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Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

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Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#131

Post by nbm »

asdf21 wrote: post #125
nbm wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being hired in as an engineering manager requires having been an engineering manager previously (at any company), generally for a reasonable period (let's say, minimum two years of full-time management experience minimum with at least 3 direct reports), with a career YOE of around at least five years. You're generally coming in at the same pay band as a senior IC (you might be able to see this sort of information in…

What are the interview questions aligned towards? More soft skills, or are there still a bunch of algo questions, etc?

I don't know if this is as standard across the FAANG (and similarly styled companies) as an IC interview is - some companies expect managers to have been able to be successful as mid-level ICs, and some might not. Recruiters will generally happily describe company's process to you if you're applying, or will tell you if you ask if they reach out to you.

Often, you'll still have a coding (or other technical interview) and a system design interview, and a probably very similar general "people skills/career" type interview that an IC gets. But instead of another one or two technical interviews, you'll have another one or two manager-focused interviews (how to build teams, how to run projects, how to grow individuals, how to navigate a particular scenario).

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#132

Post by lanstin »

rlt wrote: post #14

I'm not quite as old, but I struggle with this question too. Programming and building shit is my passion, and I'd probably be a terrible manager, but I've been conditioned to believe management is the wise path for aging software engineers.

You can build a career as senior IC if you a) refuse to blindly obey, b) make sure your work always benefits people in the organization, c) you keeping learning new things and d) sharing new and old things with a lot of people.

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#133

Post by hpcjoe »

huangc10 wrote: post #43

I hate these questions because it honestly puts me off when I think about my future. It makes me scared of being old. 43 isn't even that old (isn't retiring age 65...?) and you seem to be confused what your profession is. I don't want to be in that position. If you're 43, you should know what you want to do. If you want to code, go for a senior/principal programming lead position. If you want to manage, go for a mana…

> If you're 43, you should know what you want to do.

In a word, no.

You can change what you want to do at any age. At 29, I chose to put academia behind me to "go industrial". At 37 I started my own company. At 51, I joined another company. And again at 53.

You might have a general idea of what you want to do at some age, or something very specific. A particular itch you wish to scratch (see my 37 year old self wanting to prove that I could do "it" better than some of my predecessors).

Today, my 54 year old self wants to continue to enjoy working with very smart people, on hard projects, making material impacts upon top line and bottom lines of larger companies. In a real sense, my employer, those who actually pay my wages, changed 6 days ago.

In all these transitions, I've altered what I did, what I wanted to focus upon.

You shouldn't be scared of being old. Age is, for the most part, only a number. It is not relevant, unless you wish it to be. Or deal with some idiotic companies that think it is important.

You retire when you want. A friend 10 years my junior retired 2 years ago. He's bored silly now, but still, you can choose what to do, when you want to do it, modulo physical/health issues. For me, I think I realized I couldn't keep going at the powerlifter rate in the gym after I hit 53. I had to leave weights for the younguns to lift :D

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#134

Post by donavanm »

braythwayt wrote: post #21

Anybody in their 40s or older has valuable experience above and beyond ephemeral value of “Hitting the ground running with Cabbage and Sprouts containerized with Cuper9s using ES2020 and JSxyz.” One way to deliver that experience is in delivery management, that is, being responsible for teams that ship stuff. Another way to deliver that experience is in people management. Not all companies equate this with the previo…

> My 2c on being in engineering leadership is that it’s best to think of yourself as a manger without authority, rather than thinking of yourself as an engineer with authority.

Im a principal at AWS. A coworker made a joke that resonated with me; a principal engineer is a manager without direct reports.

My job is twofold. Helping managers understand where to go. Helping ICs and teams to get there. I have no inherent authority and it all comes down to trust and influence.

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#135

Post by toadi »

dfsegoat wrote: post #82
braythwayt wrote: post #21

Anybody in their 40s or older has valuable experience above and beyond ephemeral value of “Hitting the ground running with Cabbage and Sprouts containerized with Cuper9s using ES2020 and JSxyz.” One way to deliver that experience is in delivery management, that is, being responsible for teams that ship stuff. Another way to deliver that experience is in people management. Not all companies equate this with the previo…

> "A third way in in a more nebulous “leadership” role that doesn’t have “manager” in the title, e.g. “Architect,” or “Principal Engineer.” As a technical lead (getting into my 40s soon) I try to think of myself as an chief enabler / support net: Let the team figure out implementation, support them as they go where they get out of their depth - and protect them from DIRECT trickle down BS/interruptions from managemen…

43 here and I was a CTO in my own startups that provided me a nest egg. Done Digital Transformation Coaching for a big chunk of it. But my last employer hired me after 1 year contract of doing this as tech lead. Much to my amazement because I don't really consider myself a good engineer, I'm just good at solving problems and was able to deliver stuff. Most of the times it isn't always as pretty as it should but people are happy. Except when I get those nasty job interview algo questions which I mostly bomb.

I'm actually a Vice President without any direct reports. I'm on the same level as the head of software delivery on the organigram. See myself as chief enabler too. Fixing architects disillusioned designs and try to explain to developers how to implement these designs. Sometimes I dabble doing some POC. Good thing is that I don't have people management bullshit, downside is that this is my glass ceiling if I stay here :)

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#136

Post by [deleted] »

decebalus1 wrote: post #68
cmsonger wrote: post #66

I joined Google at the age of 50. Just send a resume. They are not trying to surprise you and want you to do your best. Consequently, not only do they tell you what to expect from the interview process, the recruiter will send you a PDF that talks through what to expect along with a reading list you can use to prepare. (For example: cracking the coding interview and CLRS are on it.) That said, I just went in cold. If…

You advice is sound but incomplete. > if you still understand your undergraduate level algorithms course and the corresponding vocabulary, then you know what you need to know speaking from experience, this would not get you nowhere near the level you have to be for passing the Google interview (or any other FAANG interview for that matter). You need to study long and hard in addition to solving OJ problems and famili…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#137

Post by southphillyman »

nbm wrote: post #113
southphillyman wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a guide for what type of projects FAANG expect for L5+? There was just a thread here about a guy slacking for multiple years, so are their L5s even working on complex projects themselves? An individual might be trying to get into a FAANG in order to get experience with technically complex projects of a certain scope. A lot of roles out here at non tech or smaller firms are just building and maintaining simpl…

Basically, an L5 (or equivalent level at other companies) is supposed to be largely independently competent (but not necessarily excel) in most engineering areas. They understand the context enough to determine which projects are important (including those they might make), they can identify stakeholders and communicate status and needs well enough, they can project manage enough (or make a project manager successful…

Thanks, those are reasonable expectations a candidate can demonstrate at any company. OP qualified further that they didn't even consider his projects, the bar is just raised some on the interview questions. That's reasonable.

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#138

Post by thaumasiotes »

mmierz wrote: post #116
MaximumYComb wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've just finished the 2nd year of my CS degree. In about 3 minutes I came up with: 1) create an empty string, call it "S2" 2) loop over each char in original string 3) if the char isn't in S2, add it to the end of S2. If the char is already present in S2 then lexicographically compare the prior S2 verse S2 with this char shifted to the end. Keep the lower ordered one. This took about 3-4 minutes of thinking and is O…

That solution as written is O(n^3) This is not an easy problem.

Can I ask about the suffix tree solution? A one-hour problem is still pretty easy in the grand scheme of things.

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#139

Post by jamesrcole »

guyzero wrote: post #12

I was 37 when I joined Google in a senior IC role in 2008, so nearly my entire 40's. It's still work, there are still issues with coworkers and there's still stress compared to the startups I used to work at. The company isn't going to go out of business but you can still get a manager who doesn't communicate well and gives you bad performance reviews as a result. Google turns over more employees in a month than the…

If anyone else isn’t familiar with ‘IC’, it seems it stands for “individual contributor” (as opposed to a role where you're managing others). Correct me if I’m wrong.

Re: Ask HN: Joining Big Tech in One’s 40s

#140

Post by thaumasiotes »

MaximumYComb wrote: post #124
mmierz wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That solution as written is O(n^3) This is not an easy problem.

You only check each character in the string once. A hashmap can check if the char is used already. For each char in the original string there is: * 1 check in hashmap (let's assume it was found). This is O(1) * build a new string where we remove that char from the string we are building (string2) and add it to the end. This step may look O(n) initially since we need to find that char in string2 but string2 is capped…

> EDIT: The solution is actually incorrect so this is now semantics.

Interesting use of "semantics".

The question of "how fast does this algorithm run?" is totally independent from the question of "what does this algorithm do?"; the second one is semantic but you're discussing the first here.

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