Just for one anecdote, three years ago my then-dentist (who was a part of a franchise practice and probably under pressure to bill) told me that I had 12 (!!) cavities across all quadrants of my mouth that needed to be filled immediately.

I went to another dentist in the area, they took some x-rays themselves, and told me that there was nothing that needed immediate work - maybe one pre-cavity that would eventually turn in to something but certainly not worth doing anything with now.

Three years later (and sticking with that new dentist) I still haven't needed to have anything done (and certainly don't have any pain in my mouth anywhere either).

Here's the difference: I bet you had time to think through the novel problems and didn't have someone hovering over your shoulder, demanding you come up with solutions within 20 - 30 minutes -or else-.

The example I always give people is imagine that you're a civil engineer and you walk into the interview and they have a bunch of Popsicle sticks, sticky tack, and a bowling ball.

They inform you that your interview is to build a bridge with the sticks and tack that can support the bowling ball rolling across it.

(Yes, I know the age-old argument that 'real' Engineers are accredited and all that, but I still think the example shows how ridiculous it all is)

Not at Microsoft, but have been at a company for a very long time being underpaid. I haven't left simply due to one issue: I refuse to do leetcode interviews. I've dipped my toes into the waters every once in a while and even the companies that swear to me up and down before interviews that they don't do leetcode, well, guess what I discover during the interview loop...

Would you be willing to share your story of how you made the switch? CS major here considering going into medicine (despite your best efforts to convince otherwise :) ) but the general coursework wasn't something I targeted in school all those many years ago.