Leetcode is cooked in 2026 and we don't hire people who only grind leetcode.

Edit: yo im not saying NOT to do leetcode, I'm saying don't spend 80% effort on lc and 20% on everything else... About 2 years ago, I got in big tech and thought i've made it. I'm 2400 rating on lc, b

Edit: yo im not saying NOT to do leetcode, I'm saying don't spend 80% effort on lc and 20% on everything else... About 2 years ago, I got in big tech and thought i've made it. I'm 2400 rating on lc, but the second I stepped in the door I realized LC was just a filter and I actually had zero clue how to build real systems. I actually left to join a YC startup with more autonomy, and within 4 months, I've learned & built more than everything I have before than. Now with AI, leetcode is getting more and more obsolete and instead companies focus more on the macro scale, system design, LLD, and strong CS fundementals or domain knowledge. A recruiter I worked with told me that almost none of the bay area startups ask Leetcode interviews in the past 10 months. even for big tech, they care more about "communication" and now meta stripe and soon other companies will probably follow. There is a huge talent shortage right now because most new grads are preparing for a market that does not exist anymore. We are hiring for an applied ai engineer role right now and we want people who can own agent performance end to end and make systems work in messy production environments but most people just follow school curriculum then do neetcode 150 blindly. I would love to hear what you guys think about the curriculum or what you are seeing in the current hiring market