This is a startup idea in fact, wait, someone is doing that: https://codesignal.com is one that I just learned yesterday, but it's not 'standardized' like what SAT does.

In fact I believe software should have some qualification tests, e.g. general coding, database, cloud computing, etc. Like CPA for accountants. Each test should be valid for a few years in each category.

The hard part's not creating some kind of certification, it's getting desirable employers to accept it as a replacement for the most-painful parts of their interview processes. I suspect a lot of top companies don't want to make it easier to jump between them.

The "most painful" part of any interview process is just the part that you happen to be the worst at. Personally, I don't find leetcode to be painful at all and would be much more enthusiastic about something that eliminates any part of the interview where you have to talk about yourself.

What's the problem with talking about yourself? You can just memorize a few sentences since the questions are always the same.

Yeah, witness Triplebyte's lack of success in getting companies to use them as a substitute for anything more than the initial phone technical screen.