Comment by SavageBeast | Hacker News Reader

Comment by SavageBeast | Hacker News Reader

When there is a cottage industry focused on training people to pass your interview then you have a problem.

I think Allen Iverson said it well:

"We're talking about practice, man. [laughter from the media crowd] We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We ain't talking about the game. [more laughter] We're talking about practice, man."

Fun fact:

I had a recruiter reach out about interviewing at a non-FAANG company that is private. Being private there are no RSUs on offer but instead some kind of Company Funny Bucks doled out based on "performance" etc. Whatever, all well and good so far. Competitive salary but TC wont be anywhere in the same solar system as some of the FAANG total comps Im aware of for a position of similar level.

Then the kicker comes - I get an email about "interview preparation" and I kid you not it was every bit as intensive as AMZN. Do they really expect me to put up with this hazing for the same money I can go make without it? For Company Funny Bucks (told to expect 10-15% of my salary at best with a whole lot of qualifying "if's" in there indicating this was mostly fiction). Needless to say I performed a quick analysis of the value of my time and opted to politely pass on the interview.

> When there is a cottage industry focused on training people to pass your interview then you have a problem.

Doctors have board exams. Lawyers have bar exams. Financial professionals have their own set of exams. Electrical and mechanical engineers have professional engineer exams.

The difference is that they're standardized, so the prep industry caters to passing those exams more so than passing the interviews.

Software engineering is far from standardized because the subject matter is far too varied, so instead companies handle their own type of exams customized to their needs.

There is also a cottage industry around interview prep for lawyers, doctors, and other professions. It's just not well known because it's extremely expensive relative to spending a couple hundred bucks (if that) on Leetcode. It often takes the form of expensive 1:1 coaching that starts in the hundreds of dollars and can easily enter five figures. Students from wealthy families frequently have private coaches for this.

Yep. I hate interviews as much as everyone else but I'll take grinding Leetcode or Interview Cake for a month or two over having to deal with law school and the bar, for example.

I guess it depends on how often you plan to change jobs. I don't like the idea, and kind of hate the concept of gatekeeping, BUT at this point, I'd be willing to go pass a single "programming bar exam" if it meant I would not have to grind for months before every. damn. time. I. job. hunt.

The problem is nowadays a lot of companies don't reward loyalty. In the US coastal markets, you are hurting yourself by staying at once place for 5+ years (FAANG and some big corps excluded).

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