I used to be like this as well, till I noticed the people solving the types of problems I wanted to work on we’re either guarded behind these leetcode type interviews or something much more difficult to “fake until you make it”.
I don't like this idea. I prefer the idea of mentoring and people constantly learning. Faking it is kind of like deceiving until you figure it out.
People should be mentoring and teaching each other. This levels up the people around us.
> I noticed the people solving the types of problems I wanted to work on we’re either guarded behind these leetcode type interviews or something much more difficult
This is a real thing.
Sometimes you need a foundation in a hard problem that is often taught in some university courses. There are some hard problems here and people look for that. Sometimes it's math skills or specific algorithms.
Sometimes the people working the hard problems artificially add levels to their processes to keep clubs exclusive.
Most software isn't these hard problems. 99.9% of software is not these hard problems.
Notice how nothing in this thread is your fault. Every single problem is on another person our outside force. No one will pity you, doubly so in a highly technical team. It's just not part of the culture. Take it or leave it.
Chasing money is not going to get you far. Focus on skills.
In the states, pick any Series A or farther along product-based startup and chances are they pay 110k+ for mid level roles and up. Not sure why you think those numbers are FAANG specific. If you’re going for 200k+, ok then you need the big players.
For example, I've seen those who are interested in leetcode, algos, and the like. I remember this one time where management wanted to have JS/front-end devs answer questions about C and b-trees. They couldn't find anyone to make it through the whole interview process. The problem was that people who could handle the C and b-trees couldn't cut it at the JS questions that came later. The JS devs never got passed the C/b-tree questions.
There is a culture of elite knowledge and a club around that. Some are into the school people have degrees from and that kind of thing.
There is another side of it that's about the ability to use code to problem solve. I remember meeting this senior engineer that customers used to constantly request by name. He was one of the most senior levels at the company. I later learned that he had no degree. He had a ton of hands on knowledge and understood the technology from years of working. He learned it like a skilled trade and he was valuable to everyone involved.
There are places where both types of folks can thrive.
I personally go after the problem solving type situations because I don't like forms of elitism and I really like solving problems.
Don't look at the leetcode space and Google mentorship as the whole realm of software jobs. There is a lot more out there and many very successful people doing other types of stuff in software.