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I've been accepted to most of the positions I've applied mainly because I avoided FAANG companies for fear of rejection. I was getting regular emails from their

I've been accepted to most of the positions I've applied mainly because I avoided FAANG companies for fear of rejection. I was getting regular emails from their recruiters but just kept deleting them. One day I just decided to reply to the Google recruiter. I stupidly set up the interview ASAP at a time when I was out of the country with no computer or internet. So I went into the interview with zero prep. It was a disaster. That experience made me once again ignore FAANG recruiters for a while until I was pressured by a friend to apply at Amazon. I crammed hard for that. I thought I aced all the on site interviews with optimal solutions and stupidly told my folks that I likely got the job (bad idea!). I didn't. Finally took a stab at some tier 2 companies in NYC and was rejected by all. Some were really close others were just bad timing (WeWork during IPO fiasco). I'm still chugging along working at some company with no name recognition. Yeah it sucks that all my peers work at FAANG and don't understand why I'm not trying to work at a more prominent company. Honestly it worked out better. I have a minimal commute, a decent home in an area with great schools, comp comparable to FAANG, and finally my work has a much greater impact at my company.

kazamaloo 6y ago
fwiw, there is substantial randomness in the process (worked at two of FAANG myself). Try to do mock interviews with your friends if it helps. You may be showing patterns that you think is correct, but actually quite the opposite (this is what happened with me).
redisman 6y ago
The FAANG interview is hard dude. I feel like I could maybe get in if I took a 6 month study break for it which is totally unrealistic. I tried a few times at the top 10 companies (except ones I consider immoral) and even got pretty far at some (onsites that went decently) but I'm pretty happy at medium sized later stage startups doing my 9-5. It's not like working for the highest market cap company in the US is going to give your life any more meaning.
- joelbluminator 6y ago
  Good comment. There won't be any more meaning, arguably there would be less meaning in FAANG (I mean where will u have more impact: a 50-200 people team or a 100000 team?). The FAANG compensation though is simply insane and just having it on your resume is huge for one's career, that's why everyone wants it. But u can have a very nice career without working there, I mean most of us don't work there.
- throwaway892398 6y ago
  Yeah it's a huge time sink. The Amazon interview was in Santa Monica even though recruiter informed me I was interviewing for a position in NYC. It's hard to find time to prep with kids at home also. The real dagger for me is that our company lost two of our worst performers to FAANG companies. I was mentoring both and some of their code would qualify for r/codinghorror.

kazamaloo 6y ago

fwiw, there is substantial randomness in the process (worked at two of FAANG myself). Try to do mock interviews with your friends if it helps. You may be showing patterns that you think is correct, but actually quite the opposite (this is what happened with me).

redisman 6y ago

The FAANG interview is hard dude. I feel like I could maybe get in if I took a 6 month study break for it which is totally unrealistic. I tried a few times at the top 10 companies (except ones I consider immoral) and even got pretty far at some (onsites that went decently) but I'm pretty happy at medium sized later stage startups doing my 9-5. It's not like working for the highest market cap company in the US is going to give your life any more meaning.

joelbluminator 6y ago
Good comment. There won't be any more meaning, arguably there would be less meaning in FAANG (I mean where will u have more impact: a 50-200 people team or a 100000 team?). The FAANG compensation though is simply insane and just having it on your resume is huge for one's career, that's why everyone wants it. But u can have a very nice career without working there, I mean most of us don't work there.
throwaway892398 6y ago
Yeah it's a huge time sink. The Amazon interview was in Santa Monica even though recruiter informed me I was interviewing for a position in NYC. It's hard to find time to prep with kids at home also. The real dagger for me is that our company lost two of our worst performers to FAANG companies. I was mentoring both and some of their code would qualify for r/codinghorror.