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Any advice for someone like me who IS trying to optimize for as much money as possible? Being self taught, will I ever get to be as fortunate as you working at

Any advice for someone like me who IS trying to optimize for as much money as possible? Being self taught, will I ever get to be as fortunate as you working at FAANG and seeing salaries and stocks like that?

DVassallo 8y ago
Yes. I'm self taught. Plenty of self taught people at Amazon, with non-CS degrees, or no degrees at all. That definitely won't be a blocker. My advice would be to not try to seek satisfaction from "earning as much as possible"... because "as much as possible" is an unreachable destination. I worked with lots of unhappy people earning $350K/year because they felt they should be doing $500K. How do you think they'll feel once they're making $500K? I bet they'll still be miserable because one person they know is their age and making $600K. And so on. Same with promotions and job titles. Once you clear a certain level of financial security (bills on autopay, some savings), more income stops mattering for satisfaction.
- minhaz23 8y ago
  So, no degree at all for you? I have this mental hurdle I cant seem to get over, I keep reading about how there are engineers at FAANGs purely self taught but then im also reading about people with degrees, bootcamps, internships under their belts having a hard time getting hired. What advice do you have for me? If im self taught how do i even get my foot in the door with amazon? How do I have them even consider me for an interview? Anecdotally speaking how did you and your self taught peers do it? Was it projects? Or work experience at less exclusive companies?
  - DVassallo 8y ago
    To get in all you need is to clear the technical and behavioral interview. I participated in over 300 interviews, and not once was education ever brought up as a factor. Amazon in Seattle hires hundreds of people a week, and there's plenty of openings in other places. Just find a position you think is a good fit and apply. If you know someone working there it'd be good to get a referral, but it's not required. I just applied from their website in 2010, and I started 3 weeks later.
    - minhaz23 8y ago
      How do you get past the resume screeners?
      - DVassallo 8y ago
        I do have a degree, but I participated in plenty of resume screening and education was never a filter for programming jobs.
        minhaz23 8y ago
        What do they filter for? How do they keep just anyone from applying and keep it to qualified people? How much is required on a resume to get past a screener and land an interview?

DVassallo 8y ago

Yes. I'm self taught. Plenty of self taught people at Amazon, with non-CS degrees, or no degrees at all. That definitely won't be a blocker. My advice would be to not try to seek satisfaction from "earning as much as possible"... because "as much as possible" is an unreachable destination. I worked with lots of unhappy people earning $350K/year because they felt they should be doing $500K. How do you think they'll feel once they're making $500K? I bet they'll still be miserable because one person they know is their age and making $600K. And so on. Same with promotions and job titles. Once you clear a certain level of financial security (bills on autopay, some savings), more income stops mattering for satisfaction.

minhaz23 8y ago
So, no degree at all for you? I have this mental hurdle I cant seem to get over, I keep reading about how there are engineers at FAANGs purely self taught but then im also reading about people with degrees, bootcamps, internships under their belts having a hard time getting hired. What advice do you have for me? If im self taught how do i even get my foot in the door with amazon? How do I have them even consider me for an interview? Anecdotally speaking how did you and your self taught peers do it? Was it projects? Or work experience at less exclusive companies?
- DVassallo 8y ago
  To get in all you need is to clear the technical and behavioral interview. I participated in over 300 interviews, and not once was education ever brought up as a factor. Amazon in Seattle hires hundreds of people a week, and there's plenty of openings in other places. Just find a position you think is a good fit and apply. If you know someone working there it'd be good to get a referral, but it's not required. I just applied from their website in 2010, and I started 3 weeks later.
  - minhaz23 8y ago
    How do you get past the resume screeners?
    - DVassallo 8y ago
      I do have a degree, but I participated in plenty of resume screening and education was never a filter for programming jobs.
      - minhaz23 8y ago
        What do they filter for? How do they keep just anyone from applying and keep it to qualified people? How much is required on a resume to get past a screener and land an interview?