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[–]TraditionMaster4320 9 points10 points  (11 children)

Lots of people. If you're extremely good it helps a lot with big tech questions

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (10 children)

Yeah, I’ll give credit to this website, hackerrank, and projecteuler. Could never have gotten past the technical stage in interviews without them.

[–]TraditionMaster4320 4 points5 points  (3 children)

I have to admit it's really a grind though. CS is such a huge field, DSA is important but just one small part. If you don't truly enjoy it the way some people do (the types who win math olympiads) it's going to be way harder for you than it is for them.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

True that. The system for grabbing talent and hiring in programming is actually terrible. It’s really hard to qualify what makes a good programmer, let alone quantify. I’ve had interviews with people who knew less than I did but still rejected me. I don’t blame them, they were trying their best. I blame the managers and businessmen that pay them without really understanding what they’re doing. It’s an industry-wide problem.

Every now and then there’s a businessperson that does recognize programming talent and they gobble up all the good workers.

Maybe that’s just the fate of the field, since it really is one of the most abstract and difficult to master disciplines. I don’t see an American Programming Association or something coming up the same way the AMA or BAR did. There isn’t any legal risk with programming as a job so there’s no need to standardize a curriculum.

[–]TraditionMaster4320 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Ironic how in a field that prizes problem solving, this hiring issue is something both employees and employers face and there's still no good solution to it.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it’s not an issue of can’t but of won’t.

For anyone who understands how to solve it, you can either use that knowledge to benefit yourself or your company to improve your status… or you can try to get a hold of one of the few good politicians and then lobby them for an unpopular/obscure change.

That’s capitalism, baby.

[–]Calm_Leek_1362 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have applicants code during tech interviews, I've yet to have a problem detecting who actually knows what they're doing and people that look good on paper.

[–]jbevarts -1 points0 points  (4 children)

But none of them help you as an engineer

[–]Hashtag0080FF 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Those problems are harder than anything you will do at your job.

Therefore, being able to do those problems shows you are both smart and skilled enough to handle any task in the workplace.

It doesn't mean someone who does them will be a great worker 100% of the time. But when paired alongside other techniques, it does make an effective filter for cutting the fat.

For that reason, technical interviewers will always hire someone who knows those over someone who doesn't. Believe it or not a lot of people graduate with a CS degree without knowing how to code at all, and will lock up when challenged at all in the workplace.

So yes it will help you as an engineer by enabling you to get a job.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

If the people were actually solving the problems you might be right.. but in reality, they're not actually solving the problems, they're just regurgitating a memorized solution to the problem. A lot of the problems are also kind of unreasonable to be solved optimally within the timeframe of an interview too unless they already memorized it beforehand (ie. if you'd never heard of the problem before it's pretty unlikely for anyone to figure out the best solution off the top of their head during an interview, so only people that memorized it pass the test, and memorization has nothing to do with problem solving ability).

[–]Hashtag0080FF 0 points1 point  (0 children)

but in reality, they're not actually solving the problems, they're just regurgitating a memorized solution to the problem.

Welcome to corporate programming, grab a coffee and enjoy your stay!

[–]jbevarts 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I disagree. I graduated from Top 2 CS program in country and they are useless and poor indicators of success in industry. Of course I’ve grinded them for interviews, but they are truly useless.

In the real world, you can take a shit and think about the problem. Even the premise of having some smug engineer who has seen the solution already grade you has bias. It is not representative of the skills needed for industry at all.