These days at FAANG jobs, if you have two candidates, one from a top 5 ranked CS school in the US, who did reasonably well in the interview and another who is from a low ranked CS school but, absolutely nailed the leetcode interview (much better than the first candidate), who are you more likely to pick for your team?
Nobody gives af what school you come from, other than maybe the recruiter who is deciding whether or not to extend you an opportunity to interview. Leetcode is the only thing that matters.
School name and prestige has no relevance in this scenario. If you're being evaluated on your performance and the criteria is based on LC performance, why would I care if you graduated from a top school but didnt prepare well enough for the interview? Actually, I wouldnt even care if you graduated from college at all, because for these types of roles, no one cares.
Notice I said reasonably well. You can assume the top 5 CS guy did quite well but, the low ranked guy was better. For example, say the top 5 CS guy nailed 4 out of 5 interviews and did ok on the last. But, the low ranked CS guy did well in all 5.
Dont care. Reasonably well is still not as well as the guy who "nailed the interview", which is the whole point of evaluations with interviews.
Everything matters - nailing leetcode is not an indicator or success , nor is graduation from a top cs school. It’s all about overall performance
The overall better candidate. I certainly wouldn’t rely on who memorized more CS 101 trivia.
No wonder the tech industry is filled with good for nothing Leetcode memorizers.
If you’re from a top school you’ll get good Internships that translates into return offers...and a bunch of companies target you during junior/senior year. Leetcode will get u there, but less stringent requirements if you start from good college :) I’ve gotten google, fb, LinkedIn offers without being that good at leetcoding Post college
Why are you at Amazon then?
Bc I’ve already ridden out my times with a few top tech companies lol Work wise it’s the same shit. I don’t need anymore “resume padding”. I’m young, getting paid way too much because of this “prestigious background” BS, so it’s about high growth, And lots of learning. Amazon offered that more than the other companies given my location, and timing when I was job searching. Pays top of my band despite the fact that I’m less than 1 year at this band. I know I have enough network to get an interview in any tech company I want if I wanted. That being said, i still wouldn’t recommend amazon for people who prioritizes being happy and getting paid well...
But anyone can memorize a leetcode question. Not everyone can get a degree from a top 5 school. But then again, if someone can't solve a leetcode question, that's a stronger signal that they won't be able to do the job. So ideally would want someone who checks both boxes.
I mean with that logic Ignoring external factors like money etc... Anyone can get a degree from a top 5 school. Just like anyone can can memorize Leet questions. It all comes down to discipline
If someone can't solve a leetcode problem, that has nothing to do with whether he can solve a practical SWE issue in his job or not.
This one is always the one who nailed the interview