Leetcode has taught me that I'm a bad engineer
<i>I&#x27;ve been at it intensively for a couple months and my mind simply refuses to cooperate. If anything, after having done 400+ problems I seem to be worse at them than when I started.</i><p>Yup -- brain fog, paralysis and negative performance are the sure-fire signs of burnout (as least as pertains to your capacity for grinding LC).  Excellent preparation for the daily grind of actually working for companies that rely on these tests.<p><i>Leetcode isn&#x27;t about fun and challenging things, it&#x27;s about thinking in one particular way, spitting out solutions using the same exact data structures and jumping through hoops on command without philosophizing or creating anything that can be reused&#x2F;extended.</i><p>Exactly.  And these are apparently precisely the &quot;skills&quot; these companies are &quot;desperately&quot; seeking to find among the engineers they invite for an on-site interview.<p>And don&#x27;t forget the strong &quot;culture fit&quot; signal indicated by the sheer willingness to grind, grind, grind.<p><i>You memorize, regurgitate and participate in the agile masquerade. Creativity is shunned. Tried architectures&#x2F;patterns are what is expected.</i><p>That&#x27;s ticket.  This is exactly the mindset these companies are after.  That&#x27;s why they swear up and down on the efficacy of these tests.<p>On the bright side: at least you&#x27;ve been freed of any illusions, by this point, about the intrinsic value of your advanced hard science degree.