The issue isn't lowering the bar. For a new grad/junior the bar is often lowered to the point of "can you do FizzBuzz in the language we use?" (and there are a lot who can't do that).
Rather, the issue is the "we need to solve problem XYZ" and have the developer figure out how to solve it.
For example, I just finished debugging a problem of an application that would run fine in the IDE, but fail when run on the command line when packaged into a jar. It turned out that the cause was that you can't open up a File inside a .jar (but you can open up an InputStream).
It got passed to me when the developer failed to get it working and gave up on the problem. The happy path failed.
That isn't a "lower the bar" thing - the developer who wrote it can write reasonably complex code. It's a lack of problem solving of the unknown problems.
This sort of problem isn't something that is easily tested by adjusting the bar. Its a "we're graduating people who don't have problem solving skills and are finding that those skills are rare."
Smaller shops that don't have the luxury of hiring many developers may find that only 5-10% of their devs have the necessary problem solving skills... and that's a hard pill to swallow.
Those skills can be cultivated. Some get there through shear grit, but it takes time. But this is where jumping from one job to another gets problematic - it takes time. If someone is switching jobs each year its harder to know if they've gotten to the point where they can solve problems.
I understand the need for the elite to be brain surgeons, but for a vast majority of professions, the filtering for elite is not conducive to a healthy village.
Leetcode is fine, but the trend I’m hearing is that it is getting more and more absurd and somewhat becoming our version of the same gate-keeping that makes finance, law, politics, etc bad.
I’m hopeful overall since you can’t bullshit good software. Over time, the less elite can make better products and make the gatekeeping look stupid when it’s all said and done.
This is mostly, but not completely true. There are other paths. I was recruited by a large bank to come interview for an IB position from a recruiter that specifically looks for talent outside of the Ivy's. What made me stand out from my peers was the fact that I served 7 years in a Special Operations military unit, had a perfect GPA, and multiple high recognition internships all while a dual major.
I turned down the offer as I had friends that went that route and either burned out or simply hated their jobs and I didn't want that, but the point is that there are other paths into IB then going to an Ivy.
Filtering for surgeons really is:
- Who can afford a completely unrelated undergrad before even applying to med school
- Who can afford to fly and meet with hospitals for residency spots
- Who can be the most sleep deprived during residency (completely useless)
> Leetcode is fine, but the trend I’m hearing is that it is getting more and more absurd and somewhat becoming our version of the same gate-keeping that makes finance, law, politics, etc bad.
Really, it's possible to bypass leetcoding by just taking a good algorithm and data structure class.
In other words, if they don’t have to lower their standards for financial reasons, they just don’t.