"For Half The Salary": India Job Interviews Tougher Than US, Reddit User Says

A Reddit post comparing technology job interviews in India and the US has sparked debate, with the user claiming Indian companies rely more heavily on difficult LeetCode questions while US interviews focus more on experience, system design and practical problem-solving.

Job interviews in India can be significantly tougher than those in the US, particularly for senior technology roles, according to a Reddit post that has sparked a discussion online. The post, shared by Reddit user ExistingEffective639, has received more than 1,000 upvotes. The user compared the interview processes for software engineering jobs in India and the US, arguing that Indian companies often place greater emphasis on difficult coding problems.

"In the US, interviews focus more on actual problem-solving," the Reddit user wrote. They claimed that LeetCode questions in the US are generally at the easy to medium level and are often used as a basic screening mechanism.

According to the post, greater importance is placed on a candidate's professional experience, system design knowledge and behavioural skills when hiring for senior roles in the US.

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The user said the approach can be very different in India, where candidates applying for staff-level positions may be expected to solve multiple difficult coding problems within a short period.

"Here it's like if it's staff level then the person needs to answer 2 hards in 45 mins," the user wrote, referring to the difficulty of coding rounds.

The post also claimed that candidates in India can face several coding rounds, with some involving multiple LeetCode hard-level questions, while having only one system design round.

By comparison, the Reddit user said candidates in the US can sometimes clear staff-level interviews by demonstrating strong system design experience and solving mostly easy-to-medium coding problems. They also claimed that companies in the US have increasingly moved towards practical coding problems rather than relying heavily on LeetCode-style questions.

The user further highlighted the difference in compensation, saying that such interview processes in the US can lead to jobs paying around $400,000, while suggesting that Indian candidates often face more difficult technical interviews for considerably lower salaries.

The post ended with a recommendation for Indian interviewers to place greater emphasis on a candidate's professional experience and system design skills rather than focusing heavily on difficult coding questions.

The comparison has triggered debate among Reddit users about whether coding interviews accurately assess a candidate's ability to perform in senior technology roles. While some companies continue to rely on algorithm-based assessments, others have been exploring more practical and experience-based approaches to hiring.

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