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Having a high-paying job at a well-known tech company that average people recognize is the definition of a prestigious job in society. If you don’t think FAANG

Having a high-paying job at a well-known tech company that average people recognize is the definition of a prestigious job in society. If you don’t think FAANG jobs are socially prestigious, you’re probably thinking too narrowly within the HN comment section bubble. Talk to first-generation college graduates looking to make it big in the engineering world and FAANG jobs are the definition of prestigious to them and their families.

jjulius 4y ago
Given the negative views that a lot of average people have towards some of those FAANGs (more specifically, Facebook and Google), I would disagree that they're viewed as "prestigious" jobs. Years ago, sure, but whatever air of prestige they had going for themselves is quickly disappearing.
- PragmaticPulp 4y ago
  You’re misconstruing the company’s reputation with the career’s reputation. A lot of people have negative sentiment toward “lawyers” as a group, but getting a big lawyer job is still considered prestigious for the individual. Also, the average person actually really likes Google search, their Microsoft Xbox, their Instagram friends, and so on. If the average person actually disliked these products, they wouldn’t be the biggest brands in the world.
  - IntelMiner 4y ago
    Except part of the problem with these tech giants is they're truly inescapable I don't "like" Windows but I'm using it right now to type this comment because my option is the other FAANG, Apple. Or specifically going out of my way to use Linux. (This extends also to cell phones with the effective Google/Apple duopoly) I don't "like" Facebook but it's the only way I can keep in contact with my family across the planet, because they're technologically illiterate and only understand Facebook Messenger I don't "like" Amazon but they've sucked most of the oxygen out of online retail
    - scarface74 4y ago
      You mean they are “inescapable” because people used their own free will to choose them? - Computers - you admitted that you could use Linux. But Apple and Microsoft provide a better experience for you - phones - you could use a PinePhone. But you choose to use an Android or iPhone because it is a better experience - your family chose to use Facebook products even though there are plenty of other messaging apps and methods to share pictures. Facebook gave them a better experience. - I can’t think of a single product that you can get from Amazon that you couldn’t get from somewhere else. You choose to use Amazon for the convenience
      - IntelMiner 4y ago
        So what you're saying is, these are non-issues as long as I'm still able to go completely out of my own way to exercise as strained a free choice as possible?
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
        scarface74 4y ago
        Yes, just like I have a freedom of choice to sit down on my couch everyday to eat pizza, nachos and drink Coke or take the much harder route of walking over to ny home gym after work and run on my treadmill, climb my elliptical and lift weights. There are plenty of people who use Linux as a daily driver, don’t use Facebook Messenger, and order from other places besides Amazon
        IntelMiner 4y ago
        So, for the sake of taking your...argument to its logical conclusion Amazon sells an item I'm after A physical store in a remote town in the African desert also sells it. But not online Obviously it is my fault for not exercising my still existant, but "inconvenient" choice to not purchase the item from Amazon. Or simply book a flight across the atlantic, various other methods of transit to make the trip to the village and then return home the same way
  - krageon 4y ago
    It is only considered prestigious if you are part of the section of society that respects lawyers to begin with. It is a shit job where you most likely exploit people's misery all day, sort of like a telemarketer. That is the sentiment you will find outside of the already rich (which as a rule have significantly fewer principles).
- kleinsch 4y ago
  Go outside the SF/HN bubble and try to find people with a negative view of Google. Out in the real world nobody cares about ad tracking. In 2020 I walked around suburban Colorado wearing a FB Messenger hoodie and had multiple people comment on how cool it was that I work there and ask what it’s like.
  - jjulius 4y ago
    >Go outside the SF/HN bubble and try to find people with a negative view of Google. Out in the real world nobody cares about ad tracking. I wasn't speaking specifically to ads/tracking. Out in the "real world" there are plenty of people who decry "big tech censorship" and have strong views about said tech firms that are tied to their political views.
    - appletrotter 4y ago
      Yeah but that’s like 1/100 people you meet. Most people don’t care about the stuff you care about, jjulius.
      - jjulius 4y ago
        >Yeah but that’s like 1/100 people you meet. Depends on where you live and who you're frequently around; my experience seems to be quite a bit different from yours. I also don't expect that people care about what I care about, appletrotter.
        kyawzazaw 4y ago
        For the general population, it is a whole lot less.
    - bearcobra 4y ago
      The Verge has done some surveys on this[1] (not of their audience but of a national sample) and in 2021 90% of respondents had a positive view of Google, 89% of Netflix, 87% of Amazon, 79% of Apple, and 66% of Facebook (Instagram was 72%). I think plenty of people might have some kind of negative opinion about each of those companies, but view the jobs there as prestigious. [1]https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/6/22702798/verge-tech-survey-2021-trust-privacy-security-facebook-amazon-google-apple-pandemic https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/6/22702798/verge-tech-surve...
- UncleMeat 4y ago
  > Given the negative views that a lot of average people have towards some of those FAANGs A lot of tech people. Believe it or not, Google still scores near the very top of "most trusted brands" when 3rd party analysts do studies. The tech community is highly negative of Google as a brand, but "average people" don't actually have a negative view. I don't know about Facebook - haven't seen any recent data.
tannhaeuser 4y ago
Well tbh catering to a crowd that exists in reality, like HNers, still probably makes more sense than extrapolating over a crowd of mythical normies in the absence of data.
scarface74 4y ago
I work for a FAANG. It’s just one of the eight jobs I’ve had in my 25+ year career. Just like the other 7 jobs, it’s just a means for me to exchange labor for money to support my addiction to food and shelter. Admittedly more money than I’ve made before.
VirusNewbie 4y ago
It's prestigious to people in tech (for those that know about the pay and the challenges of getting in). It is far less prestigious to average folks who are likely to think that Google is basically like any ol' office job but cooler decor and free lunches. If you ask the average non tech person if working for Netflix or IBM is more prestigious they aren't going to laugh at the question like we would.

jjulius 4y ago

Given the negative views that a lot of average people have towards some of those FAANGs (more specifically, Facebook and Google), I would disagree that they're viewed as "prestigious" jobs. Years ago, sure, but whatever air of prestige they had going for themselves is quickly disappearing.

PragmaticPulp 4y ago
You’re misconstruing the company’s reputation with the career’s reputation. A lot of people have negative sentiment toward “lawyers” as a group, but getting a big lawyer job is still considered prestigious for the individual. Also, the average person actually really likes Google search, their Microsoft Xbox, their Instagram friends, and so on. If the average person actually disliked these products, they wouldn’t be the biggest brands in the world.
- IntelMiner 4y ago
  Except part of the problem with these tech giants is they're truly inescapable I don't "like" Windows but I'm using it right now to type this comment because my option is the other FAANG, Apple. Or specifically going out of my way to use Linux. (This extends also to cell phones with the effective Google/Apple duopoly) I don't "like" Facebook but it's the only way I can keep in contact with my family across the planet, because they're technologically illiterate and only understand Facebook Messenger I don't "like" Amazon but they've sucked most of the oxygen out of online retail
  - scarface74 4y ago
    You mean they are “inescapable” because people used their own free will to choose them? - Computers - you admitted that you could use Linux. But Apple and Microsoft provide a better experience for you - phones - you could use a PinePhone. But you choose to use an Android or iPhone because it is a better experience - your family chose to use Facebook products even though there are plenty of other messaging apps and methods to share pictures. Facebook gave them a better experience. - I can’t think of a single product that you can get from Amazon that you couldn’t get from somewhere else. You choose to use Amazon for the convenience
    - IntelMiner 4y ago
      So what you're saying is, these are non-issues as long as I'm still able to go completely out of my own way to exercise as strained a free choice as possible?
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - scarface74 4y ago
        Yes, just like I have a freedom of choice to sit down on my couch everyday to eat pizza, nachos and drink Coke or take the much harder route of walking over to ny home gym after work and run on my treadmill, climb my elliptical and lift weights. There are plenty of people who use Linux as a daily driver, don’t use Facebook Messenger, and order from other places besides Amazon
        IntelMiner 4y ago
        So, for the sake of taking your...argument to its logical conclusion Amazon sells an item I'm after A physical store in a remote town in the African desert also sells it. But not online Obviously it is my fault for not exercising my still existant, but "inconvenient" choice to not purchase the item from Amazon. Or simply book a flight across the atlantic, various other methods of transit to make the trip to the village and then return home the same way
- krageon 4y ago
  It is only considered prestigious if you are part of the section of society that respects lawyers to begin with. It is a shit job where you most likely exploit people's misery all day, sort of like a telemarketer. That is the sentiment you will find outside of the already rich (which as a rule have significantly fewer principles).
kleinsch 4y ago
Go outside the SF/HN bubble and try to find people with a negative view of Google. Out in the real world nobody cares about ad tracking. In 2020 I walked around suburban Colorado wearing a FB Messenger hoodie and had multiple people comment on how cool it was that I work there and ask what it’s like.
- jjulius 4y ago
  >Go outside the SF/HN bubble and try to find people with a negative view of Google. Out in the real world nobody cares about ad tracking. I wasn't speaking specifically to ads/tracking. Out in the "real world" there are plenty of people who decry "big tech censorship" and have strong views about said tech firms that are tied to their political views.
  - appletrotter 4y ago
    Yeah but that’s like 1/100 people you meet. Most people don’t care about the stuff you care about, jjulius.
    - jjulius 4y ago
      >Yeah but that’s like 1/100 people you meet. Depends on where you live and who you're frequently around; my experience seems to be quite a bit different from yours. I also don't expect that people care about what I care about, appletrotter.
      - kyawzazaw 4y ago
        For the general population, it is a whole lot less.
  - bearcobra 4y ago
    The Verge has done some surveys on this[1] (not of their audience but of a national sample) and in 2021 90% of respondents had a positive view of Google, 89% of Netflix, 87% of Amazon, 79% of Apple, and 66% of Facebook (Instagram was 72%). I think plenty of people might have some kind of negative opinion about each of those companies, but view the jobs there as prestigious. [1]https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/6/22702798/verge-tech-survey-2021-trust-privacy-security-facebook-amazon-google-apple-pandemic https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/6/22702798/verge-tech-surve...
UncleMeat 4y ago
> Given the negative views that a lot of average people have towards some of those FAANGs A lot of tech people. Believe it or not, Google still scores near the very top of "most trusted brands" when 3rd party analysts do studies. The tech community is highly negative of Google as a brand, but "average people" don't actually have a negative view. I don't know about Facebook - haven't seen any recent data.

tannhaeuser 4y ago

Well tbh catering to a crowd that exists in reality, like HNers, still probably makes more sense than extrapolating over a crowd of mythical normies in the absence of data.

scarface74 4y ago

I work for a FAANG. It’s just one of the eight jobs I’ve had in my 25+ year career. Just like the other 7 jobs, it’s just a means for me to exchange labor for money to support my addiction to food and shelter. Admittedly more money than I’ve made before.

VirusNewbie 4y ago

It's prestigious to people in tech (for those that know about the pay and the challenges of getting in). It is far less prestigious to average folks who are likely to think that Google is basically like any ol' office job but cooler decor and free lunches. If you ask the average non tech person if working for Netflix or IBM is more prestigious they aren't going to laugh at the question like we would.