I'm one such 'engineer' who is good at whiteboarding algorithms. I can do well on 'system design' questions but dont feel confident at all about really designing such a system from ground up. I, for one, am glad that I can find gainful employment by memorizing 200 pages.
I'm happy for you, but I hope you're also that honest with yourself and your employers about your limits when they want you to built something that you know is over your head
