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Hey, as I said in another thread, I did not start out working in the Bay, and ended up here somewhat by accident. It shocked me how much easier it was to find g

by tibbar 2y ago

Hey, as I said in another thread, I did not start out working in the Bay, and ended up here somewhat by accident. It shocked me how much easier it was to find good jobs here, and I'll stand by that. With that said, of course I say this with no judgment to anyone not in the Bay or other tech hubs, it's friendly advice from personal experience. > Those jobs in the Bay Area mostly require you to “grind leetCode” and system design. They really don’t require you to know the latest frameworks, databases, Kubernetes, etc Hmm, it sounds like you have a negative opinion of Bay Area jobs in general. I'm asking people to first figure out what work sounds interesting to them, and then learn the relevant skills. If you have the skills, the Bay Area probably has the right job, too. Of course these jobs also exist elsewhere, I'm not sure why I'm triggering this reaction...

scarface_74 2y ago
I’ve worked for BigTech. If you look at how to pass any of the interview processes, it’s basically all about generic coding interviews. That’s it, those are the only “skills” you have to have to get into the BigTech - pass coding and system design interviews. And there are thousands of developers looking for jobs - even those who are coming out of well known tech companies.
- tibbar 2y ago
  I agree, that is how many big tech interviews look. I've done 'em too. If one's dream job is a generic, mid-level role at BigTech, then the path is clear - get very good at Leetcode and system design, and flag down a recruiter. My dream jobs tend to be more eclectic, and not necessarily at giant companies. I'm more interested in getting really skilled at a particular type of technology and being hired to work on that. And this kind of targeted recruitment still exists at big companies, too. But also Leetcode doesn't scare me too much, so maybe I'm dismissing it too easily. I've done a lot of those problems over the years, and I'm FAR from great at them but it's never been the blocker to a particular role in practice.
  - scarface_74 2y ago
    Most people’s “dreams” have nothing to do with working. Their dream is to have a combination of shit ton of money appear in their bank accounts every pay period and stock to appear in their brokerage account every vesting period. True there are some who want to win the lottery and accept less than their market rate in exchange for “equity” in a non public company that will statistically be worthless. Coding interviews are definitely is still the part of the process you have to pass unless you are a very well known big deal in the industry. BigTech companies want versatile developers who can move around as necessary. There are no “inside tracks” for 99% of positions aside from probably acquihires. You go through the grind regardless. Open source contributions really don’t mean that much. Infamously https://x.com/mxcl/status/608682016205344768?lang=en https://x.com/mxcl/status/608682016205344768?lang=en
    - tibbar 2y ago
      It seems like you're really focused on the interview process for a small number of very large tech companies. My experience doesn't match yours - I have been recruited to a specific BigTech team based on my background, and the interviews were more focused on specific skills than leetcode. But it seems like most BigTech interviews probably are coding/system design. With that said, I have tended to interview more at scaleups/late-stage startups in recent years, and it's been very rare to see a truly leetcode-heavy interview process. These are positions that pay comparably to big tech, although the equity is generally more risky. But I've also been able to cash out some startup equity, so maybe my experience is not representative again... > Most people’s “dreams” have nothing to do with working This line always seems like a cop-out to me. Almost all of us have to work, and it takes a huge amount of our time. And for many of us in the tech industry, we have been intrinsically interested in this tech since we were kids, and have specific stuff we'd prefer to work on. Can we just accept that certain work is going to be more interesting for certain people, and that they might want to steer their careers in that direction, especially if it pays better?
      - scarface_74 2y ago
        By pay similar to BigTech do you mean the cash you get paid at a startup/scale up is similar to cash + liquid public RSUs? Equity in private companies especially in today’s climate is statistically meaningless. And if you look at the companies that pay the most + have the largest number of opportunities, they are the “small number” of BigTech companies And back to the Bay Area argument. Most of the major public tech companies have offices all over the US that pay the same with a much lower cost of living.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

by tibbar 2y ago

scarface_74 2y ago

I’ve worked for BigTech. If you look at how to pass any of the interview processes, it’s basically all about generic coding interviews. That’s it, those are the only “skills” you have to have to get into the BigTech - pass coding and system design interviews. And there are thousands of developers looking for jobs - even those who are coming out of well known tech companies.

tibbar 2y ago
I agree, that is how many big tech interviews look. I've done 'em too. If one's dream job is a generic, mid-level role at BigTech, then the path is clear - get very good at Leetcode and system design, and flag down a recruiter. My dream jobs tend to be more eclectic, and not necessarily at giant companies. I'm more interested in getting really skilled at a particular type of technology and being hired to work on that. And this kind of targeted recruitment still exists at big companies, too. But also Leetcode doesn't scare me too much, so maybe I'm dismissing it too easily. I've done a lot of those problems over the years, and I'm FAR from great at them but it's never been the blocker to a particular role in practice.
- scarface_74 2y ago
  Most people’s “dreams” have nothing to do with working. Their dream is to have a combination of shit ton of money appear in their bank accounts every pay period and stock to appear in their brokerage account every vesting period. True there are some who want to win the lottery and accept less than their market rate in exchange for “equity” in a non public company that will statistically be worthless. Coding interviews are definitely is still the part of the process you have to pass unless you are a very well known big deal in the industry. BigTech companies want versatile developers who can move around as necessary. There are no “inside tracks” for 99% of positions aside from probably acquihires. You go through the grind regardless. Open source contributions really don’t mean that much. Infamously https://x.com/mxcl/status/608682016205344768?lang=en https://x.com/mxcl/status/608682016205344768?lang=en
  - tibbar 2y ago
    It seems like you're really focused on the interview process for a small number of very large tech companies. My experience doesn't match yours - I have been recruited to a specific BigTech team based on my background, and the interviews were more focused on specific skills than leetcode. But it seems like most BigTech interviews probably are coding/system design. With that said, I have tended to interview more at scaleups/late-stage startups in recent years, and it's been very rare to see a truly leetcode-heavy interview process. These are positions that pay comparably to big tech, although the equity is generally more risky. But I've also been able to cash out some startup equity, so maybe my experience is not representative again... > Most people’s “dreams” have nothing to do with working This line always seems like a cop-out to me. Almost all of us have to work, and it takes a huge amount of our time. And for many of us in the tech industry, we have been intrinsically interested in this tech since we were kids, and have specific stuff we'd prefer to work on. Can we just accept that certain work is going to be more interesting for certain people, and that they might want to steer their careers in that direction, especially if it pays better?
    - scarface_74 2y ago
      By pay similar to BigTech do you mean the cash you get paid at a startup/scale up is similar to cash + liquid public RSUs? Equity in private companies especially in today’s climate is statistically meaningless. And if you look at the companies that pay the most + have the largest number of opportunities, they are the “small number” of BigTech companies And back to the Bay Area argument. Most of the major public tech companies have offices all over the US that pay the same with a much lower cost of living.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]