I am honestly quite good at software engineering, writing clean/maintainable/testable/idiomatic code, easy and safe APIs, and know general system design good practices. However, I'm terrible at any kind of algorithm related question (i.e. interview question) that is not on the beginner level. I can solve some easy/medium LC questions without looking at the solution, but it requires a lot of trial and error. I am unable to solve hard questions without hints, before giving up. One of the reasons why I have not attempted a FAANG interview is because I feel like I'll do poorly (especially on DP questions), and I do not want to blindly memorize solutions. Am I retar**d? I managed to join Mensa two years ago, so I think that my brain must somehow work. Am I just unmotivated? I don't really care about algorithms and it feels like a chore to learn them. How much effort and time did you have to put into LC preparation for interviews? Is it possible that my brain is simply not wired right to understand things like DP intuitively? Do I have to mindlessly grind for months to have a chance at a FAANG interview? TC: 130k London, 4YoE #leetcode #interview #questions
The mensa mention makes me think you're a troll but at the same time you work for Bloomberg and they ask those types of questions.
Definitely a troll
Mensa not that hard to get into
Not trolling. I thought it was worth mentioning because the Mensa test has pattern identification quizzes which I did well on, but I can't seem to do the same for interview questions. It's like I lack the intuition for things like DP, but I have it for pattern recognition, which seems weird.
@Sapphire1
Dude, either you're socially autistic or you're just a dick. First of all, I misclicked - it happens to everyone. I could have deleted my post but I was too lazy to do it, and I just simply tagged the other guy under my failed reply. Secondly, I did not flex on anybody. Do you think I flaunt my Mensa membership like a trophy? I don't. I haven't even been to a single Mensa event - I just wanted to take the IQ test to see where I was on the scale. Regardless, your last point is interesting. Can you provide sources?
If you’re not trolling, then it’s all about persistency and putting in the effort. If you haven’t done algorithms at all, you will need more time than the average software engineer who wants to change their job. It’s like sports. If you haven’t played any at all in your entire life, it’ll take much longer for you to become reasonably good at sports. But it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. The fact that so many ppl on Blind without CS backgrounds are able to get FAANG jobs should tell you that you can do it too.
Practicing leetcode made me better at leetcode. I passed a google phone screen I probably would have not been able to pass otherwise (not because I wouldn’t have been able to figure it out but because I would have stumbled on it in the high pressure time sensitive context without having been grinding similar ones prior). Hopefully the rest of the interview process is helped too. The system is broken IMO because somehow competitive programming has become this super important facet of the industry regarding hiring, but pragmatically speaking, grinding leetcode does make you better at leetcode. I have 10 years of professional experience, more of general experience. These last 6 weeks of leetcode haven’t improved my skills whatsoever except for the skill of leetcoding and hopefully passing some FAANG interviews. So yeah the whole thing is stupid but you can train at it to be better not as a developer if you are already senior and do a ton of real work, but better as an interviewee.
What your leetcode count?
Currently it’s like 180 something
Is that TC in GBP or USD? If the former, honestly I'm a bit surprised, I've heard of much lower numbers for BBG in general. What's the breakdown?
GBP. Most of my FSD classmates are in the same range, someone even got more than 130k. Breakdown is around 110k base 20k bonus
Oh wow, nice!
it’s a skill to learn. just practice and you’ll get better
Does it become useful in practice? I think one of the reasons I don't practice well enough is that I'm convinced this stuff is not useful most of the times, and when it is I can just look up existing literature. If I knew it made me a better engineer I would probably care more.
I don’t know if it’s always useful outside of interviews, but it’s very useful for interviews. I used to work at nokia, and now I’m in FAANG, because I practiced. Couldn’t pass interviews without that practice. In real life, I rarely use the type of DP you’d get in a 40 minute interview