Is it worth it to practice speed programming to prepare for interviews?

Question

Programming

The question is rather open-ended and involves discussion. I would like to know what anyone thinks about this.
Applicants are given test tasks and time limits are imposed on their solution.
What do you do if you generally know how to solve a problem, but you just don't fit it? I tried to practice solving small problems with a timer, but I noticed that because of the rush and excitement, I start making some stupid mistakes, which I haven’t made for a long time at a calm and measured pace.
Is it worth it to really get confused over this factor and start training yourself to solve problems not only correctly, but also quickly?
Does the inability to quickly solve this or that "task" about the incompetence of the applicant?

Answer 1

No. Not worth it. Study algorithms and their evaluations. Everyone loves algorithms - even those who do not use them in their work.

Answer 2

The real work, however, differs from the Olympiad programming.
The tasks that are given at the interview (unless you get a job as an algorithmic engineer, of course) suggest a solution in 10-15 minutes, and more often even less. The goal of the interviewer here is not to measure the speed of thinking, but to see how the candidate generally approaches the solution of the problem - whether he is familiar with the theoretical part, whether he asks clarifying questions, whether he thinks in the right direction.
Perhaps this answer is incorrect for individual organizations, but in my practice there were none.

Answer 3

And I like to solve problems at speed.
Of course, this has nothing to do with the interview. In an interview, the decision process is important: competently asked questions, well-chosen means of implementation, attentiveness to extreme values, in a word, the decision process itself. The program may not compile at all - everyone understands that the error will be caught in 5 minutes, if desired.
And when solving problems for speed, only the tests passed (and sometimes the load) matter. And alas, it almost always turns out wild shitty code. But I still like it. Maybe because you spend a strictly defined (and very small) time on this, and adrenaline is released as if the annual project was closed. In a word, it is a sport. Does it provide anything other than pleasure? Don't know. Probably too little.

Answer 4

Not worth it. It's worth getting the experience.
And the experience gained will passively (like in computer games) increase your productivity.