That’s my plan going forward. I’m in my first role as a self-taught engineer, so my network is still small. A coworker I worked closely with and had a great experience referred me to this company, so I went through with the process. Initially, the recruiter sent me a 2 hour take home leetcode challenge, which they waived after I responded I was surprised that they required an initial coding challenge for a referral.

It’s hard for me to tell which companies require those style of interviews, but I’m not working in the Bay Area and have found when applying to positions remotely there, they seem to have a much greater emphasis on leetcode than companies in my area.