How many devs above 40 do you think still do leetcode to keep themselves entertained, especially if their daily work is doing CRUD stuff between corporate meetings?
We're specifically talking about people who are interviewing for jobs - I'd expect a lot of them to have done leetcode before the interviews.
Also: when we think about whether we've seen a problem or not before (in order to be honest during an interview), presumably this includes all problems we have a significant memory of, not just problems we've seen recently.
Really, do you expect folks to dust off their algorithms and data structures from 30 years ago, instead of what they have been doing the last decade on the job?
Love to know how many do build bridges, repair cars,..., on their spare time for job interviews.
Yeah, it's weird (to me and you at least) why people bother quizzing industry veterans. After 10 years in the workforce you should be able to talk shop about various experiences you had at work (NDA permitting) and drop down to technical details where appropriate. Yet some companies or interviewers insist on techniques that could be replaced with asking the potential hire to eat boogers on camera for a stronger signal of what they're actually looking for.