Could also be an aberration caused by the generally poor hiring practices used by these software companies. I have no idea what the talent pool actually looks l

Could also be an aberration caused by the generally poor hiring practices used by these software companies. I have no idea what the talent pool actually looks like for these two industries. I have noticed there appears to be a huge divide between the FAANG'ers and the FAANG'nots from my perspective. The smaller companies in the area, all generally know each other. Similar to your experience