sure why it matters, just give people problems to solve and let them use whatever tools are available
  - from-nibly 2y ago
    More importantly it can be blamed on the fraudster, and acountability for who missed the fraud is no longer traceable.
bena 2y ago
I really feel like this guy is paying for placement and articles about himself. Just today, I've seen a twitter thread and this post. Searching for him also shows a Gizmodo article from today. And it really seems to be a case of trying to stir controversy for engagement.
- Jtsummers 2y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43497652 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43497652 - And his own LinkedIn write up about it.
- distalx 2y ago
  Yep, using the tool in secret broke the interview spirit for sure. And now it's just a way to promote his software, it seems.
cjaybo 2y ago
This guy must have some strong connections to get this sort of coverage out of an AI wrapper + a few gimmicky twitter posts
- Jtsummers 2y ago
  Does it take strong connections to end up in a student newspaper?
  - bastardoperator 2y ago
    No, but he also ended up on Fireship, and he also shared his company has done 160K+ in sales in the past 4 weeks.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- laidoffamazon 2y ago
  He went to Columbia and he seems kinda unhinged. The former is really all you need. It's a small club, and the rest of us aren't in it.
  - columbiauni 2y ago
    [dead]
- volkk 2y ago
  he's a zfellows guy. the whole thing is likely some kind of plant/stunt
  - jvanderbot 2y ago
    I mean he has admitted as much.
- dghlsakjg 2y ago
zombiwoof 2y ago
My hero
ajcp 2y ago
I really want to be on this guys side, and when I read (or hear) interviews with him he comes off as thoughtful, introspective, and clear-eyed, while the reactions to him seem obviously out-sized, misguided, and frankly childish. I'm always left thinking: hell yeah dude, burn it down. ...but then I see the actual stuff he posts on X, his YouTube video, his overall "informal content", and it's blatantly antagonistic, performative, and basically edge-lord bs. I just can't help but think: this guy just needs to get bodied. So while I agree with his "crusade", I also can't help but not trust a thing he says, and have to assume every justification he gives is made up after the fact. Am I off target here?
- shuckles 2y ago
  Some people need to realize we live in a society and society mostly functions by having people do the right thing when defecting is easier and more convenient. This person is one of them.
  - bastardoperator 2y ago
    What makes these tactics the "right thing"? I as a prospective employee don't get to quiz the interviewer using the same tactics? I can ask questions, but how I do know they're knowledgeable and that I want to work for them? Or should I be thankful they're even talking to me? I think it's a terrible practice and that we can do better.
    - SJC_Hacker 2y ago
      They have money / job to offer. You (presumably) do not. And generally, you are the one applying. So the power dynamic is mostly in the companies favor. If you are so good and have options that you can turn down companies, just tell the company you refuse to do leetcode style, and see what happens. For really good people, yes the tables can and do turn.
    - shuckles 2y ago
      The company is not forcing you to interview for them. You can interview for a job that does not require you to solve a programming question, if that’s what you’d prefer. People who try to moralize their way out of lying are frankly despicable. Just own up that you’re a cheater and don’t care about honesty. It’s not a crusade; it’s self interest.
VirusNewbie 2y ago
I don't understand why he (or anyone) thinks it's OK to say, cheat in an algorithmic interview, but that if you were somehow able to have an LLM secretly feed you optimal answers for any other part of the interview it's "wrong". Why is it not OK to cheat on a system design interview? Why is it not OK to completely make up a story to make you look amazing when they ask about your background? In the article he thinks companies should review past work and ask interviewees about that instead, but what would he say if there was an app for cheating that way?
- hinkley 2y ago
  Robin Hood is a thief and an anarchist. Why do we care about the story? It’s not what he stole, it’s who he stole from and why.
- distalx 2y ago
  Exactly! Using the tool secretly totally misses the point of the interview. And now it's like, Hey look at my cheat tool! Feels more like a sales pitch than anything else.
- asdf6969 2y ago
  > completely make up a story to make you look amazing when they ask about your background? Everyone does this
mellosouls 2y ago
I don't know what to make of this guy, I've seen him on X for a while; at first I just thought he was an obnoxious student and a crazy bridge-burner who was going to quickly regret his escapades. I didn't follow him then but he kept coming up in my feed and there was something about his focus and message that seemed as amusing and sincere as it was egotistical and immature. Now I'm still not convinced of his angelic qualities but more sympathetic to his mission and at least a little of his showboating seems courageous.
brcmthrowaway 2y ago
Thiel Fellowship incoming.
- hahaxdxd123 2y ago
  He already got $5.5m in funding
scudsworth 2y ago
must say i wasnt impressed with the interview coder code nor its organization. skimmed another of his repos and it was basically a minimal chat app wrapping a dozen-ish prompts along the lines of "you are the user's horny anime wife. chat horny style to them. but not tooo horny."
lofaszvanitt 2y ago
middle finger army...

70 points by distalx 2y ago

IDK if this guy is the leader - these interview cheating tools have been around for at least a year at this point and some have been VC funded.

LZ_Khan 2y ago

I feel like covid started the remote work revolution and AI cheating is about to end it. Or at least bring back on-site interviews.

kevinventullo 2y ago
On-site interviews are pretty clearly the antidote to this, but that costs money this quarter. In contrast, the cost of hiring a total fraud cannot be pinpointed to any one metric or line item.
- roxolotl 2y ago
  Good interviews are the antidote to this. Outside of certain fields ability to do leet code puzzles does not correlate with job performance. An interview where you do some realistic work is the direction we should be moving. Build some small functionality that’s similar to what the company you’re interviewing for does. Let them use tools they enjoy, ai or not. If they fly through it expand the tasks. Talk about why the code they, or an ai wrote works. The tradeoffs in their designs. I’ve given hundreds of interviews without asking a single leet code style question and not regretted it.
- mountainriver 2y ago
  I’m not sure why it matters, just give people problems to solve and let them use whatever tools are available
- from-nibly 2y ago
  More importantly it can be blamed on the fraudster, and acountability for who missed the fraud is no longer traceable.

bena 2y ago

I really feel like this guy is paying for placement and articles about himself. Just today, I've seen a twitter thread and this post. Searching for him also shows a Gizmodo article from today. And it really seems to be a case of trying to stir controversy for engagement.

Jtsummers 2y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43497652 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43497652 - And his own LinkedIn write up about it.
distalx 2y ago
Yep, using the tool in secret broke the interview spirit for sure. And now it's just a way to promote his software, it seems.

cjaybo 2y ago

This guy must have some strong connections to get this sort of coverage out of an AI wrapper + a few gimmicky twitter posts

Jtsummers 2y ago
Does it take strong connections to end up in a student newspaper?
- bastardoperator 2y ago
  No, but he also ended up on Fireship, and he also shared his company has done 160K+ in sales in the past 4 weeks.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
laidoffamazon 2y ago
He went to Columbia and he seems kinda unhinged. The former is really all you need. It's a small club, and the rest of us aren't in it.
- columbiauni 2y ago
  [dead]
volkk 2y ago
he's a zfellows guy. the whole thing is likely some kind of plant/stunt
- jvanderbot 2y ago
  I mean he has admitted as much.
dghlsakjg 2y ago

zombiwoof 2y ago

My hero

ajcp 2y ago

I really want to be on this guys side, and when I read (or hear) interviews with him he comes off as thoughtful, introspective, and clear-eyed, while the reactions to him seem obviously out-sized, misguided, and frankly childish. I'm always left thinking: hell yeah dude, burn it down. ...but then I see the actual stuff he posts on X, his YouTube video, his overall "informal content", and it's blatantly antagonistic, performative, and basically edge-lord bs. I just can't help but think: this guy just needs to get bodied. So while I agree with his "crusade", I also can't help but not trust a thing he says, and have to assume every justification he gives is made up after the fact. Am I off target here?

shuckles 2y ago
Some people need to realize we live in a society and society mostly functions by having people do the right thing when defecting is easier and more convenient. This person is one of them.
- bastardoperator 2y ago
  What makes these tactics the "right thing"? I as a prospective employee don't get to quiz the interviewer using the same tactics? I can ask questions, but how I do know they're knowledgeable and that I want to work for them? Or should I be thankful they're even talking to me? I think it's a terrible practice and that we can do better.
  - SJC_Hacker 2y ago
    They have money / job to offer. You (presumably) do not. And generally, you are the one applying. So the power dynamic is mostly in the companies favor. If you are so good and have options that you can turn down companies, just tell the company you refuse to do leetcode style, and see what happens. For really good people, yes the tables can and do turn.
  - shuckles 2y ago
    The company is not forcing you to interview for them. You can interview for a job that does not require you to solve a programming question, if that’s what you’d prefer. People who try to moralize their way out of lying are frankly despicable. Just own up that you’re a cheater and don’t care about honesty. It’s not a crusade; it’s self interest.

VirusNewbie 2y ago

I don't understand why he (or anyone) thinks it's OK to say, cheat in an algorithmic interview, but that if you were somehow able to have an LLM secretly feed you optimal answers for any other part of the interview it's "wrong". Why is it not OK to cheat on a system design interview? Why is it not OK to completely make up a story to make you look amazing when they ask about your background? In the article he thinks companies should review past work and ask interviewees about that instead, but what would he say if there was an app for cheating that way?

hinkley 2y ago
Robin Hood is a thief and an anarchist. Why do we care about the story? It’s not what he stole, it’s who he stole from and why.
distalx 2y ago
Exactly! Using the tool secretly totally misses the point of the interview. And now it's like, Hey look at my cheat tool! Feels more like a sales pitch than anything else.
asdf6969 2y ago
> completely make up a story to make you look amazing when they ask about your background? Everyone does this

mellosouls 2y ago

I don't know what to make of this guy, I've seen him on X for a while; at first I just thought he was an obnoxious student and a crazy bridge-burner who was going to quickly regret his escapades. I didn't follow him then but he kept coming up in my feed and there was something about his focus and message that seemed as amusing and sincere as it was egotistical and immature. Now I'm still not convinced of his angelic qualities but more sympathetic to his mission and at least a little of his showboating seems courageous.

brcmthrowaway 2y ago

Thiel Fellowship incoming.

hahaxdxd123 2y ago
He already got $5.5m in funding

scudsworth 2y ago

must say i wasnt impressed with the interview coder code nor its organization. skimmed another of his repos and it was basically a minimal chat app wrapping a dozen-ish prompts along the lines of "you are the user's horny anime wife. chat horny style to them. but not tooo horny."

lofaszvanitt 2y ago

middle finger army...