> To the company this is acceptable noise, but to the individual, this is costing us 100s of thousands of dollars, because there’s only a handful of companies that pay well and they all have the same interview process.
If you want to earn top money, you gotta play the game. This is true in every profession, you think lawyers that want to work at top law firms have it any easier?
There's a lot of valid criticism with respect to today's tech hiring practices (especially because it doesn't only affect top paying companies), but I don't feel like "I can't get ridiculously wealthy without selling my soul" is a particularly compelling one.
Although I find it disappointing, this is the truth. It is a function of supply and demand. There is always a gating function when you have an abundance of supply; sometimes it is leetcode, sometimes it is school, take home work, resume formatting, a mixture, all of the above, etc.
Everything is a proxy because, in most scenarios, there is no way to understand effectiveness of an employee until they have worked for you for a while.
Of course there are other ways, but they all carry their own risks.
That’s why referrals, imperfect as they are, carry so much sway. In theory they reduce uncertainty and require some expenditure of political capital.
If you want to earn top money, you gotta play the game. This is true in every profession, you think lawyers that want to work at top law firms have it any easier?
There's a lot of valid criticism with respect to today's tech hiring practices (especially because it doesn't only affect top paying companies), but I don't feel like "I can't get ridiculously wealthy without selling my soul" is a particularly compelling one.