HACKER Q&A
📣 dondraper36

Does grinding Leetcode have the highest ROI?


A bit of context: I work remotely for a company with offices in Europe. I get paid pretty well, actually super well compared to my local market average salaries.

Due to my current family circumstances, it's not an option for me to relocate.

I have been in backend engineering for about 5 years now but I'm starting to feel that the atmosphere in my current team is deteriorating every day.

Even though it's highly likely, there might not be an open position in another team within the same company.

Here's the question: what is the most pragmatic way to be in good shape should I leave the current job?

I constantly try to improve in pure backend-related aspects like my default programming language, databases, system design.

That said, it seems that a lot of companies where my income could increase in a statistically significant way, Leetcode style interviews have become very common.

I am making the conclusion that being good enough at Leetcode problems is a pretty safe bet.

What do you think?

  👤 idoh Accepted Answer ✓
As someone non-technical grinding interview prep has been a game changer for me. So I would say yes, probably. Figure out what questions could be asked, then practice via study, mock interviews, and Anki. There’s only so many questions they can ask, and if you practice them all and are fluid then you will be in great shape.
👤 PartiallyTyped
Studying system design and doing interviews consistently even if you don’t intend on leaving is likely the best way to stay interview ready.
👤 speedgoose
I guess training on the classic book "Cracking the Coding Interview" and similar will help you pay the bills easily.

Personally I would also work on my portfolio.

👤 jstx1
My problem with the "just grind leetcode" advice is that I'm not getting interviews in the first place.

But if you're able to get interviews, yes.

👤 asdfzalsd
yeah it does, you can double/triple your currently salary just grinding leetcode for a few months

this thread got a lot of traction how to properly leetcode grind: https://twitter.com/pwang_szn/status/1674719490993688577