I am trying to resist cynicism, but I too am thinking that after my upcoming sabbatical if I want to get top dollar I should just invest in power-grinding at the leetcode gym.
Still hoping to find a friendly startup though, since some of the MegaCorps are lifestyle-incompatible and I'm already used to making a lot less than Googlebucks.
> after my upcoming sabbatical if I want to get top dollar I should just invest in power-grinding at the leetcode gym
Given that top dollar can mean potentially a six-figure raise over median salaries, that doesn't exactly seem like a bad deal.
All things considered, Leetcode is remarkably accessible relative to the barriers of entry in other high-paying fields like law, medicine, certain finance careers, and so on. It's a mostly-free website that you can work through at your leisure from the comfort of your home, with plenty of Google results to walk you through the questions if you run into a problem.
Have you spend some time on Leetcode already? I could see how the questions could be daunting to new grads, but I didn't find it all that painful with several years of industry programming experience.
Don't get discouraged by the sheer number of Leetcode problems. You don't have to do them all to get value out of it. The key is to do a couple per day in your free time (lunch break, while you eat breakfast, whatever). Any consistent practice will add up over weeks or months.
Actually I love leetcode (the website) and do it for fun once in a while, and if I decide to go for a big grind later on then I don't think I'll particularly mind that part even if it doesn't get me my ticket to the Google Bus.
The risk of cynicism is that I've been doing this for 25 years or so and there are some things I'm quite good at that can add a lot of value to a company, but it appears that the highest-paying outfits will judge me on things that are at best very tangentially related to how I can make/save them money.
Sorry if my comment came off as anti-leetcode, I have a low opinion of the thing so many people use it for, not the site itself. Before hearing of my impending sabbatical I was even planning to subscribe to the "pro" level and build it into my work routine, just as way of differently exercising my brain once or twice a week.
> but it appears that the highest-paying outfits will judge me on things that are at best very tangentially related to how I can make/save them money.
IMO, this is a popular misconception but it's not really reflective of reality.
Leetcode is ultra-popular with new college grades and people with a few years of experience who want to break into Big-N. As such, the vast majority of Leetcode discussions online revolve around that demographic.
It's true that the Big-N companies will still be heavy on the algorithmic interview questions, but it's not true that they'll ignore everything else on your resume. The early 20-somethings talking about Leetcode online don't have a long resume to point to, so Leetcode is the focus. If you show up with a 25-year career of successes, you're going to have a very different interview experience.
> but it appears that the highest-paying outfits will judge me on things that are at best very tangentially related to how I can make/save them money.
This is very wrong, leetcode is just the baseline and don't determine your seniority. Even the best leetcoder in the world had to start at the lowest junior level after college. Instead they look at your experience and what value you can bring to determine if you become junior, mid, senior, staff etc, so they very much value experience not related to leetcode. However you still have to pass the leetcode bar.
Yes, I will have to pass the leetcode bar, which has very little to do with my actual value add. I understand that’s how it works, I have friends who hire for some of these companies, but thanks for explaining.
I strongly dislike having that bar, because I think it is irrational to use it as the baseline hoop everyone has to jump through. And honestly because it’s not my strongest suit, I’m sure I’d be less bothered if it was something I’m good at and your average fresh CS grad is not. Which is kinda how we ended up here I think.
How do I maintain flow? I end up extremely depressed and disillusioned if I get stuck on a problem - that’s really what’s stopped me from doing consistent prep.
Still hoping to find a friendly startup though, since some of the MegaCorps are lifestyle-incompatible and I'm already used to making a lot less than Googlebucks.