[jchonphoenix]

If you're an engineer, the path is very straightforward. HN may not like this path, but it is tried and true and has never failed any individual.

1. Practice leet code until you can solve all medium and some hard questions.

2. Apply cold or find people on blind, LinkedIn, etc willing to refer you.

3. Use your leet code skills to pass the interview.

If you do all 3 steps, I guarantee you will get a job in startup world. These steps may have challenges but all are achievable of you put in the hrs.

Bonus: do well in that job for 2 years and then you will be able to hop companies if you like

[muzani]

This might be outdated advice. None of the jobs I applied for last year asked anything past medium difficulty. I think many places realize it's very gameable and has a lot of false positives/negatives.

Startups are also more likely to hire people who are not very smart but can get the job done, so this might be more suited to big companies than small ones. Plus most of them have maybe 3 serious applicants, so they probably won't test you too hard.

However, it could be that leetcode is used much less for senior positions.

[ldjkfkdsjnv]

My understanding is its only the top startups asking leetcode, most startups are scrappy. An engineer that can solve leetcode hards can just go make 400k in salary + public market equity