We have FAANG to thank for this. They pioneer counterproductive interview questions (remember puzzles?), and the industry just copies these trends, like zombies.
Then what happens is these Leetcode heroes, never having built anything from scratch in their lives, create a hazing ritual for new candidates.
What is the point of, say, a system design interview asking to design a planet-scale system when most people never came close to one or, again, never built one because they are just out of school?
And, yes, I know - "how would you interview a recent student?".
Fine, I was a student in 2004, so why are we having the same goddamned test?
Not entirely, though FAANG companies certainly didn't do anything to help make it better.
I'm 51 and have been a professional software developer since the early to mid 1990s and tech interviewing was already a strange hazing ritual disaster before FAANG existed.
I distinctly remember interviewing for a QA position in the 90's where I was asked how I would test a soda vending machine. I was dinged because I didn't mention that I would make sure the sodas were cold.
Then what happens is these Leetcode heroes, never having built anything from scratch in their lives, create a hazing ritual for new candidates.
What is the point of, say, a system design interview asking to design a planet-scale system when most people never came close to one or, again, never built one because they are just out of school?
And, yes, I know - "how would you interview a recent student?".
Fine, I was a student in 2004, so why are we having the same goddamned test?