[b20000]

maybe where you are from CS degrees mean nothing. in western europe you don’t get a CS degree unless you actually have both the academic chops and can build working software. i completed many projects while still at the uni.

also, no other white collar job has these sorts of ridiculous demands. and no, engineering does not pay disproportionately well.

finally, most of these interviews test if you solve a very specific programming problem in under a minute. the only way to succeed is by having already solved that particular problem before. so the interviews don’t test if you are a good computer scientist. they test how far you are willing to go to get the job.

[mimon]

Unfortunately for you I live, work, and do tech hiring in Western Europe, so I'm just going to go straight ahead and call you out on your weird geo-superiority bs.

Western European grads are no better or worse than elsewhere. Tech jobs do pay disproportionately well (not as much as the US but still well), and I assure you other white-collar fields such as law, finance and medicine have plenty of ridiculous demands and barriers to entry - often much worse than the ones we see in tech.

Honestly if you are as good as you say you are you should be happy to just walk into any tech company you like, spend a couple hours showing off, and be set for life.

[b20000]

if you think you can walk into any tech company and show off for a few hours and be set for the rest of your live, you must be nuts.

[pedrosorio]

What is your objection here?

[pedrosorio]

> most of these interviews test if you solve a very specific programming problem in under a minute

You’re supposed to be solving it as you go, most of the time while interacting with your interviewer. Certainly not “in under a minute” unless your concept of “leetcode interview” is some kind of rapid-fire “I tell you the problem you describe a sketch of the solution as quickly as possible”.

I will also echo the other commenter’s opinion regarding “CS in Western Europe”. Not only do you have people graduating who can’t build working software, you also have a wide range of skill levels such that some companies want to hire from the top of the distribution and not just “any CS grad who can build software”.