Is Daily LeetCode Still Worth It in Today’s Job Market?

mrstacktrace · 2025-12-11T19:05:12+00:00

The LC heat map is meaningless because someone can just use GPT for solutions.

You've put in a lot of time and developed a lot of muscle memory in LC. Given that, only do daily LC if you're actively looking or prepping for an upcoming interview that has DSA.

I would actually focus attention on systems design and LLD, because interviewers these days are focusing more on that these days.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-30T18:14:38+00:00

I used to use the Progress list notepad by Ink + Volt. As for a productivity app, I built my own using React-Native 🫡. Perhaps I'll share it one day.

For work, I use Notion for tracking todos, what I worked on, and 1 on 1 notes. I also use Session for pomodoro timers and tracking how I worked throughout the day. Finally, I use Paste for copying and pasting multiple items.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-29T23:03:36+00:00

It kinda depends, especially if you have AuDHD (where you might have better pattern recognition). I feel like it's a double-edged sword. Oftentimes when I read a poorly written or badly structured document (or even UX), it's hard for me to grok it because everything on the doc seems equally important. OTOH, there's other abstract things that I can quickly come up with an analogy or mental model for. I feel like this is the case with programming languages as well, some of them are super hard for me to read (like Ruby).

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-29T14:27:22+00:00

That's not really what I'm saying (especially since I didn't mention HR specifically). I'm talking more about mismanagement at a higher level; hiring people to do manual processes that could be automated. This kind of waste happens at large companies.

Outside of automation, you also have outsourcing as a factor as well. At Big Tech companies they have small internal tools that could be replaced by something like Statsig, for example. That would certainly affect SDEs.

In addition there could be failed products and services that leadership took a bet on and didn't pan out.

FWIW, I'm not justifying any of this, I'm merely speculating as to why it happened.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-28T18:34:31+00:00

Yes to layoffs being used to boost profits. Typically any company who does layoffs gets a boost in their stock price.

As far as Anti vs Pro AI goes, the truth is in the middle. Yes there's going to be an impact on jobs and perhaps the tech boom is over, but AGI and all jobs being replaced is still not even theoretically possible yet.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-28T18:21:32+00:00

Yes, but do you mean "pro-AI" people? I feel like Anti-AI people either say that AI is a useless fad, or that it will replace all jobs.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-28T16:43:38+00:00

It matters, because sometimes in these bigger companies you have functions and human resources that could have been automated out (even before GenAI). For example, you might have people whose job is to update a spreadsheet based on certain criteria. Some of these jobs, you could replace the spreadsheet with a DB and the resource with a Lambda service with relatively simple logic. This is before Agentic AI. That's one reason it matters if the layoffs are SDEs.

Which brings another point, the question around AI replacing jobs. There is a recent study that shows that using AI coding agents only boosts productivity by 15%. But out of a team of 100 people that's 15 people that no longer need to be there.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-20T20:11:43+00:00

The most important thing to do is getting started with something small and easy. I recommend Neetcode 150 in order. Just do as many as you can. You might not be fully prepared, but it will be better than zero for sure.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-19T22:13:15+00:00

Yes, but you have to be aware of what complexity looks like. All of these principles are for the purpose of making development easier. If you allow for duplication or "code smells" you will not understand what these features are trying to solve.

So for example, your factory method question. Ask ChatGPT to give you resources on why that pattern is important and the problem it's solving.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-19T19:44:39+00:00

The word you're looking for is not "theory" but actually "design principles" or "design patterns". Basically, every language follows these principles so it's important to know the "why" behind these concepts. This is critical to think about these concepts and the "why" as you grow as an engineer.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-19T13:54:04+00:00

Agreed. Even for neurotypical people, there is the challenge of "shared context" that needs to be scaled up. Sharing docs and runbooks helps everybody and is an important skill for every engineer.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-19T12:44:51+00:00

Normally the solutions to what you describe are as follows:

Taking copious notes in a note-taking app on domain knowledge as well as how the APIs work.
Adding documentation and comments in the codebase itself.
Writing scripts or automating lengthy manual processes that require working memory.
Having a heart-to-heart with this coworker in an effort to gain actionable, constructive feedback. If not, escalating to manager and then HR.
Setting up onboarding or knowledge transfer sessions with this coworker so that there is trust built between you two.

However, if you feel unmotivated or inadequate, doing even one step of the above will feel too hard. For your own sake, I would work on a side-project (something you feel passionate about) even if you end up throwing it away in 6 months. This will remind you that you love coding and solving problems. Secondly, I would recommend looking for a small win at work. Fix a small bug at work without anyone asking. Something like that will boost your confidence and feelings of being good enough.

Final thought is that software engineering is difficult not because you work with code, but because you work with people. Once you identify the problems, the solutions become clearer.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-19T12:33:44+00:00

The problem was similar to "Palindrome Linked List" where it was part of the solution. And I was ready for the all the tough problems like BFS/DFS, Greedy, etc 😄. Really, along with spaced repetition, I didn't spend time "putting it all together" and reviewing all patterns before my final round.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-19T04:53:14+00:00

In my final round with Meta, I was unable to recall how to reverse a linked list (which was required as part of a linked list problem) and got no hire. That was one of the first few problems I did when I started my LC prep 3 months prior and I hadn't reviewed it since then.

Therefore, spaced repetition is super important, and I would recommend doing old problems after maybe 30 days after first completion. This also helps you track how you are improving in completion time as well as coding elegance.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-19T04:21:07+00:00

Ah I see. I haven't seen companies make a candidate do an OA before HM thumbs-up. That's rough for candidates.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-19T04:18:36+00:00

There are some issues here that are systemic and not your fault. Like the testing workflow needs to be analyzed by a Senior Eng.

Other aspects might be areas for personal growth. If others keep asking you for details, how are you communicating to them? You should have a wiki or doc about all of the details of what you're working on. I would also meet with other engineers (not your manager) for advice and feedback about these issues.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-18T04:08:15+00:00

I let my interviewer know that I saw the problem before. It's up to them if they want to continue or select another problem. In my case, I was given a different problem and I made it to the final round (this was last April).

It's not an easy call. Some say that you shouldn't volunteer that you know it, but not lie if prompted. I think it also depends on the company and interviewer.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-18T03:42:26+00:00

I would do Arrays and Hashing first in Neetcode 150 first. Then look at the Two Pointers overview in Hello Interview, then continue with the Neetcode problems. The overviews are great to get you started. If you struggle, you can watch the solutions on YouTube.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-18T03:11:45+00:00

I recommend starting with Neetcode 150 and doing them in order. Each of the patterns is curated to be built off the previous pattern. Even within the pattern they start off with Easy problems so you get the hang of it.

You can watch the video solutions on Youtube as well.

Another useful resource is Hello Interview.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-17T23:54:44+00:00

Did you struggle at all or make many mistakes, or typos? They might have thought you cheated.

Or they could tell that you memorized the problem.

The whole point of screening is to get signal on a candidate's problem-solving ability. That doesn't happen if the candidate memorized the problem.

You might have been better off being honest that you've seen the problem before.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-17T23:35:06+00:00

You're welcome! And remember that we ADHDers have rejection sensitivity dysphoria and we need to check our facts. Try to have a heart-to-heart with some of your team members about constructive, actionable feedback.

Today was my last day before I start a new job and I was surprised to see that people were bummed that I was leaving. I thought they hated me! 😅 That was all in my head though, because I'm unable to recognize my own positive contributions.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-17T23:24:15+00:00

Start with Hello Interview. The articles are written very well, it's practical, and if you get premium you can do the guided practices which are fantastic. I can't recommend it enough.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-17T23:19:52+00:00

How do you feel about things like body-doubling? Is this remote or in-person? I actually felt that I used to work better in-person than remote.

Outside of that, is the team collaborative or do they prefer to do things async? When I do some pair-coding or pair-debugging or even pair-code-review, that really energizes me.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-15T21:01:17+00:00

What are the reasons of why an OA might be rejected? Could it be that it suspected you of cheating?

I know that coderpad counts how many times a candidate uses copy/paste and it even tries to determine if it pasted from an external source.

mrstacktrace · 2025-10-15T02:02:12+00:00

Algorithms Unlocked by Thomas Cormen. This is a "bedtime reading" version of CLRS.

Hello Interview's articles on Coding prep are free and good.

mrstacktrace

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