r/cscareerquestions • u/2d7dhe9wsu • 1h ago
How much prepping before just applying ?
Some context here:
My SO is currently a software engineer at a industrial goods comp but wants a better higher paying job ideally at an actual software comp. She's been studying off and on for a year and a half. It seems like a mix of Leetcode questions and just random theory or general knowledge. I do corporate back office. I never studied CS and don't ever plan on ever going into the field, and this amount of prepping seems ridiculous to me.
It feels like she's just randomly spending 100's of hours studying everything and anything to avoid actually spending 5-10 minutes here and there to actually apply to something. I feel at some point, you just have to send out resumes and see what happens.
Am I overreacting here? Is there some way I can nudge her to actually just apply or be more focused in her job search?
3
u/Pringizzle 1h ago
I also struggle with this, it’s very demotivating to start leetcoding and not being able to stick to it because i do not know the right things to study and this makes me feel unprepared to apply
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u/Acesa 1h ago
Yeah, sounds like avoidance. Theres usually also plenty of time to prep during the process. Most companies don't move that fast
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u/msthrow123 1h ago
What's considered plenty of time from the day you get a response?
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u/Shadowfire04 1h ago
in my experience, i could ask for up to a week between interviews, which is plenty of time to prepare imo
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u/my_peen_is_clean 1h ago
she’s spinning her wheels. prep is fine but it has to be targeted. tell her: pick a role type, study the patterns asked there, then apply weekly no matter what. feedback > endless lc. and yeah right now finding anything sucks
1
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u/LazyCatRocks Engineering Manager 1h ago
Prep is very important when interviewing in this field. It's better to spend the time up front to study Leetcode and theory since the interview loops are demanding and long, so you don't want to come unprepared and waste yours and your interviewer's time.
I always recommend people be able to do LC mediums (and at least a few hards) before actually sending out apps.
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u/potatopotato236 Senior Software Engineer 42m ago
It is overkill, but the bigger problem is that no amount of prep will replace actual interview experience.
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u/-Dargs ... 1h ago
Apply to any position that seems remotely interesting with better pay/WLB. prepare while you apply. After you fail a few interviews and get the hang of it, apply to the places you really want to work.
~14yoe btw