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I’m in a similar boat as OP, and I can tell you that folks are VERY skeptical of success when you haven’t been a part of the corporate rat race. My success has

I’m in a similar boat as OP, and I can tell you that folks are VERY skeptical of success when you haven’t been a part of the corporate rat race. My success has a consultant has (so far) apparently little relevance to passing interviews at FAANG and the like. People like talking to me though, so I guess there’s that!

senordevnyc 7y ago
Ugh, don't love hearing that! However, it does sound like you're getting interviews? Are you saying your work hasn't prepared you to pass those interviews? If so, I definitely agree, which is part of why I took a data structures + algos class and why I've been brushing up on whiteboard interview skills.
GoToRO 7y ago
Companies want loyalty. Beeing good at what you do has almost no importance above a very basic level. Loyalty is important because they have all kind of internal crap that is not documented, not organized and which you will accumulate if you stay with them 10+ years. Also, beeing a consultant shows that you are independent, but what they want is conformism, people with no ideas of their own and so, not independent. 99% of companies fit this profile.
- theli0nheart 7y ago
  What you say is true, however, I think it's less about loyalty and more about risk mitigation. Companies don't want to take chances that the super-star programmer they just hired is a renegade cowboy. I get that. But no about of LeetCode prep will dissolve that preconception.
- codingslave 7y ago
  Companies want leetcode, not loyalty
- muzani 7y ago
  While companies want loyalty and will incentivize loyalty, what's to say a former consultant isn't loyal? Consultants take huge pay cuts to work under a boss. They're more resilient to competing offers and won't jump for a 10% offer. They're often sick of being their own boss and are less likely to quit and do a startup. They're used to taking on massive stress, and sometimes even being the scapegoat for it So in some sense, ex consultants are better loyalty per skill level compared to many lifetime FTEs.
  - GoToRO 7y ago
    That's a nice insight but lets see who are the bosses that do the hiring in large companies? They are people that stayed in the same company for 10-15 years. What you wrote looks strange and even silly to them. Otherwise they would have become consultants themselves long time ago. Even if they aknowledge that you are indeed very good, their little ego will not let them hire you. To answer more directly to your comment, it doesn't matter that you are actually loyal if their perception is that you might not be. In fact they just don't know what to make of you. They never met somebody like you.
    - muzani 7y ago
      Yeah, that is probably true. Big companies tend to hire entire companies to outsource work to, even when those companies are less efficient than individuals. I did notice that all the corporate people have nearly zero mutual friends on Facebook, whereas with consultants and startup people there might have well over 100 mutual friends. It's quite an extreme.
alaskamiller 7y ago
Agree on this very much

senordevnyc 7y ago

Ugh, don't love hearing that! However, it does sound like you're getting interviews? Are you saying your work hasn't prepared you to pass those interviews? If so, I definitely agree, which is part of why I took a data structures + algos class and why I've been brushing up on whiteboard interview skills.

GoToRO 7y ago

Companies want loyalty. Beeing good at what you do has almost no importance above a very basic level. Loyalty is important because they have all kind of internal crap that is not documented, not organized and which you will accumulate if you stay with them 10+ years. Also, beeing a consultant shows that you are independent, but what they want is conformism, people with no ideas of their own and so, not independent. 99% of companies fit this profile.

theli0nheart 7y ago
What you say is true, however, I think it's less about loyalty and more about risk mitigation. Companies don't want to take chances that the super-star programmer they just hired is a renegade cowboy. I get that. But no about of LeetCode prep will dissolve that preconception.
codingslave 7y ago
Companies want leetcode, not loyalty
muzani 7y ago
While companies want loyalty and will incentivize loyalty, what's to say a former consultant isn't loyal? Consultants take huge pay cuts to work under a boss. They're more resilient to competing offers and won't jump for a 10% offer. They're often sick of being their own boss and are less likely to quit and do a startup. They're used to taking on massive stress, and sometimes even being the scapegoat for it So in some sense, ex consultants are better loyalty per skill level compared to many lifetime FTEs.
- GoToRO 7y ago
  That's a nice insight but lets see who are the bosses that do the hiring in large companies? They are people that stayed in the same company for 10-15 years. What you wrote looks strange and even silly to them. Otherwise they would have become consultants themselves long time ago. Even if they aknowledge that you are indeed very good, their little ego will not let them hire you. To answer more directly to your comment, it doesn't matter that you are actually loyal if their perception is that you might not be. In fact they just don't know what to make of you. They never met somebody like you.
  - muzani 7y ago
    Yeah, that is probably true. Big companies tend to hire entire companies to outsource work to, even when those companies are less efficient than individuals. I did notice that all the corporate people have nearly zero mutual friends on Facebook, whereas with consultants and startup people there might have well over 100 mutual friends. It's quite an extreme.

alaskamiller 7y ago

Agree on this very much