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

Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 648 posts

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#81

Post by jasode »

jupiter90000 wrote: post #49

This doesn't directly answer your question and you didn't ask it, but I feel it relates directly to the source of your frustration potentially: you may never find a job that is fully satisfactory in terms of what you hope to find. I used to be in a similar boat striving to work towards and find some magical job that would make me feel fulfilled and purposeful. They all ended up having things I didn't like and would q…

>So at least what I did is stop trying to put so much of an expectation on my job to fulfill me. I took responsibility to find and do things at and especially outside of my day job that did fulfill me.

I'm not debating you but I just want to point out that your advice depends on the personality. It may even work for most workers but for some us, we cannot mentally "compartmentalize" the day job as the isolated 9-to-5 soul-sucking slog and then use the weekend activities to make up for it.

I used to have a boring high-paying job and used the money to go on exotic travel and buy expensive hobby toys like hi-fi audio equipment and camera lenses.

I should have done the opposite. Find a day job that I was passionate about instead of looking for fulfillment in after-hours hobbies. For me, I need my hobby to be my day job. I know an entrepreneur who sold his business for millions and I always envied him because he worked 80+ hours every week and he had more energy than I did even though I only worked 40. Why? Because his intense overtime aligned with what he wanted to do. Mine didn't. He didn't golf or go on vacations. He always worked because that's what the most interesting activity was to him. His only break was weekly meditations.

That's what I'm trying to do now. I want to find something I can really sink my teeth into and work overtime on. I don't believe in "work/life balance". I tried that. I need work to be my jam. I'm probably the minority and others may even see that as a psychological defect but I can't help it. For me, the dissatisfaction of a boring day job always bleeds into the weekend as an underlying unhappiness I can't shake.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#82

Post by wolfgke »

oliv__ wrote: post #72
jupiter90000 wrote: post #49

This doesn't directly answer your question and you didn't ask it, but I feel it relates directly to the source of your frustration potentially: you may never find a job that is fully satisfactory in terms of what you hope to find. I used to be in a similar boat striving to work towards and find some magical job that would make me feel fulfilled and purposeful. They all ended up having things I didn't like and would q…

I'm sorry if I'm taking this the wrong way but that sounds like settling for mediocrity to me. Who said jobs can't be fulfilling?

> Who said jobs can't be fulfilling?

Life experience. ;-)

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#83

Post by chownie »

rini17 wrote: post #77
oliv__ wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry if I'm taking this the wrong way but that sounds like settling for mediocrity to me. Who said jobs can't be fulfilling?

Who said they must be?

You spend around half of your wakeful hours at your job, if it's unfulfilling you're trading misery in addition to time for money.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#85

Post by sneak »

cyberdrunk wrote: post #60
gfxgirl wrote: post #45

Switch teams? My experience were the first 2 years I was writing wholly new code and was able to write a ton. The next 3 years was all maintenance for new issues, requirements and I felt unproductive. Also, just in general it felt like my output went down 50% or more because of code review and tests. Those were all essential but up until my FAANG job no team I was on did that stuff (games). We'd just make the game an…

> I get why it's important, it just feels poopy. I think it summarizes a lot of office work. We're organized in processes which are efficient and/or necessary at the scale of the company, but which severely restrict and constrain us, making a lot of us unhappy. For people for whom it's unbearable, there are two options: either join a small company or just check out completely, treat your job as some bullshit that bri…

> be glad you're not cleaning toilets for 20% of your pay

Be advised: If you are programming computers in 2020 and making only 5x what a toilet cleaner makes, you are approximately 100% underpaid.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#87

Post by malechimp »

throwawayfaang2 wrote: post #40

Given the description I assume you worked at Amazon. I worked there too, and I quit for Google. They are VERY different companies. Google's tooling is unparalleled and maintained by staffed teams, its work force is motivated. It's hard to move the needle - in a large company full of smart people all the easy stuff was done ten years ago, and compliance concerns are everywhere. But none of that is due to lack of tools…

Not in Amazon myself but rumor has it that Amazon is actually the inverse of what OP describes - more at the verge of sweatshop rather than an easy-boring-sail downwind.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#88

Post by bob33212 »

Yes and No. I worked at a big company where on my own initiative I automated 40% of the QA processes. It was great because I was productive and received recognition. It was also frustrating because I delivered 5x value more than my coworkers but was paid similarly. The company limited raises to 10%. I did get rewarded with non monetary things. I took 8 weeks of vacation, tagged along on any international trip the directors were going on. Worked from home as I saw fit.

Large companies do not want people like you and I making 800k/year and being at our peak productivity. It is putting to many eggs in one basket. They would rather pay 6 people 200k to do the same work because it is more stable

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#89

Post by temikus »

cbanek wrote: post #47

> how can I do good work and get paid preportionally? Step 1: Decouple these two ideas. Getting paid a lot of money has nothing to do with good work, and visa versa. There are plenty of people who get paid a lot to do nothing, or sometimes even less than nothing, as you have discovered. Step 2: Please let me know when you figure this one out. I, too, am flummoxed. I have given up and gone into non-profits where I jus…

You could try working for yourself - it doesn’t necessarily needs to be a new product/business, it can be consulting or algorithmic day trading.

Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

#90

Post by austhrow743 »

ransom1538 wrote: post #75

I remember talking to a senior person at FB (wears a suit on friday). I asked "how is hiring?". Their response: terrible. People like this OP game systems, know how to test, understands what the boss wants, know ahead of time the questions they will be asked, etc. They have gamed the entire system. So! They tend to get through the interview with ease. The problem is... now what. What is the next thing they need to ga…

I don't understand what you mean by "people like this OP". They don't say that they struggled with the hiring process or feel like a fraud. Rather they seem to be easily capable of the work.

Actually I'm not sure what any of your post is about. Your friend doesn't like their job because they're hiring people to make facebook ads more effective?

Post reply on HN