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Why do companies still ask DSA in interviews?

Jun LiuJun Liu
8/30/2025
362

Hot take: DSA interviews test your ability to solve puzzles under pressure, not your ability to build real software.

I've seen excellent developers fail interviews because they couldn't invert a binary tree on a whiteboard. And I've seen people who grind leetcode daily but can't design a proper REST API.

Why hasn't the industry moved to more practical assessments? Like take-home projects, pair programming on real tasks, or system design?

Or am I just salty because I'm bad at DP? 😂

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Comments (3)

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Taro Johnson
Taro Johnson8 months ago

I feel you, but sometimes DSA skills are useful for optimizing algorithms in real-world applications. Maybe the problem is more about balance? We need both DSA and practical assessments.

Lakshay Desai
Lakshay Desai9/19/2025

Totally agree with you, Jun! The emphasis on DSA can be super frustrating. I think it's more about testing nerves than actual skills. Have you noticed how many companies are starting to add system design interviews though?

Sanjana Banerjee
Sanjana Banerjee9/5/2025

I think DSA interviews are a bit of a tradition now. 😅 They do filter candidates, but I agree they don’t show everything you can do. I'm curious if anyone here has had a job with zero DSA interviews?