I do mostly what's called "systems programming" and did embedded
Sure. And what's most crucial to do in those fields is not necessarily what's most crucial to do in other fields. 99% of interview horror stories are basically someone saying "I decided this is an important thing based on my narrow perspective, and anyone who doesn't know it as well as I do will be dismissed as completely incapable".
If you're already good at programming and didn't learn computer science foundations along the way it should literally take you a few hours to understand the majority of the core data structures. I don't understand why people complain about common interview questions when you can readily learn the answers in advance.
I agree with what you wrote in theory. But when the narrow perspective is clearly shared by majority of employers and simultaneously it takes like a weekend max to refresh linked list, bubble sort and other few shared datastructures, then the test basically boils down to "are you able to learn this". Which is imo fair test.
Sure. And what's most crucial to do in those fields is not necessarily what's most crucial to do in other fields. 99% of interview horror stories are basically someone saying "I decided this is an important thing based on my narrow perspective, and anyone who doesn't know it as well as I do will be dismissed as completely incapable".