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Do you think it's unlikely for you to learn those skills quickly? People who have all those skills earn over $300K at those companies.

biztos 6y ago
To be fair, a lot of people who have none of those skills also earn well over $300K at those companies. Just like grinding leetcode can get you in the door, the skills you need for advancement are not necessarily the same ones you need for making good software. I hope the parent makes the best of it and becomes good at the craft, it will make the job a lot more enjoyable even if it may not be the fastest way up the ladder.
- kudokatz 6y ago
  > the skills you need for advancement are not necessarily the same ones Exactly this. I suggest learning how to fabricate (or at least exaggerate) "impact" to get promoted. It's the fastest way to make money once you're in the door. Show how much of a team player you are to deliver cross-team, impactful results specifically by stepping on bodies to get there--it'll make you rich!
  - mailshanx 6y ago
    Could you elaborate more on that or perhaps give specific illustrative examples of how one may do so? This will benefit a lot of us at FAANG. Thanks!
logicslave12 6y ago
It’s been really stressful. I know python, but not really any other languages. I’m able to get work done. But I’m really nearly the same as a fresh grad. But really, I was just bumming around, then studied for four months and destroyed their algorithms questions, so much so that expectations for me are really high. But all I know is leetcode, literally nothing else...
- thewarrior 6y ago
  Take the same energy and apply it to learning to build testable and understandable code. If you can go from nothing to smoking an algo interview in months you’re a fast learner. You’ll be fine.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - TheMblabla 6y ago
    I think that's what these leetcode type questions are good at. You're either naturally adept enough to do well, or internally motivated enough to memorize/learn them. Either way, it's a decent signal for a company that needs someone to learn their internal, proprietary techstack
    - thewarrior 6y ago
      I partially agree but this point of view has become very polarizing and controversial and I get the other side of it too. People who have spent ages getting better at their craft feel undervalued. However the two need not be mutually exclusive. One needs to learn to do their job while also navigating the system. That is part of the job just like selling your work is also work. But having worked at both FANG and non FANG you can see the rigor of the interview process reflected in the quality of your colleagues. That’s something that is hard to deny having experienced it.
    - kudokatz 6y ago
      > You're either naturally adept enough to do well, or ... I'm personally very wary of using algorithms questions as a proxy for how "adept" someone is at software engineering. If I were running a business, I'd personally want to make sure people could manage technical debt and build decoupled systems. I have had multiple positions at FAANG companies, and despite being "adept" according to these algorithms questions the systems built by these highly-paid (and, around me, generally experienced) people are pretty awful in terms of quality and maintenance. Learning a proprietary stack also hampers effectiveness in future positions if wanting to opt-out of FAANG later on.
wdb 6y ago
My experience of FAANG interviews outside the US is that the salaries they offer are really disappointing compared to the US. Other industries like finance were a better deal compared those companies. If I can get paid £90-110k in the City why bother working for Facebook were they were offering less than £90k? Note, I don't consider bonuses or equity to part of salary.
- thewarrior 6y ago
  Why would equity or bonuses not be part of the salary ? You are almost certain to receive it and the stocks perform quite well on average. They still pay better than finance all things taken together or am I wrong ?
  - wdb 6y ago
    Bonus is not guaranteed so why take that into account? Stock maybe but you can't pay the bills with that or get a mortgage even can make it more difficult.
    - thewarrior 6y ago
      You sell the stock when it vests and pay your bills ?
    - ummonk 6y ago
      The bonus is pretty formulaic with fixed performance multipliers - if you're doing poorly enough to get substantially less than the target bonus, you're at risk of losing your job and comp is the least of your worries. And you absolutely can pay the bills by selling the stock when it vests. Agreed on the mortgage part though.
      - wdb 6y ago
        What's the typical vesting schedule? The companies I spoke you would get the equity after four years. Not even a part each year. The offered 0.00[0]5 equity is not great. I think the packages in US are just much better compared to UK/Europe or maybe they just gave me shitty deals. My offer at one of the FAANG in UK was £85k + 50 stock + discretionary bonus (they didn't give details).

biztos 6y ago

To be fair, a lot of people who have none of those skills also earn well over $300K at those companies. Just like grinding leetcode can get you in the door, the skills you need for advancement are not necessarily the same ones you need for making good software. I hope the parent makes the best of it and becomes good at the craft, it will make the job a lot more enjoyable even if it may not be the fastest way up the ladder.

kudokatz 6y ago
> the skills you need for advancement are not necessarily the same ones Exactly this. I suggest learning how to fabricate (or at least exaggerate) "impact" to get promoted. It's the fastest way to make money once you're in the door. Show how much of a team player you are to deliver cross-team, impactful results specifically by stepping on bodies to get there--it'll make you rich!
- mailshanx 6y ago
  Could you elaborate more on that or perhaps give specific illustrative examples of how one may do so? This will benefit a lot of us at FAANG. Thanks!

logicslave12 6y ago

It’s been really stressful. I know python, but not really any other languages. I’m able to get work done. But I’m really nearly the same as a fresh grad. But really, I was just bumming around, then studied for four months and destroyed their algorithms questions, so much so that expectations for me are really high. But all I know is leetcode, literally nothing else...

thewarrior 6y ago
Take the same energy and apply it to learning to build testable and understandable code. If you can go from nothing to smoking an algo interview in months you’re a fast learner. You’ll be fine.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- TheMblabla 6y ago
  I think that's what these leetcode type questions are good at. You're either naturally adept enough to do well, or internally motivated enough to memorize/learn them. Either way, it's a decent signal for a company that needs someone to learn their internal, proprietary techstack
  - thewarrior 6y ago
    I partially agree but this point of view has become very polarizing and controversial and I get the other side of it too. People who have spent ages getting better at their craft feel undervalued. However the two need not be mutually exclusive. One needs to learn to do their job while also navigating the system. That is part of the job just like selling your work is also work. But having worked at both FANG and non FANG you can see the rigor of the interview process reflected in the quality of your colleagues. That’s something that is hard to deny having experienced it.
  - kudokatz 6y ago
    > You're either naturally adept enough to do well, or ... I'm personally very wary of using algorithms questions as a proxy for how "adept" someone is at software engineering. If I were running a business, I'd personally want to make sure people could manage technical debt and build decoupled systems. I have had multiple positions at FAANG companies, and despite being "adept" according to these algorithms questions the systems built by these highly-paid (and, around me, generally experienced) people are pretty awful in terms of quality and maintenance. Learning a proprietary stack also hampers effectiveness in future positions if wanting to opt-out of FAANG later on.

wdb 6y ago

My experience of FAANG interviews outside the US is that the salaries they offer are really disappointing compared to the US. Other industries like finance were a better deal compared those companies. If I can get paid £90-110k in the City why bother working for Facebook were they were offering less than £90k? Note, I don't consider bonuses or equity to part of salary.

thewarrior 6y ago
Why would equity or bonuses not be part of the salary ? You are almost certain to receive it and the stocks perform quite well on average. They still pay better than finance all things taken together or am I wrong ?
- wdb 6y ago
  Bonus is not guaranteed so why take that into account? Stock maybe but you can't pay the bills with that or get a mortgage even can make it more difficult.
  - thewarrior 6y ago
    You sell the stock when it vests and pay your bills ?
  - ummonk 6y ago
    The bonus is pretty formulaic with fixed performance multipliers - if you're doing poorly enough to get substantially less than the target bonus, you're at risk of losing your job and comp is the least of your worries. And you absolutely can pay the bills by selling the stock when it vests. Agreed on the mortgage part though.
    - wdb 6y ago
      What's the typical vesting schedule? The companies I spoke you would get the equity after four years. Not even a part each year. The offered 0.00[0]5 equity is not great. I think the packages in US are just much better compared to UK/Europe or maybe they just gave me shitty deals. My offer at one of the FAANG in UK was £85k + 50 stock + discretionary bonus (they didn't give details).