Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 255 posts

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#181

Post by taylodl »

rectang wrote: post #99
jnwatson wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just got 4 offers from 3 FAANG companies, and I agree completely. None of the interviews had any filter for finishing tasks on time, writing good tests, improving team cohesion, or any of the many important characteristics of a great software developer. But, gosh, I can definitely explain how Aho-Corasick works.

You'd think that interviewers would investigate "designing for testability", which is in some ways similar to algorithm design — it's an architectural and optimization problem. You could even present open-ended programming exercises such as "design tests for this system". Similarly, you could test for ability to architect a Git commit history. Git uses some important algorithms (e.g. content addressable store, tree t…

You're making the assumption the interviewers at FAANG companies know this stuff. Many don't. The FAANG companies cast a wide net filtering out below-average engineers, knowing that there are some rock stars in what remains. The average FAANG employee isn't unlike your average coworker in any software development shop. Besides, if you really want to "change the world" you'll quickly realize you're not going to be able to do it at a FAANG.

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#182

Post by DoreenMichele »

taylodl wrote: post #181
rectang wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd think that interviewers would investigate "designing for testability", which is in some ways similar to algorithm design — it's an architectural and optimization problem. You could even present open-ended programming exercises such as "design tests for this system". Similarly, you could test for ability to architect a Git commit history. Git uses some important algorithms (e.g. content addressable store, tree t…

You're making the assumption the interviewers at FAANG companies know this stuff. Many don't. The FAANG companies cast a wide net filtering out below-average engineers, knowing that there are some rock stars in what remains. The average FAANG employee isn't unlike your average coworker in any software development shop. Besides, if you really want to "change the world" you'll quickly realize you're not going to be abl…

FAANG already changed the world into what it is today. Now they want to preserve the status quo that keeps them rich and powerful.

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#183

Post by askafriend »

jasondigitized wrote: post #142
ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm tired of the semantics, my co workers are dumb. They passed these interviews by memorizing the answers to questions, and they cant come up with useful software architecture. Everything they code is a one off solution to a one off problem.

Are they better with people than you are? Does that make you dumb as well? If you were “smart” you would have figured out how to work with your leadership team to optimize a solution for all parties. But you don’t know how to, and therefore from my perspective, could also be considered “dumb”.

Honestly some people are dumb and it’s as simple as that. No need to bend backwards to make excuses for them.

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#184

Post by srswtf123 »

> I feel like I've made a terrible decision and don't know what to do next.

My advice is straightforward. First, stay in the position until an adequate amount of time has passed so it won't raise eyebrows on your resume. Second, begin looking for other work doing what you want to do, using this job as a stepping stone.

You took a chance, it didn't work out as expected. That's life. Move on to the next thing!

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#185

Post by srswtf123 »

tZqGafFdSbj5w34 wrote: post #85

I appreciate all the comments (even the criticism). In so many ways, this post has already helped me see things more clearly. One final thought is that I know I can quit - that isn't the question. I could make more money (with less stability) consulting, or find a middle ground at a Series C+ company. What I probably should have said in my OP is that quitting feels wrong. I've never quit a position after three months…

> As dysfunctional as this team is, quitting would feel like letting them down

Do you think your FAANG employer would have a second thought about letting YOU down? Doubtful.

The first rule of survival is to take care of yourself so you can help others. In this case, self-care likely means leaving the job.

What would you advise a friend to do in this situation? Are you, as a person, willing to care for yourself the way you might care for a friend?

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#186

Post by danaris »

tZqGafFdSbj5w34 wrote: post #78
laurieg wrote: post #14

"staffed with below-average IQ people" I'm not sure why your co-workers' IQ is your concern. To come out of the gate with a comment like this sounds like you have a strong disdain for them. Part of your reason for joining the company was the paycheck. I assume the checks aren't bouncing. My advice is the same advice I would give to many people: Learn from your coworkers. Understand the problems that the team and the…

I seem to be getting a lot of heat for this comment - fair enough, but I will expand on that. Before joining this company, I hired and managed teams across various startups. I don't think I would be speaking out of turn to say in every company we looked for aptitude and intelligence. I don't know what my previous or current colleagues literal IQs are, but you know a highly intelligent person when you meet and work wi…

I notice that while you talk a lot about why you believe you should be able to tell what "high IQ" people are like, you don't say anything about what it is about these people that tells you they're not.

In other words, all you've done is attempt to establish that we should just trust you when you say they're "low IQ", rather than give us any actual evidence that they are, or even any elaboration of what you mean when you say that.

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#187

Post by elpatoisthebest »

rejectedandsad wrote: post #175
Arainach wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't work at Amazon and never have, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. I have worked at multiple other "FAANG"-caliber organizations, so add a few more grains. Let's start with the obvious: "FAANG" was a term coined by financial types, not technical types, based on stock valuations rather than any particular technical merits. Exactly what companies are in it are controversial - Microsoft has the pedigree an…

Basically, all of this seems to wind down into the fact that Amazon engineers are lesser and less worthy than everyone else and that even Amazon engineers know about this. Why the hell should I even continue if that's the case? I make a pittance and everyone in society thinks of me as a untermensch.

Hold up.

Let's keep it in perspective here. "Worthy" of what? Dignity? Respect? Every human is worthy of those things.

I don't work FAANG, never even gotten a callback interview. I am a decent software engineer at a small company. I do pretty boring things, in pretty boring tech. I don't even understand how our k8s deploy works. I have to imagine your "pittance" of a salary at Amazon is higher than mine.

But none of that is embarrassing to me. It's just a job. It's not something that defines who I am. I clock out at my 8 hour mark and I go do things I love with people I love.

Comparison is the thief of joy. You aren't measured against anyone else, least of all other FAANG employees here showing off the best side of themselves. Be proud of yourself, and don't let your job define you. You are worth more as a human than your job title, and certainly the company you work for.

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#188

Post by themacguffinman »

rejectedandsad wrote: post #175
Arainach wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't work at Amazon and never have, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. I have worked at multiple other "FAANG"-caliber organizations, so add a few more grains. Let's start with the obvious: "FAANG" was a term coined by financial types, not technical types, based on stock valuations rather than any particular technical merits. Exactly what companies are in it are controversial - Microsoft has the pedigree an…

Basically, all of this seems to wind down into the fact that Amazon engineers are lesser and less worthy than everyone else and that even Amazon engineers know about this. Why the hell should I even continue if that's the case? I make a pittance and everyone in society thinks of me as a untermensch.

I don't know that you should continue since it is severely affecting you but I doubt that focusing on other people's tier rankings of Amazon engs is healthy or beneficial in any way. A lot of people overdo the whole "don't listen to what other people say" (external judgments can be valuable & insightful), but naturally it's possible to overdo the opposite.

AFAICT, Amazon has a terrible reputation because they are abusive and are known to hire-to-fire. If you don't feel abused and you've stuck around long enough to be confident that you weren't just hired to fill a firing quota, then these criticisms don't really apply.

Basically all big companies are large enough to offer a mix of good & bad experiences, prevailing reputation is going to be an average of that mix. But your own experience isn't an average, you don't have to measure it against some public reputation. Public reputation is for outsiders, it's for people to forecast what outcomes are likely before joining. It's not for you. When you can see sunny skies with your own eyes, you don't look at the weather forecast.

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#189

Post by gregjor »

It’s bad enough reading self-described A+ high IQ “players” bitching about stupid managers, customers, and users. It’s worse to see that hubris and arrogance turned on co-workers. So much to fix, with only you to do it. I’m guessing you won’t last long because no one will want to work with you.

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#190

Post by rualca »

jasondigitized wrote: post #141
teakettle42 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it a weird metric?

Because there are many forms of intelligence. He may be over indexing on mathematical intelligence and under indexing on the intelligence required to work within constraints, ambiguity, difficult people, adversity, and unreasonable leadership direction and expectations.

> He may be over indexing on mathematical intelligence (...)

It reads as OP didn't indexed anything and just wanted to denigrate people around him to try to portray himself as some kind of ubermensch towering over his peers.

Post reply on HN