ProgrammingCircleJerk

I disagree so much. The problem with all of these takes are, that they are build on the assumption that the main skill of a software engineer is writing code. That's the same mistake a lot of "< seniors" do.

See, the important thing about engineering is to provide a fitting solution that satisfies many different domains. You need to understand and interconnect a lot of information. And the most important thing a good engineer has is "creativity".

In your example, you think about assignments as you have them in university. Arbitrary scenarios that learn you a tool (which is usually a programming language). However, that is not an assignment you are faced as an engineer.

It's not like in NCIS where someobey comes and says: "Can you make this algorithm faster?"

It's more like (an actual example from last week): can you (as in team) analyze why this legacy system failed? We have these analytics for you. We currently conduct these labs, and have these user voices. Figure out a way how we can revamp this whole thing, but this time successful. Once done create a MVP and a rough roadmap. Latter in alignment with our overarching strategy.