You're absolutely right. Ditching the pointless corporate hoops, proving you can do the job, and getting paid like anyone else is what truly matters. Most hiring processes are just bureaucratic roadblocks that needlessly filter out great candidates. Unless you're working on something truly critical, there's no reason to play along with the nonsense.

Wanting to be paid under false pretenses is the definition of fraud.

That doesn’t make any sense. The best engineers I know can’t pass these interviews because they started working long before they became standard.

That doesn’t matter. If the current qualification bar is “must do X” and you fake it, you’re committing fraud.

Being paid for even excellent performance is a fraud.

> Wanting to be paid under false pretenses is the definition of fraud.

What? No, it isn't.

Regardless, if the job requirements state "X years of XYZ experience" and you have to have >X years of experience, then using AI to look up how to do a leetcode problem for some algorithm you haven't used since your university days is absolutely not "false pretenses" nor fraud.

If the interview process says, “you must do X without using AI” and you use AI and hide it, you’re committing fraud.

Nope.

> What do I care about the terms of the interview as long as they hire me?

well that's the neat part... they aren't going to. All this AI stuff just happened to coincide with a recession no one wants to admit, amplifying the issue.

So yea, even if I'm desperate I need to be mindful of my time. I can only do so many 4-5 stage interviews only to be ghosted, have the job close, or someone else who applied earlier get the position.

> What do I care about the terms of the interview as long as they hire me?

Because committing fraud to get hired is a pretty shitty way to live your life

I’m sorry is the job “professional Leetcoder”?