Love or Hate Leetcode, but do not Ignore

Leetcode might not reflect what you do in your daily job but do not IGNORE

This is an evergreen topic for people in tech :

Should we do Leetcode or focus on being a better software engineer

This question is similar to asking

Should we optimize for money or growth

There is no right or wrong answer here. Everyone has their own priorities and thing they want in life.

Based on my 7 years of experience in tech industry, I will be sharing my take on this hot question

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Collaboration

I got a chance to be on “Ready Set Do” podcast where we discussed about career growth in tech

Do watch if you get a chance and subscribe to the podcast

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These days, landing a high-paying software engineering job is tough if you aren’t in the top 0.1% of engineers. Many of you are great at your job, but without strong Leetcode skills, it’s hard to get noticed by top companies.

On the flip side, if you’re really good at Leetcode but not as skilled at real-world engineering, you might get the job but struggle to keep it.

Here’s the truth:

• If you’re a strong software engineer but struggle with Leetcode, getting a high-paying job can be tough.

  • You will probably be stuck in same company. You might have a decent career growth and might get promotions as well but compensation wise, it will still lag if you stay in a company for 3+ years.

  • There might be some exceptions here like if you are getting pretty good refreshers, your company stocks have increased etc. In such cases, it might be beneficial to stick around even from money point of view

• If you’re great at Leetcode but not a strong engineer, landing the job won’t guarantee success at work.

  • You will be able to clear interviews and get into a great company. But if you don’t have the skills, you probably won’t be able to survive and eventually laid-off OR you will be burnt out working long hours which is even worse.

The key?

You need to balance both skills

I know a lot of talented engineers who avoid job interviews because they don’t want to deal with Leetcode. I also know people who can pass every interview but struggle in the actual job because they haven’t developed strong engineering skills.

You can’t just focus on one thing. You need to improve both your software engineering and Leetcode skills if you want to succeed—both in getting the job and performing well once you have it.

Here’s your reminder for the week:
Don’t over-focus on one area. Make time for both Leetcode practice and improving your real-world engineering skills. Doing both will help you land a great job and thrive in it.

Have a great weekend ahead !

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