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Not a complete failure story, but I joined a FANG company as an entry level engineer. In about three and a half years, I’ve gone through two promotions. My most

Not a complete failure story, but I joined a FANG company as an entry level engineer. In about three and a half years, I’ve gone through two promotions. My most recent team where I got promoted to senior engineer is demoralizing to me and gives me anxiety even thinking about work. I’m feeling a mixture of burnout and just a general disinterest in my teams domain area. My current team has also grown in ways I didn’t expect when I joined. My coworkers don’t seem the most motivated. I spend less time coding or building anything and more time sending status reports and pointless meetings. I worked on very impactful things early in my roles at this company. I question the value of things my team is doing now. My direct manager is very passive. There’s literally no feedback or much engagement from him. His job is to make sure sally doesn’t stab sue kind of thing. Ironically, the culture is very cut throat. Longer term, I’m realizing I will have to quit and find a job elsewhere. It’s a bit demoralizing after earning two promotions and putting in as much as I have. My husband and I were planning on getting pregnant by next year and purchasing our first home. If I leave my job, we have a sizeable nest egg but both plans will be up in the air. I haven’t said anything to my husband yet. I still have a job, but I’m questioning what was all this for.

deanmoriarty 8y ago
Thanks for your post. I am currently at a startup and have been here a few years. I came to really hate the environment, mostly because the people this company can hire are not what I would personally consider talented (due to a mix of non-exponential company growth and lower compensations than FAANG companies). The result of hiring low quality professionals is that the engineering standards are so low that it really depresses me. For this reason, I've interviewed and got offers with 3 FAANGs, and I am contemplating about moving to one of them. After reading your post, I recognize I am perhaps romanticizing FAANGs a little bit more than what's fair, but the thing that intrigues me the most is the ability to work with and learn from other very talented engineers (so I can grow), that I have a hard time finding in startups that don't have big pockets as them. And of course, also the financial aspects, since financial freedom is relatively high in my priority list.
- ThrowawayR2 8y ago
  The FAANG companies are not monolithic hiveminds. They are huge places where some parts are good and some are ... not so good. There are talented engineers and opportunities for growth at the good teams but you're not guaranteed to be in a good team at any given time. I would say go for it but go in with a mission to understand the lay of the land and then transferring to a team that matches your growth goals.
- souprock 8y ago
  FAANG companies are not where you go to find high engineering standards. You need to look for a job featuring one of these: DO-178C DAL A (if you mess up, aircraft crash) EAL5, EAL6, EAL7 (if you mess up, national secrets leak) MISRA C (if you mess up, cars crash and a giant recall is required) IEC 62304 Class C (if you mess up, medical devices kill people) NUREG/CR-6463 (if you mess up, you get a nuclear disaster) ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 (if you mess up, it will at least be documented) If you didn't really mean high engineering standards, and you just want to work with capable people, you can find that all over the place. Perhaps being within commute distance of a FAANG has an impact, and you are seeing that due to your location. There are many people who refuse to live anywhere near a FAANG and/or wouldn't tolerate the culture.
  - deanmoriarty 8y ago
    Yeah, I definitely didn't mean high engineering standards then. The places you are listing wouldn't work for me because of the little financial incentives they provide. As far as I know FAANG are the only places where a reasonably decent software engineer can make ~$400-500k/y (at least those were my offers), and by living frugally the way I do that means massive savings even in a high cost of living location, which puts me closer and closer to my financial freedom goals they day I decide to be done and move to a low cost area. So, I guess working with "very capable people" and a very good paycheck is enough for me :-)
    - souprock 8y ago
      Do you have a well-defined goal in terms of dollars and years? If not, you might always want a bit more money, and thus never quit. You'd miss out on the chance to raise a family. It's safest to get that done before age 30. No matter how much money you get, you can't buy back your younger years after they are gone.
throwawaymlc 8y ago
I am in a very similar situation, 4.5 years in at a large / prestigious organization where I was thinking there was a lot of scope for progression and I could stay long term. First 3 years were great, good work and appraisals, I learnt a lot. After that, things deteriorated quite suddenly, a combination of some urgent but poorly conceived projects, passive management, too much time in meetings, a few layers of extra paperwork / approvals introduced. Basically, the work environment really did go downhill, but in hindsight I didn't deal with that very well or put together a plan to move. I would suggest you come up with a plan to bring this to a head sooner rather than later. Try to do an excellent job with your status reports and pointless meetings, so that you can transfer or get a good reference from your manager, and leave on a high note. At the same, research the market for your next job, pick up any missing skills, and prepare for a move on your own terms and schedule. Don't let the situation fester without doing anything about it.
justinclift 8y ago
Is there any chance having a chat to your husband along the lines of "Things at work really suck, I'd like to change by either really getting pregnant or changing job sooner rather than later. How're things with you?" is a good idea?

deanmoriarty 8y ago

Thanks for your post. I am currently at a startup and have been here a few years. I came to really hate the environment, mostly because the people this company can hire are not what I would personally consider talented (due to a mix of non-exponential company growth and lower compensations than FAANG companies). The result of hiring low quality professionals is that the engineering standards are so low that it really depresses me. For this reason, I've interviewed and got offers with 3 FAANGs, and I am contemplating about moving to one of them. After reading your post, I recognize I am perhaps romanticizing FAANGs a little bit more than what's fair, but the thing that intrigues me the most is the ability to work with and learn from other very talented engineers (so I can grow), that I have a hard time finding in startups that don't have big pockets as them. And of course, also the financial aspects, since financial freedom is relatively high in my priority list.

ThrowawayR2 8y ago
The FAANG companies are not monolithic hiveminds. They are huge places where some parts are good and some are ... not so good. There are talented engineers and opportunities for growth at the good teams but you're not guaranteed to be in a good team at any given time. I would say go for it but go in with a mission to understand the lay of the land and then transferring to a team that matches your growth goals.
souprock 8y ago
FAANG companies are not where you go to find high engineering standards. You need to look for a job featuring one of these: DO-178C DAL A (if you mess up, aircraft crash) EAL5, EAL6, EAL7 (if you mess up, national secrets leak) MISRA C (if you mess up, cars crash and a giant recall is required) IEC 62304 Class C (if you mess up, medical devices kill people) NUREG/CR-6463 (if you mess up, you get a nuclear disaster) ISO 9000 and ISO 9001 (if you mess up, it will at least be documented) If you didn't really mean high engineering standards, and you just want to work with capable people, you can find that all over the place. Perhaps being within commute distance of a FAANG has an impact, and you are seeing that due to your location. There are many people who refuse to live anywhere near a FAANG and/or wouldn't tolerate the culture.
- deanmoriarty 8y ago
  Yeah, I definitely didn't mean high engineering standards then. The places you are listing wouldn't work for me because of the little financial incentives they provide. As far as I know FAANG are the only places where a reasonably decent software engineer can make ~$400-500k/y (at least those were my offers), and by living frugally the way I do that means massive savings even in a high cost of living location, which puts me closer and closer to my financial freedom goals they day I decide to be done and move to a low cost area. So, I guess working with "very capable people" and a very good paycheck is enough for me :-)
  - souprock 8y ago
    Do you have a well-defined goal in terms of dollars and years? If not, you might always want a bit more money, and thus never quit. You'd miss out on the chance to raise a family. It's safest to get that done before age 30. No matter how much money you get, you can't buy back your younger years after they are gone.

throwawaymlc 8y ago

I am in a very similar situation, 4.5 years in at a large / prestigious organization where I was thinking there was a lot of scope for progression and I could stay long term. First 3 years were great, good work and appraisals, I learnt a lot. After that, things deteriorated quite suddenly, a combination of some urgent but poorly conceived projects, passive management, too much time in meetings, a few layers of extra paperwork / approvals introduced. Basically, the work environment really did go downhill, but in hindsight I didn't deal with that very well or put together a plan to move. I would suggest you come up with a plan to bring this to a head sooner rather than later. Try to do an excellent job with your status reports and pointless meetings, so that you can transfer or get a good reference from your manager, and leave on a high note. At the same, research the market for your next job, pick up any missing skills, and prepare for a move on your own terms and schedule. Don't let the situation fester without doing anything about it.

justinclift 8y ago

Is there any chance having a chat to your husband along the lines of "Things at work really suck, I'd like to change by either really getting pregnant or changing job sooner rather than later. How're things with you?" is a good idea?