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"That said, for people who've frittered away their discretionary time on things like open source, hobbies, family, etc., rather than drilling for FAANG intervie

"That said, for people who've frittered away their discretionary time on things like open source, hobbies, family, etc., rather than drilling for FAANG interviews, the well-known "test prep" commitment for Leetcode-oriented companies is a barrier to even applying there." Salary aside - this is the truth right here. I interviewed at a few FAANGs and I didn't have what Id call a good experience. Neither resulted in an offer. To even prepare for them was a monumental time investment. I tried it and now I can have an informed opinion on the subject. Id rather have a life than drill for random interview questions. Side note: I have yet to personally hear or read anything about why its so great to work at one of these places where someone DOES NOT mention the money. Frankly, were it not for the money Id have never even considered interviewing at these places at all. I have come to the opinion that if it's just money, there are other more tangible ways to invest my time that will result in money. Drilling For Interviews as a money accumulation seems to me a bit like heading to the casino on the 28th of the month because you're short a few bucks for rent.

neilv 6y ago
Agreed. I kinda wish the FAANGs paid less, and had to appeal to people solely on positive impact, kinds of work people can do, work environment and how people are treated, etc. Adding "oh yeah, and you make more money here" complicates. The big G, for example, already seemed like the place to go, as soon as they launched the early site (the company was obviously smarter than most of what was going on), and there was also the "don't be evil" that resonated with a lot of the prevailing sentiment among the pre-Web Internet-savvy techies. Though I suppose there might've already been a money factor from the start (it seemed like most people were crunching hard at work, but also prone to job-hopping for the hottest IPO lottery ticket at the moment), but it wasn't as clear as today.
tguvot 6y ago
I had a gig as contractor at one of FAANGs (they needed expertise that they didn't posses). Money aside, after you remove from equation fleet of leetcoders there is a bunch of smart people over there that work on solving various interesting and challenging problems. It's great place to learn on how problems (especially in scaling of various infrastructure systems on global level) are solved and also how things shouldn't be done :)

neilv 6y ago

Agreed. I kinda wish the FAANGs paid less, and had to appeal to people solely on positive impact, kinds of work people can do, work environment and how people are treated, etc. Adding "oh yeah, and you make more money here" complicates. The big G, for example, already seemed like the place to go, as soon as they launched the early site (the company was obviously smarter than most of what was going on), and there was also the "don't be evil" that resonated with a lot of the prevailing sentiment among the pre-Web Internet-savvy techies. Though I suppose there might've already been a money factor from the start (it seemed like most people were crunching hard at work, but also prone to job-hopping for the hottest IPO lottery ticket at the moment), but it wasn't as clear as today.

tguvot 6y ago

I had a gig as contractor at one of FAANGs (they needed expertise that they didn't posses). Money aside, after you remove from equation fleet of leetcoders there is a bunch of smart people over there that work on solving various interesting and challenging problems. It's great place to learn on how problems (especially in scaling of various infrastructure systems on global level) are solved and also how things shouldn't be done :)