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Poll: Why don't you want to work at FAANG?
This is the con side argument of: Why do you want to work at FAANG?
As a follow up suggestion from:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30512404
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- throwawayffffas 5y agoYeah, it's straight up all of the above.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- version_five 5y agoI put I don't believe in the mission, but that doesn't entirely capture it, nor does "I'd be a number/cog". It's more that modern big companies (and many startups, especially VC funded ones that are really just an extension of big tech) are not really about doing interesting technical work, in fact are almost the opposite- about playing the right politics, signaling the right things, putting up with all kinds of HR and other bureaucratic nonsense for no reason. Maybe that's what a white collar job is, but overall it's not appealing to me.
- selfhoster11 5y agoI suggest adding "I believe it's immoral to do so" to the list. This is close to "I don't believe their mission (if any)", but IMO there's a difference between believing that their mission isn't all that great, and believing that their mission is actively detrimental.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- bluefirebrand 5y agoIt's also possible that you do believe in their mission, but believe the way they are going about accomplishing it is immoral.
- yakorevivan 5y ago
- nonrandomstring 5y agoI believe it's immoral to do so
- mgh2 5y agoWould love to hear reasons for Apple, specifically the morals/value aspect
- iamleppert 5y agoWhat about “can’t stand big tech companies?”
- zthrowaway 5y agoIt feels like FAANG has become what it rose up against. They seem to be an extension of the government, and control. They mean well but paradoxically make things worse. The employees I’ve spoken to from any of these places are filled with arrogance, elitist, disconnected from reality, and yet miserable. Big companies are hell, filled with bureaucracy and incompetence and my impression is FAANG is no different. The censorship they’ve conducted is making a permanent scar. The only reason to work for them at this point is money, and these days you can find the same pay (if not better in some cases) at west coast tech companies outside of FAANG.
- yuppie_scum 5y agoI want a work life balance, I don’t want to live in the shitty Bay Area, I don’t want to grind leetcode, I don’t want to work with the kind of people who post on blind or levels.io, and mostly I just don’t have to.
- jleyank 5y agoIt’s sad that the best minds of this generation are working to harvest personal data and peddle ads. Whole lot of problems that are more worthwhile and also yield big bucks. But they’re harder, and taking the easy money tends to win out.
- engineerio 5y agoI have profitable side projects and it seems they are always side-project averse.
- aosmith 5y agoCan we add PM(s) as a response... That's what led to my last departure from a FAANG company. I was sick of dealing with non-technical PMs who had no idea what they were talking about.
- _8j50 5y agoWhere is the option for "I am not good enough" lol
- mgh2 5y agoFalse positive haha
- nus07 5y agoI mean all FAANG has morphed into is ads, content and monetization and selling you things. New tech coming from there is also how that can be monetized . The kind of folks who went into derivatives in 2001 are now going to FAANG (and burning man) . Blind, levels.fyi comparing and fitting in. *Maybe I am biased since I have mental health issues and got PIPed from one because of that.Or concurrently got burned out from one .
- mgh2 5y agoMay I ask which? And if you can share a bit about your experience, thanks
- dilippkumar 5y agoGiven this is HN, this poll would be more complete if it also had these options: 1. I already work at FAANG + Microsoft 2. I used to work at FAANG + Microsoft, now I’m moving on to other things 3. I will attempt to work there in the future. 4. There are no meaningful jobs at FAANG + Microsoft for my career/field/specialization 5. I am happy where I am and don’t feel a need to move 6. I am making a trade off for family/kids in school/geography/bigger houses/other reasons This should create a more balanced poll.
- mgh2 5y agoYou have a good point, this poll is a bit biased on the negative aspects. Only #4 was added. While the rest are valid, they are kind of neutral, which doesn't really help to pinpoint the reasons behind the con argument. For everything else, comments work, thanks!
- bravetraveler 5y agoI already work for a company of similar size but always missing from the acronym. It's taught me that these companies are less about the tech and doing it well, and more about sales/advertising and the like. Most of my day is spent dealing with bureaucracy and convincing people of the obvious choice - because they hadn't learned this before joining. We sell tech instead of ads, so it fits a little bit better with my principles. I just wish we focused a bit more on doing good work as a whole