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I've been studying for the past two years and have failed at multiple FAANGs, some twice. Failed at FB, NFLX, AMZN, in addition to MSFT and UBER. Then again, I

I've been studying for the past two years and have failed at multiple FAANGs, some twice. Failed at FB, NFLX, AMZN, in addition to MSFT and UBER. Then again, I'm not entry level (10 yoe), so I might be competing at a higher bar. However, I'd gladly join any of these companies as a junior engineer without hesitation. I've seen stories of, amongst others, someone who studied while in prison get into GOOG, someone who was a aesthetician get into NFLX, a cab driver who got into UBER, all as SWEs. I actually wish I wasn't a SWE so I could compete at the entry/junior level. I feel my 10yoe (SWE at investment bank), which gives me a TC only slightly higher than a FAANG junior SWE, is wasted.

hysan 7y ago
Same here. I’ve considered wiping my resume and leaving off my background intentionally just to get the chance to interview at the entry/junior level. Of course, those positions are now mostly exclusively reserved for those coming out of college. So unless you have the income and time to go get another CS degree, you still can’t apply. This is all assuming you can get past the resume filter which is all luck unless you know someone with enough pull within the company already.
dkersten 7y ago
Why use stock ticker names instead of typing the company names out properly? It literally only takes a second or two longer and is much clearer to read.
- teddyh 7y ago
  It’s usually signalling. Specifically, it signals “I can afford to invest so much into stocks that I live and breathe stocks, and if you don’t, then I don’t care about you.” It’s a very conceited attitude. Of course, in this case specifically, it might be because they worked for 10 years in an investment bank, and might be used to always speaking about companies in terms of stocks.
diN0bot 7y ago
This is a particular kind of challenge that definitely occurs for more experienced engineers, however I also suspect you have a stronger foundation than you realize and could shine with some specific guidance. A buddy and I provide all kinds of practice interviews to help engineers get into FAANGs. We work on a success based payment model, and help substantially with negotiations, too. If you're interested send me a note with availability for a chat (email and website in profile). I would love to at least offer some advice for next time even you decide our coaching is not for you.
rapfaria 7y ago
But why would you want to join those companies as a junior engineer?
- decafninja 7y ago
  - Because it would give me better career development than where I am now as a senior SWE. - TC trajectory would be significantly higher, even if it means taking a minor temporary paycut. - Intangibles, which might sound trivial, but stuff like working with smart coworkers, not having to dress up like a businessman to work, etc.
- throwaway6734 7y ago
  Better long terms salary growth
nostrademons 7y ago
How much time are you spending specifically on interview question practice (HackerRank/Leetcode)? I've got close to 20 years of programming experience, including working at Google for several years and launching some very high-profile projects. I still fail interviews if I haven't studied for them. You could argue that it's a stupid system where they test 20-minute coding exercises with a trick answer, and you'd be right [1]. But it's a system that can be gamed, and can be gamed with relatively little time. Putting in a week full-time, or working a problem a day for 3 months, will put you way ahead of most of the rest of the competition. [1] But the interview bullshit serves another less-obvious purpose: it tests how much you actually want to work at the organization. It's relatively easy to bullshit enthusiasm in a calm chat with a hiring manager. It's pretty hard to do it when your brain is occupied by solving a hard problem and you're frustrated because you have 5 minutes left to solve a problem and there's still a sticky bug.
- decafninja 7y ago
  At the start of the process, I began with comp sci/DS&A fundamentals - including books like Algorithm Design Manual, Intro to Algorithms, etc. Took a few months break to get married, then resumed, eventually starting to 100% grind leetcode problems. As my wife can amusingly attest - I no longer have any hobbies or other personal entertainment since we got married. Studying for interviews consumes all the free time I have that I don't spend with her. Add to that, since last year, my day job got a lot less demanding, so I am actually studying/leetcoding during the afternoon at work too. One wrench thrown into the loop is that I am a mainly a frontend engineer by trade, and it seems frontend interviews at FAANG and many other top tech companies are focusing less on leetcode/DS&A and more on JavaScript trivia problems. So that has been a context shift, and I am focusing more on getting as many JavaScript tricks and patterns into my repertoire now, and less on leetcode. Pretty much my #1 personal goal in life at the moment is to get into a FAANG, or at least similar caliber, company. No, it's not a life or death matter, but whereas someone else might be content to watch TV/Netflix, or play games, or go golfing, I'm spending that time leetcoding... What I feel torpedoes me during the interview is that I can get often get 90%+ of a solution, even if it's a problem I haven't seen before. But some edge case or bug in my code kills me, or I miss some trick or pattern that is the key to getting it right. In a less competitive company, this might mean passing the interview, but for a FAANG or similarly highly competitive company, I feel not getting 100% technical perfection means dead on arrival.

hysan 7y ago

Same here. I’ve considered wiping my resume and leaving off my background intentionally just to get the chance to interview at the entry/junior level. Of course, those positions are now mostly exclusively reserved for those coming out of college. So unless you have the income and time to go get another CS degree, you still can’t apply. This is all assuming you can get past the resume filter which is all luck unless you know someone with enough pull within the company already.

dkersten 7y ago

Why use stock ticker names instead of typing the company names out properly? It literally only takes a second or two longer and is much clearer to read.

teddyh 7y ago
It’s usually signalling. Specifically, it signals “I can afford to invest so much into stocks that I live and breathe stocks, and if you don’t, then I don’t care about you.” It’s a very conceited attitude. Of course, in this case specifically, it might be because they worked for 10 years in an investment bank, and might be used to always speaking about companies in terms of stocks.

diN0bot 7y ago

This is a particular kind of challenge that definitely occurs for more experienced engineers, however I also suspect you have a stronger foundation than you realize and could shine with some specific guidance. A buddy and I provide all kinds of practice interviews to help engineers get into FAANGs. We work on a success based payment model, and help substantially with negotiations, too. If you're interested send me a note with availability for a chat (email and website in profile). I would love to at least offer some advice for next time even you decide our coaching is not for you.

rapfaria 7y ago

But why would you want to join those companies as a junior engineer?

decafninja 7y ago
- Because it would give me better career development than where I am now as a senior SWE. - TC trajectory would be significantly higher, even if it means taking a minor temporary paycut. - Intangibles, which might sound trivial, but stuff like working with smart coworkers, not having to dress up like a businessman to work, etc.
throwaway6734 7y ago
Better long terms salary growth

nostrademons 7y ago

How much time are you spending specifically on interview question practice (HackerRank/Leetcode)? I've got close to 20 years of programming experience, including working at Google for several years and launching some very high-profile projects. I still fail interviews if I haven't studied for them. You could argue that it's a stupid system where they test 20-minute coding exercises with a trick answer, and you'd be right [1]. But it's a system that can be gamed, and can be gamed with relatively little time. Putting in a week full-time, or working a problem a day for 3 months, will put you way ahead of most of the rest of the competition. [1] But the interview bullshit serves another less-obvious purpose: it tests how much you actually want to work at the organization. It's relatively easy to bullshit enthusiasm in a calm chat with a hiring manager. It's pretty hard to do it when your brain is occupied by solving a hard problem and you're frustrated because you have 5 minutes left to solve a problem and there's still a sticky bug.

decafninja 7y ago
At the start of the process, I began with comp sci/DS&A fundamentals - including books like Algorithm Design Manual, Intro to Algorithms, etc. Took a few months break to get married, then resumed, eventually starting to 100% grind leetcode problems. As my wife can amusingly attest - I no longer have any hobbies or other personal entertainment since we got married. Studying for interviews consumes all the free time I have that I don't spend with her. Add to that, since last year, my day job got a lot less demanding, so I am actually studying/leetcoding during the afternoon at work too. One wrench thrown into the loop is that I am a mainly a frontend engineer by trade, and it seems frontend interviews at FAANG and many other top tech companies are focusing less on leetcode/DS&A and more on JavaScript trivia problems. So that has been a context shift, and I am focusing more on getting as many JavaScript tricks and patterns into my repertoire now, and less on leetcode. Pretty much my #1 personal goal in life at the moment is to get into a FAANG, or at least similar caliber, company. No, it's not a life or death matter, but whereas someone else might be content to watch TV/Netflix, or play games, or go golfing, I'm spending that time leetcoding... What I feel torpedoes me during the interview is that I can get often get 90%+ of a solution, even if it's a problem I haven't seen before. But some edge case or bug in my code kills me, or I miss some trick or pattern that is the key to getting it right. In a less competitive company, this might mean passing the interview, but for a FAANG or similarly highly competitive company, I feel not getting 100% technical perfection means dead on arrival.