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This is true, but I think you have the reason misconstrued: it isn't that working at a FAANG on your resume provides a signal of greatness, it's that it guarant

This is true, but I think you have the reason misconstrued: it isn't that working at a FAANG on your resume provides a signal of greatness, it's that it guarantees a reliable floor competency. The recruiter is concerned with making her quota just as much as finding rock stars, if not more, and ex FAANG candidates probably stand a higher chance of making it through the interview funnel on average.

nnurmanov 4y ago
I once asked recruiters how many candidates they review before they hire a senior engineer. Some answered 200! So the fact you worked in FAANG is not a reason to reject, at least not on recruiter’s level.
listenallyall 4y ago
> you have the reason misconstrued I don't believe my post suggested any reasons. > it guarantees a reliable floor competency I disagree. FAANG experience only demonstrates that, at one point, somebody believed you could do the job. There are dead-weight employees at FAANGs (and everywhere of course) who don't really have much competency (or perhaps one very specific competency that's only valuable in that specific role at that specific company, and virtually nothing else). There are also people who were once terrific, but have burned out, turned focus towards their family, were amazing at some obsolete tool/language, etc, started (or stopped) using drugs regularly, etc I do agree that recruiters are not looking for rockstars but just anyone to fill a spot.
- shostack 4y ago
  Why do you view focusing on one's family as a negative? You can still do excellent work and focus on your family. If by that you mean "won't be willing to be exploited by working 70hr weeks and weekends" then that's a whole different conversation.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- RobRivera 4y ago
  you can be terrific and have a focused family life.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- fullmoon 4y ago
  People that have a family but don’t focus on it will never be exceptional employees. They will tell themselves sweet little lies all day about how their need for external validation and appearance of being busy / important is actually in service of their family. They lack the ability to reflect, put something more important above them when there is no validation, and won’t take honest ownership either.
  - mejutoco 4y ago
    Counteranecdote: Euler
- tshaddox 4y ago
  > There are dead-weight employees at FAANGs (and everywhere of course) who don't really have much competency (or perhaps one very specific competency that's only valuable in that specific role at that specific company, and virtually nothing else). Sure, but if they were able to fool everyone enough to remain employed for a while (and didn’t depart on bad terms), then they’re likely to be able to do the same again, which means everyone (who is relevant to the hiring decision) wins.
  - valenterry 4y ago
    Not really. I, as the hiring manager, have a lot of interest in someone who is productive and can help out (among other qualities obviously). And in fact I have become very critical about people coming from FAANG when hiring into a smaller company. The problem is that they are often overestimate their abilities, aren't easily able to adjust from a big corp into a more dynamic, fast environment being hands-on and - which is the worst - don't see the problem with themselves but with their employer. That being said, there are certainly brilliant people at FAANG. But most of those don't apply at smaller companies anyways. Leaving me with candidates that aren't a good fit, despite having a great resumee.
scarface74 4y ago
The recruiters just spray and pray wildly. Since 2020, I’ve had: - A recruiter from Google reach out to me about an Engineering Manager position - I’ve never managed anyone in my life. - A recruiter from Facebook reach out to me about a senior software engineering position even though the last job I had at the time that had an official title of “software engineer” was two years prior and I had no details about what I did and the company I worked for was unknown - two recruiters reaching out to me from Amazon about “exciting software development opportunities” - while it clearly showed on my LinkedIn profile that I was working at AWS.
- andsoitis 4y ago
  > A recruiter from Google reach out to me about an Engineering Manager position - I’ve never managed anyone in my life There has to be a first time managing a team, no? Some people view changing roles from IC to leader as career progression. Maybe the recruiter saw something positive on your resume and thought: hey, this person might make a great leader and maybe they’d be interested in a next step in their career. However, judging by your reaction, you probably aren’t / weren’t ready so win/win.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    I would hope that Google has more sense than to hire someone as an EM with absolutely no management experience and no experience working at any large company. They would have never hired me. It’s more speaking to recruiters than the hiring practices. Besides my LinkedIn profile where I was reached out at is purposefully sparse.
- P_I_Staker 4y ago
  To echo others, none of that seems unreasonable: - There's a first time for everything, including management - The facebook thing is a little weird, but if you had some software experience, and two years isn't THAT long ago, it may be worth a try. As much as everyone says you need perfectly crafted resumes, sometimes there's detailed information missing. People know your only human and capable of being a bit vague on a resume, or entertaining opportunities you didn't initially envision. - As far as I understand, this isn't weird at all. It seems the culture at Amazon is to hop around teams, if desired... I think you only have to put in 18 months to be an "unrestricted free agent". I've been told that a big part of success at amazon is predicting the right time to leave doomed teams.
gherkinnn 4y ago
> it's that it guarantees a reliable floor competency. Meh. Most of the ex-FAANG people I worked with at non-FAANG places continue to apply super duper mega scale practices to human scale products and completely fail at what matters.
- andsoitis 4y ago
  How many jobs have you had in the last 5 years?

nnurmanov 4y ago

I once asked recruiters how many candidates they review before they hire a senior engineer. Some answered 200! So the fact you worked in FAANG is not a reason to reject, at least not on recruiter’s level.

listenallyall 4y ago

> you have the reason misconstrued I don't believe my post suggested any reasons. > it guarantees a reliable floor competency I disagree. FAANG experience only demonstrates that, at one point, somebody believed you could do the job. There are dead-weight employees at FAANGs (and everywhere of course) who don't really have much competency (or perhaps one very specific competency that's only valuable in that specific role at that specific company, and virtually nothing else). There are also people who were once terrific, but have burned out, turned focus towards their family, were amazing at some obsolete tool/language, etc, started (or stopped) using drugs regularly, etc I do agree that recruiters are not looking for rockstars but just anyone to fill a spot.

shostack 4y ago
Why do you view focusing on one's family as a negative? You can still do excellent work and focus on your family. If by that you mean "won't be willing to be exploited by working 70hr weeks and weekends" then that's a whole different conversation.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
RobRivera 4y ago
you can be terrific and have a focused family life.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
fullmoon 4y ago
People that have a family but don’t focus on it will never be exceptional employees. They will tell themselves sweet little lies all day about how their need for external validation and appearance of being busy / important is actually in service of their family. They lack the ability to reflect, put something more important above them when there is no validation, and won’t take honest ownership either.
- mejutoco 4y ago
  Counteranecdote: Euler
tshaddox 4y ago
> There are dead-weight employees at FAANGs (and everywhere of course) who don't really have much competency (or perhaps one very specific competency that's only valuable in that specific role at that specific company, and virtually nothing else). Sure, but if they were able to fool everyone enough to remain employed for a while (and didn’t depart on bad terms), then they’re likely to be able to do the same again, which means everyone (who is relevant to the hiring decision) wins.
- valenterry 4y ago
  Not really. I, as the hiring manager, have a lot of interest in someone who is productive and can help out (among other qualities obviously). And in fact I have become very critical about people coming from FAANG when hiring into a smaller company. The problem is that they are often overestimate their abilities, aren't easily able to adjust from a big corp into a more dynamic, fast environment being hands-on and - which is the worst - don't see the problem with themselves but with their employer. That being said, there are certainly brilliant people at FAANG. But most of those don't apply at smaller companies anyways. Leaving me with candidates that aren't a good fit, despite having a great resumee.

scarface74 4y ago

The recruiters just spray and pray wildly. Since 2020, I’ve had: - A recruiter from Google reach out to me about an Engineering Manager position - I’ve never managed anyone in my life. - A recruiter from Facebook reach out to me about a senior software engineering position even though the last job I had at the time that had an official title of “software engineer” was two years prior and I had no details about what I did and the company I worked for was unknown - two recruiters reaching out to me from Amazon about “exciting software development opportunities” - while it clearly showed on my LinkedIn profile that I was working at AWS.

andsoitis 4y ago
> A recruiter from Google reach out to me about an Engineering Manager position - I’ve never managed anyone in my life There has to be a first time managing a team, no? Some people view changing roles from IC to leader as career progression. Maybe the recruiter saw something positive on your resume and thought: hey, this person might make a great leader and maybe they’d be interested in a next step in their career. However, judging by your reaction, you probably aren’t / weren’t ready so win/win.
- scarface74 4y ago
  I would hope that Google has more sense than to hire someone as an EM with absolutely no management experience and no experience working at any large company. They would have never hired me. It’s more speaking to recruiters than the hiring practices. Besides my LinkedIn profile where I was reached out at is purposefully sparse.
P_I_Staker 4y ago
To echo others, none of that seems unreasonable: - There's a first time for everything, including management - The facebook thing is a little weird, but if you had some software experience, and two years isn't THAT long ago, it may be worth a try. As much as everyone says you need perfectly crafted resumes, sometimes there's detailed information missing. People know your only human and capable of being a bit vague on a resume, or entertaining opportunities you didn't initially envision. - As far as I understand, this isn't weird at all. It seems the culture at Amazon is to hop around teams, if desired... I think you only have to put in 18 months to be an "unrestricted free agent". I've been told that a big part of success at amazon is predicting the right time to leave doomed teams.

gherkinnn 4y ago

> it's that it guarantees a reliable floor competency. Meh. Most of the ex-FAANG people I worked with at non-FAANG places continue to apply super duper mega scale practices to human scale products and completely fail at what matters.

andsoitis 4y ago
How many jobs have you had in the last 5 years?