Sometimes I don't think I could make it at a FAANG, and then I read stuff like this and I don't think I could make it at a FAANG, but for different reasons.
FAANG means you are all but guaranteed to have a great career. There are better careers and other great careers, but getting into FAANG is enough to have "made it" career wise.
Don't read too much into it. You can certainly find soul-crushing stuff in FAANG, but it doesn't mean that it's all that's available there. You might still have to deal with it as a stepping stone towards more interesting things in your career - but when you know that it's merely means to an end, not the thing you're going to be doing for decades to come, it's a very different story.
"am not smart enough to work for a FAANG-type company"
Have you tried to apply for a job?
Don't underestimate yourself. I had the same thoughts about myself, then I tried an interview just for fun. Now I'm working for a FAANG company, moved to Canada, and having the best year of my life.
I could read posts on r/cscareerquestions where the attitude is “I must work for a FAANG or my life is over” and come to a completely different conclusion.
It seems like some people fall into this trap if they manage to get into FAANG. I would be scared of that happening to me. It's like, your entire view of the industry was built around hitting the winner's podium, and once you've achieved that, where do you go? There's only so many gold medals to go around on the podium itself, anyways.
This comment is a good summary of the problem I was describing: It's easy to say that anyone who can get a FAANG job should get a FAANG job, but if circumstances don't line up, what else? That's where many students draw a blank, because all of the advice they've consumed revolves around FAANG job offers that may not arrive.
Statistically, more people are rejected than accepted by FAANG companies. A lot of my mentoring time is spent helping students figure out what's next when their primary FAANG plan doesn't (or can't) work out.
> Going to a FAANG is like joining an Olympic sports team; it's not a place you'd want to be if you aren't hell bent on going for the gold.
Not according to everyone I know working at a FAANG company. This is mythology. You're at a FAANG because you did the LeetCode grind and passed the interview.
I can see that.
My point is that there are many reasons for not wanting to work at a FAANG, even for someone like me who has worked in one and could work, I guess, in others. My reason is that I make enough money currently not to want to work there. I was working a standard 35-40 hours per week at a FAANG.
There are also many others in non-FAANG tech who make half my salary and work much more. And maybe I will be one of them at some point, there are no guarantees in life!
FAANGs are not homogeneous monoliths nor do they have a Borg-like hivemind. Your experience at a FAANG company will vary greatly from team to team, let alone between FAANGs.
I will say that the FAANGs are much like the transition many of us experienced from high school to college: the bottom two-thirds of the talent spectrum are not there and where we might have been top of the class in HS, we may find that we are merely average or even, sadly, significantly below average. Also, since the financial rewards are much, much greater, competition between individuals is correspondingly greater, along with all the negatives that implies. Depending on your level of technical ability and political / social skills, you may indeed find yourself working harder or fighting harder for promotions than you would at a non-FAANG company.
> Of course, not everyone can get an offer at a FAANG
Note that this is true for many reasons, not all of which are related to technical ability. Not everyone should try to get a FAANG job, either.
Factors candidates may consider:
* how much time they want to spend interviewing/prepping
* what their previous experience has been
* where they went to school
* where they are willing to live
* what type of work they like to do
* what type of organizations they enjoy being part of (largeco, smallco)
* how much control they want over their work
* what kind of impact they want to have
* how much they want to learn (and what type of knowledge--general vs specific)
In addition to salary, all of these play a role in determining whether a startup, small biz, other software company or FAANG make sense for an individual.
> think on your feet and solve hard problems
> if that's what the job is.
> That's a big IF.
My experience with FAANGS is that their bar is universal. Even if you're going to a team which somehow won't require solving hard problems collaboratively under pressure, ability to do so is the bar for working at the company.
As the person you're replying to says, they use the interview style that gives them signal about this. And in general, unless one work at a FAANG and understands the roles, how does one think they have the correct perspective on how FAANG ought to be hiring for their roles?
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