> It cares if your smart. Hence leetcode etc. You need to be practiced for that.

It’s not to detect how smart you are. Leetcode screening is passed via memorizing patterns and masturbating for hours on sample tasks. It has nothing to do with smartness nor with real work.

Your assumption is wrong.

Leetcode is to filter in more disciplined and agreeable folks, who are ready to struggle through whatever meaningless bullshit company come up with. Its a loyalty filter mainly.

Originally it was intended to detect geniuses, but this is not relevant for 20 years now.

We are commodities. It doesn’t mean personal contacts don’t matter. Same way as you will likely buy a barrel of oil from someone you know rather than not. But there is no point in systemic markting efforts to promote your specific oil vs others of the same grade.