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100%. There’s an assumption in articles like this that you even want to work for said FAANG company. Additionally, these posts assume a one-way interview proces

by krooj 6y ago

100%. There’s an assumption in articles like this that you even want to work for said FAANG company. Additionally, these posts assume a one-way interview process, which is a sure fire way to end up places you don’t want to be. Jump through all the hoops like a good little show pony, then maybe if you’re good enough, you get an offer and... what? Congrats, now you work for a terrible organization at a level where you’ll never be able to affect real change - you’re a literal cog. Bravo. Do the research and learning out of a genuine kernel of curiosity and self-betterment, not to whore yourself out to some corporation.

mlthoughts2018 6y ago
The comp offers aren’t even that great, even compared to midrange tech companies, especially for senior / staff level engineers. I worked at a midrange ecommerce and content licensing firm, about 20-25 years old, in a major US city, and my total comp as a senior engineer (6 years of experience then) was in the range of $350k between salary, equity and bonus, and this was over a decade ago. If you find a company that values you and needs your skills, you can get high comp at lots of places, and many have much better work / life balance, less wanton dysfunction and less political drama in the workplace. Even a 50% or 100% increase over the $350k isn’t worth debasing myself with “dance monkey dance” whiteboard hazing. You might as well ask Facebook to give you a dunce cap on your first day, or a t-shirt that says, “My lack of self-respect is so severe that I agreed to do Facebook’s interview process.” The mere fact that I’d actually be valued at the $350k place and wouldn’t be rectally probed to ensure I am fungible with every other assembly line programmer is a big indicator that my total earnings over a long time are likely to be much higher away from a place like Facebook. Generous scheduled equity refreshers are no match for actually rising in responsibility and skill growth to critical new positions in a firm.

by krooj 6y ago

mlthoughts2018 6y ago

The comp offers aren’t even that great, even compared to midrange tech companies, especially for senior / staff level engineers. I worked at a midrange ecommerce and content licensing firm, about 20-25 years old, in a major US city, and my total comp as a senior engineer (6 years of experience then) was in the range of $350k between salary, equity and bonus, and this was over a decade ago. If you find a company that values you and needs your skills, you can get high comp at lots of places, and many have much better work / life balance, less wanton dysfunction and less political drama in the workplace. Even a 50% or 100% increase over the $350k isn’t worth debasing myself with “dance monkey dance” whiteboard hazing. You might as well ask Facebook to give you a dunce cap on your first day, or a t-shirt that says, “My lack of self-respect is so severe that I agreed to do Facebook’s interview process.” The mere fact that I’d actually be valued at the $350k place and wouldn’t be rectally probed to ensure I am fungible with every other assembly line programmer is a big indicator that my total earnings over a long time are likely to be much higher away from a place like Facebook. Generous scheduled equity refreshers are no match for actually rising in responsibility and skill growth to critical new positions in a firm.