Side projects > leetcode, any day of the week.
I’ve personally transitioned several people from other industries into software successfully.
Some of them got stuck in the leetcode world convinced it is what would help them get hired.
You know the ones who always get hired the fastest? The ones who have real-world prototype apps to demo to recruiters and interviewers and showcase their applied knowledge.
As someone who also has hired several engineers, I don’t care how many leetcode problems you do if you can’t do basic real world tasks like simple devops, or don’t have basic domain-specific experience (such as GraphQL, React, Stripe to name a few randomly, whatever tools are in the stack or the place you’re trying to get into).
Also idk why you think FAANG is the only place where you can find money. I can tell you from first hand experience that you can sell the most mundane development work, like basic jQuery and CSS site updates, for hundreds of thousands of dollars with the right opportunity. Plenty of prestige in running your own firm. Networking well is where the money is.
I’ve personally transitioned several people from other industries into software successfully.
Some of them got stuck in the leetcode world convinced it is what would help them get hired.
You know the ones who always get hired the fastest? The ones who have real-world prototype apps to demo to recruiters and interviewers and showcase their applied knowledge.
As someone who also has hired several engineers, I don’t care how many leetcode problems you do if you can’t do basic real world tasks like simple devops, or don’t have basic domain-specific experience (such as GraphQL, React, Stripe to name a few randomly, whatever tools are in the stack or the place you’re trying to get into).
Also idk why you think FAANG is the only place where you can find money. I can tell you from first hand experience that you can sell the most mundane development work, like basic jQuery and CSS site updates, for hundreds of thousands of dollars with the right opportunity. Plenty of prestige in running your own firm. Networking well is where the money is.