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When? I also have a successful career despite not having any degree, but my read is that it's not as easy for newbies as it was 10 years ago.

It's anecdotal based on my social circle and their younger friends, but I'm wary of turning into my parents with advice like "you don't need a degree, just a firm handshake and an affinity for hard leetcode problems!"

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Well hang on. You say "newbies". I made sure I had been doing hard stuff for a few years before I joined the FAANG company, but yes, it was in the late 1990s. At that time it was harder to get in with no degree. I made it my job from the very beginning of my career to choose areas that were hard for most programmers and to keep up my skills.

What is "hard for most programmers" exactly?

Back when I did it, assembly, embedded programming, and compiler implementation were all subjects programmers avoided in college so I went in that direction.

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