Is it really all about Leetcode?

Amazon
KRONjob

Go to company page Amazon

KRONjob
Oct 21, 2019 8 Comments

So far I thankfully haven't had major issues with Leetcode problems...who know how long this reign will last, but even if I do come across a problem that stumps me, I love learning it anyway.

Most of my failures come from other stupid things like being tested on advanced language, design patterns, or framework specific concepts that I'm a bit rusty though have had experience with. How do I improve on these things? I failed Netflix, Dropbox, and Asana because of this...

I'm feeling really discouraged...

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TOP 8 Comments
  • New / R&D
    VeoQ04

    New R&D

    PRE
    Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd.
    BIO
    Senior iOS developer and tech lead
    VeoQ04
    Shhh don’t tell everybody!

    It really depends on the company and the level and position.

    In my last search it was about 50/50
    G for example didn’t give a shit about language specific while fb it was over 50% of the tech part.
    Oct 21, 2019 3
    • New / R&D
      VeoQ04

      New R&D

      PRE
      Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd.
      BIO
      Senior iOS developer and tech lead
      VeoQ04
      Mobile with some limited backend experience.
      Oct 21, 2019
    • New / R&D
      VeoQ04

      New R&D

      PRE
      Check Point Software Technologies, Ltd.
      BIO
      Senior iOS developer and tech lead
      VeoQ04
      I was mainly
      Asked about what my fortes were - but since I did some node and some ror I was asked some light topics there and when coming to system design that helped a lot
      Oct 21, 2019
  • Dropbox
    duduhe

    Go to company page Dropbox

    duduhe
    “Most of my failures come from other stupid things like being tested on advanced language, design patterns, or framework specific concepts that I'm a bit rusty though have had experience with. [...] I failed [...] Dropbox, and Asana because of this.”

    I work at Dropbox and had an Asana offer. Neither of these companies will ask you about advanced language or framework specific concepts. Asana has a design portion but they tell you beforehand that it will be a design interview.

    You can Leetcode your way into F/G, but the reason I think these other companies have a “high hiring bar” is because they’re aiming to quiz your computer science knowledge (which solving algorithms problems is a subset of), not just your Leetcode knowledge.

    That being said, questions about systems, memory, basic probability, etc. is not at all the focus of the interview, but it’s fair game.

    When I interview candidates, the goal is to see their critical thinking ability, not if they can just churn out code for a problem they memorized.
    Dec 5, 2019 0
  • Roku
    de Vil

    Go to company page Roku

    de Vil
    Languages don't matter if you're a good programmer.
    Oct 21, 2019 2
    • Amazon
      KRONjob

      Go to company page Amazon

      KRONjob
      OP
      Sure, but that won't stop companies from asking esoteric language specific things like how Netflix does. Like for eg, full stack engineers are tested on how JS behaves. Or some startups that work with Ruby on Rails will test you on Rails by asking you to develop a feature on Rails. These all have nothing to do with Leetcode.
      Oct 21, 2019
    • Amazon
      tech69

      Go to company page Amazon

      tech69
      Those things sometimes get a better sense of productivity depending on the team's needs.

      You are much more likely to need knowledge of some Rails quirks to be productive at a Rails shop than knowing how to trap rainwater in 3d and add binary strings.
      Oct 21, 2019