Codesmith OSP code review: numerous "unbreak now" security vulnerabilities discovered after spending 5 minutes reviewing an "advanced security tool". Not the mid-level or senior engineering work it is claimed to be.

I've interviewed a number of Codesmith grads for Formation acceptance (which is not a job, so I have a more constructive/feedback hat on and more tolerance) and they practice all of these questions at Codesmith yeah. But yeah I noticed within 5 minutes, and the misleading answers kept going or we would have awkward silence, but people would not say it was a job, but they say it's something else. I was "working with an company under OS Labs" for example. There are a number of buckets here but generally, this is why all of these jobs are with small or less well known companies - who are not tech companies, and don't have solid vetting processes, and sometimes people make it through. 1. People who get entry level jobs at solid tech companies that they call "mid level and senior" but aren't. e.g. someone at Google got entry level L3 job and said it was "level 3 senior" but L3 at Google is called "entry level" and the number 3 is an HR thing, not a seniority. 2. People who get mid level and senior jobs at non tech companies or at agencies or contractors. This is often where the "practice" and "messaging" works best to get past a generic recruiter screen. The companies are not super tech focused and people tend to get by. The roles themselves are often aren't for new grad/entry level engineers, but they are also "easier" and less intense then entry level FAANG roles. So I think it's fair to call these mid level and senior roles, but it doesn't mean the person who got them should be calling themselves a mid level and senior engineer. Or it's fine if they do but they don't portray themselves as "the outcomes of an elite graduate school" where people are getting entry level FAANG jobs paying much more. Like you get it one way or the other: mid level and senior jobs at okay-but-not-great companies, or you make amazing entry level engineers ready for the best jobs in the industry.... Codesmith is portraying that is prepares people for mid level and senior jobs AT the best companies in the industry. 3. People who get mid level and senior titles at startups. This is where it's fairly meaningless - the job postings were for senior roles but the companies needed competent engineers and the startup hired them for hustle and potential, but not "mid level and senior" skills. 4. People who lie. I've seen this flat out, "4 YOE" and believe it or not they get through the interviews. These people do sometimes get mid level and senior jobs at tech companies but it's quite the struggle. They can't ask for help or they will be "found out" and Codesmith doesn't have the experience to help them either. A number of these people change jobs quickly or are laid off, and some people just are really ambitious and figure out how to get by!