[crispyambulance]

> instead of wasting 3 months training with no guarantees, build a product instead and sell it.

I totally sympathize with your sentiments, but building a product and selling it ALSO has NO guarantees.

These folks that "learned on the job" often were hired into completely different roles from SWE but ended up doing it anyway and they're not making anything close to ~300K FAANG money. So, it's not THAT much of a stretch to blow a good number of months grinding leetcode if a job upgrade is a possibility.

Ultimately, it's a matter of finding the right place. Often that means using your professional network and getting referrals. If the gauntlet can be bypassed through connections, that's a good thing for everyone.

[b20000]

after building a product, you will have generated IP that you own. after doing leetcode for a few months, you have gained nothing.