I've never done any coding interview in my life. I was pretty good at algorithms 15 years ago back in the University but I can't remember details or recite exact big-O notations for stuff. I haven't practiced "dynamic programming" skills or memorized solutions to the common forms of tricky problems. All the jobs I landed were because previous coworkers went somewhere and recommended me straight to their managers, so I was able to always bypass HR processes.
I've been on the same job for more than 10 years in a Big Company but sometimes I get contacted by some other Big Company (Google, Apple, etc.), sometimes not by recruiters but by managers owning the reqs directly because I have a very rare set of skills (I'm not a Rock Star, I just happen to work in a field almost nobody else knows anything about, so it's hard to find candidates to fill positions).
I've been telling myself that I should go back to study algorithms and practice those coding challenges so that I could maybe start to answer these recruiters and have any hopes of passing interviews. But life is too short and tiring so I end up spending my evenings away from keyboards.
Do you guys keep maintaining your skills so you can talk to these interviewers? What is the common approach between the HN folks for these things?
I guess I'm in the inertia and trying to find a way out of it.
My most recent interviewing experience has shifted from hard level problems to mostly medium problems and more “real” applicable problems like a mini excel, LRU, or an undo/redo state system. One recruiter told me they are more looking to screen that you can code with AI than anything else.
Hiring has also shifted to look beyond new grads. Your loyalty and real world skills will outshine any coding interviews.