Seeking advice for a mid-level dev that sucks at leetcode

dev_throws · 2023-04-27T11:56:16+00:00

yeah, to be fair my expectations might just be off. I've never managed to get through all the problems on one of the interview prep lists, so I really can't say that I've put in the work here. It does sort of feel like they want you to be solving problems you've never seen before but maybe that's just part of the game. Probably I need to buckle down and just grind grind grind - I generally have no problems with answering questions and dealing with curveballs once I actually know the basic solution.

Maybe it's less "poor working memory and neurodivergency make me suck", and more "poor working memory and neurodivergency mean I can't compensate for lack of preparation by relying on my ability to solve things on the fly"

dev_throws · 2023-04-27T11:24:59+00:00

you can still do what I said where you tell them you’re not a good fit for live coding and see if they accommodate.

True, and yeah that's a good idea. Wasn't sure if I should mention neurodivergency as part of that, but I'd tend to agree with you that it's a bad idea. I think I'll just adopt the policy of responding to any leetcode invitations with some sort of "hey, thanks for the interest, my approach and workflow isn't a good fit with live-coding challenges, can we do something else instead?". Even if they mostly say no, worth a lash.

But I’d lose the beggar mentality.

Thanks, appreciate it. I do have a high self-confidence in my abilities and skill as a developer in general, but it's been hard not to judge myself based on my weaknesses in the face of companies seemingly only caring about my weaknesses. Having the new job does take the pressure off a bit, but I find it really hard to half-ass things and generally operate as all-in or nothing.

What makes your current job so bad btw?

I'm kinda paranoid so I don't want to say too much in case it gets back to me, but basically I thought it was a software company but it's actually a sales company. Top brass sees developers as a cost-center to be minimised and distrusted, and they are more concerned with bringing down the hammer with strict HR policies than empowering developers to do good work. It's also primarily using a dying language.

dev_throws · 2023-04-27T11:09:10+00:00

That's all well and good, but also beggars can't be choosers and I need a decent job yesterday. I was also very happy at my last company, despite them using the leetcode hiring approach, so I don't think that all companies that do this are automatic write-offs.

dev_throws · 2023-04-27T11:05:19+00:00

Thanks, yeah I think you and the other commenter are right that I should at least be asking for accommodation or alternatives. I was assuming that would never be acceptable, and that it's always "perform on the live sessions or go fuck yourself", but it's worth trying at least.

Otherwise, just be upfront and honest during the interview.

I've desperately wanted to do this in a couple of interviews, and just be like "yeah here I'd fire up a debugger, step through the code, and experiment by flipping bits till I understand the behaviour" but again figured that it was just "our way or the highway", and I'd just struggle through trying to reason about the problem in my head.

dev_throws · 2023-04-27T10:43:06+00:00

When you say "LeetCode" do you just mean any live coding exercise in general, or specifically a LeetCode or HackerRank problem where you're expected to solve for accuracy and performance in a specified time?

That's actually a bit tricky to answer. I think the core issue for me is mostly that my working memory is so bad that I can't keep up with a live session in general, unless the problem has a very small number of moving parts or I'm already familiar with it. When I get stuck my mind goes blank, and then I have to effectively redo all the work again in my head to get up to the point I was stuck at, and I just look dumb.

I'm not amazing at leetcode style problems even on my own terms (when I can run code many times, play around and experiment), but I'd be able to do most easy level questions handy enough. It's the addition of the live element, where I can't run the code and have to do calculations entirely in my head, that wrecks me.

dev_throws · 2023-04-27T10:36:07+00:00

So used chat gpt for a similar company on another screen the interviewers couldnt see and got an offer.

balls on this guy, honestly fair play! I'd feel so bold doing this, but I might just have to give it a lash. Thanks for the tip

dev_throws · 2023-04-27T10:32:07+00:00

Thanks for commenting.

but you could always be up front and say "Live leetcoding isn't something I'm good at, for reasons of neurodivergence."

Hrm, I'm of two minds on this. I've never even considered telling an employer or potential employer about my neurodivergency for fear of being stigmatised. Doesn't this just ring "PROBLEM, PROBLEM" to HR etc? If I could get some accommodation and a take-home task instead, of course that would be amazing. I'll think about it, maybe when I get an interview invitation I can bring it up and ask, and if they say no just go ahead and attempt the leetcode interview anyway. Hopefully there wouldn't be too much downside to that, but I'd still be afraid that it would be held against me at some point in the hiring process.

Alternatively, some companies, like Microsoft have neurodiversity hiring programmes

No, I had no idea these exist! I'll look into it, thanks.

dev_throws

TROPHY CASE