For example, I've seen those who are interested in leetcode, algos, and the like. I remember this one time where management wanted to have JS/front-end devs answer questions about C and b-trees. They couldn't find anyone to make it through the whole interview process. The problem was that people who could handle the C and b-trees couldn't cut it at the JS questions that came later. The JS devs never got passed the C/b-tree questions.
There is a culture of elite knowledge and a club around that. Some are into the school people have degrees from and that kind of thing.
There is another side of it that's about the ability to use code to problem solve. I remember meeting this senior engineer that customers used to constantly request by name. He was one of the most senior levels at the company. I later learned that he had no degree. He had a ton of hands on knowledge and understood the technology from years of working. He learned it like a skilled trade and he was valuable to everyone involved.
There are places where both types of folks can thrive.
I personally go after the problem solving type situations because I don't like forms of elitism and I really like solving problems.
Don't look at the leetcode space and Google mentorship as the whole realm of software jobs. There is a lot more out there and many very successful people doing other types of stuff in software.