I recently had a fascinating conversation with my former Tech lead from Google, and today I bring you a snippet of our chat that explores how coding interviews have evolved over time.
Trust me coding inreview now are way more dramatic then they used to be
Conrad, my former Tech lead, shared that during his time at Google in 2009, he faced a more traditional leetcode-style interview. But you'll be surprised to know that Google played a pivotal role in shaping the modern coding interview as we know it. They were the first to incorporate those challenging data structures and algorithms problems, and many of the questions on leetcode are actually taken from Google's secret question bank. I can tell you this because, in 2009, I also interviewed at Google and encountered a variation of 'Jump Game', a dynamic programming or greedy problem. After the interview, I went on leetcode to check if it existed there, but it didn't. However, a few years later, while participating in a leetcode contest, I came across the exact same problem. So, there you have it, folks. Google is the mastermind behind these tricky questions.
As we move forward, it seems that engineers are preparing intensely for these algorithmic interviews. As a result, the bar is getting higher and higher, thanks to the simple rules of supply and demand. Companies only need a certain number of people, and if everyone can solve leetcode easy questions, they'll start asking medium questions and so on. This can be problematic because solving complex problems without prior exposure is a challenge. It becomes a game of luck and not a true assessment of an engineer's skillset.
In today's economic climate, the situation has become a bit exaggerated. I haven't interviewed recently, but I believe it's safe to say that the bar is significantly higher than it was just a few years ago. And this is unfortunate because, as much as we appreciate algorithms and data structures, they are not the sole indicators of an engineer's competence. Remember, interviewers, if you're asking leetcode hard questions, come on, let's be a bit more reasonable.
summing it up, although leetcode mediums are more common than hards, even at Google, I urge you to reconsider throwing leetcode hard questions at interviewees. It's not fair, and it doesn't really measure their true potential. Let's strive for a more balanced and inclusive approach to technical interviews.