[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”.