20 years in IT. From Moscow to America. I’ve met deadlines, built architectures, fixed production bugs, and optimized processes. Then you show up at an interview, and they hit you with a question like: “Reverse the digits in a number.” Or: “Explain a window function in SQL” (a rare, specific SQL syntax most developers never use). Suddenly, your experience counts for nothing. Because you didn’t instantly recall some trivia, you could Google it in five minutes on the job. This isn’t a test of skill — it’s a lottery. It’s absurd. And I’m tired of it.
My name is Igor, and I fight for meaning – for myself, for my brother with a disability, for my projects. Through “Deconstruction of Reality,” I want to show people that meaning matters more than matter itself, and that we can change the world. But the tech interview system tells me: “Forget meaning. Memorize LeetCode. Be a walking reference book, or leave.” You know what? I’m not giving up.
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Why Interviews Are a Circus
Let’s take a typical question: “Reverse the digits in a number.” Why? On the job, I’ll open Stack Overflow, find a ready-made function, or ask AI to write the code in 30 seconds. But in the interview, that doesn’t matter. What matters is that you recall an algorithm you haven’t used in 20 years. Or those window functions in SQL — I never used them, because I always found other ways: subqueries, joins, whatever worked. But at the interview, you’re nobody if you can’t recite the right syntax under pressure.
This isn’t about logic. It’s not an evaluation of how you solve real problems. It’s a lottery run by interviewers who don’t know how to evaluate people. They want you to be a machine, not a human. And then they write: “Insufficient experience.” Experience in what? Solving their pointless riddles?
Interviews are stressful. You’re anxious, trying to keep your composure, while they ask questions that have nothing to do with the actual work. Under pressure, you might forget a small detail, and you’re out. But in real life, stress is about deadlines, production bugs, urgent tasks, not bubble sort.
My experience — 20 years in IT, from development to architecture, from Moscow to America — is wiped out, just because I didn’t solve a textbook puzzle. It’s not just unfair. It’s absurd. The system doesn’t value real contribution: how you saved a project, found solutions, or learned something new. It just wants you to be a walking reference manual.
The System Against Meaning
Interviews are part of a bigger machine that crushes meaning for the sake of metrics. Companies want to “optimize” hiring, but end up filtering out those who can actually think, and selecting those who have memorized LeetCode. It’s like life itself: KPIs, ratings, and algorithms hide our fear of authenticity. We’re afraid to assess people by their real impact, because that’s hard. It’s easier to ask about sorting and check a box.
With “Deconstruction of Reality,” I wanted to show that meaning matters more than matter, that we can live for ideas, not just for metrics. But the interview system tells me: “You’re not needed if you don’t know window functions.” This isn’t about IT. It’s about control. The system wants us to be predictable, afraid to take risks, afraid to think, afraid to seek meaning.
LeetCode — The Ritual of Submission
Here’s the real tragedy: LeetCode and this whole “leetcode-ritual” isn’t about finding the best engineers. It’s not about your knowledge or your ability to solve real problems. It’s a test of submission. It’s about your willingness to follow any, even the most absurd and meaningless, orders from the system. Are you ready to cram, submit, and repeat without question? Can you be the perfect “soldier” who performs the ritual even when you know it’s pointless?
They don’t ask how you saved production or launched complex projects. They ask you to “reverse a linked list” to check:
— Will you memorize what’s unnecessary?
— Will you agree to waste hours of your life on a meaningless farce, just to pass this barrier?
— How loyal are you to the form, even when the meaning is long gone?
This is not a filter for talent, but a filter for obedience. You might be a great architect, you might save startups — but if you haven’t solved 200 little problems, you’re “not a fit.” They train you to be a walking leetcode so the system can check the box: “Tested, compliant, will fit in.”
As a result, real engineers drop out. The only ones left are those who play this circus game best. This isn’t about engineering success — it’s about conditioning.
How It Should Be
Interviews should test how you think, how you approach real-world problems, and how you use your tools, including Google and AI. Give me a real task from your production backlog — I’ll show you how I solve it, using docs, AI, or my own logic. Don’t make me recall something I haven’t used in 20 years.
An interview should be a conversation, not an exam. It should test not your memory, but your ability to adapt, to find solutions, to work in a team. Ask me how I solved real problems: how I saved a project, optimized code, and learned a new stack. Ask how I use AI to be more efficient. That will show you who I am as a professional, not how well I memorize algorithms.
Companies should value logic, creativity, and the ability to find workarounds. Because in real life, you never write your own sorting algorithm from scratch. You find a solution, adapt it, and move forward. That’s what IT really is.
I Won’t Give Up
I’m not just fighting for myself. I have a brother with cerebral palsy, and I’m his only hope. I promised him a better life, and I won’t give up, even if the system throws me out for bubble sorting. I won’t give up, even if the system fails me over bubble sort. My “Deconstruction of Reality” will go on — in America, in Moscow, wherever. I’ll speak, write, and record, even if VPNs lag and censorship tightens. Because meaning is not LeetCode. Meaning is the fight.
If you’re tired of this absurdity, too, speak up. Share your stories — in blogs, in communities. Let’s deconstruct this system together. Let it hear our voices — the voices of those who want to change the world, not just memorize algorithms.