Having had to deal with working at break-neck speed while balancing family commitments, for what feels like forever, I'll take a nice big raise with low-pressure environment in a heartbeat.
Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?
231–240 of 648 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
>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…
> 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. Remember that the absolute majority of humanity are working soul-sucking slog jobs to get a salary to be able to afford a home and food and some nice things. We who work in tech are extremely fortunate to be able to find…
This is an important perspective. I'm grateful for what I have, but I deeply struggle with the same feelings others have shared in this thread. Knowing that I'm fortunate to not be subsistence farming doesn't fill that hole where purpose should be. It seems some humans might not be wired to feel okay about this, no matter how hard they try.
Maybe our goal should be to free everyone else from soul sucking slog jobs through automation/reorganization of incentives to not have these make work jobs? I'm really interested in finding/working towards a solution for everyone.
Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?
#233Earlier quoted context omitted.
No 'M' in FAANG ;-) (Sorry, couldn't help myself! Many people still refer to it as a FAANG company)
FAAMG is so much more appropriate to describe the dominant tech players. People just like the sound of "FAANG". Netflix doesn't come close to matching Microsoft or the others.
Does Microsoft generally pay software engineers as much as Netflix though? My impression is no.
Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
> They pay you money because you bring them value Not at all. They pay what it would cost to replace you. If someone accepted to do the same job for cheaper (or free), they'd take it, regardless of the value it generates.
Do you not agree that value creation is correlated with salary?
If it was the case, salaries wouldn't vary so much depending on geography.
Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?
#235Earlier quoted context omitted.
This really goes a long way towards explaining the current state of macOS.
MacOS is less than 10% of their sales, so makes sense.
Being less than 10% of $260b in sales doesn't excuse neglecting the product. Also maybe their Mac sales would be higher if they hadn't destroyed their laptop by replacing the function keys with a touchbar.
Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
bookmark this and come back in 20 years. your life should be fulfilling not your job.
I honestly don't see how a life could be fulfilling if you hate or even just don't care for what you spend most of your time on (work)
You have answered your own question :-)
Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
Me too. I've stuck with my miserable job for the last 4 years so I can support them. I feel like if I quit I'd be failing them.
I'm probably not one to be giving advice but I feel like your family might gain more from having a happy fulfilled parent with less wealth possibly? How that might affect you/the way you act/the things you do day to day could be more valuable long term. Obviously thats ignoring a lot e.g. finances, practicality.
That would be nice, but I'm responsible for all our bills and I can't get a job that pays the same or better due to my experience in obscure tech, like Neoxam.
I'll just continue to grind in this job until I get fired, die, or hopefully can retire someday (maybe coastFI).
Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
The company might still win in that exchange, since they get the labor they paid for anyway. Whether you are happy or not is only important insomuch as it alters your productivity. Don't fall into the trap of thinking a company of FAANG size cares all that much about individual employees.
> Don't fall into the trap of thinking a company of FAANG size cares all that much about individual employees. Don't fall into the trap of thinking everyone posting on HN comes from a similar background. I work for a non-profit who go to great lengths to make the workplace comfortable.
Don't get me wrong, I think that's great and I'm happy you have a nice workplace. My comments were in the greater context of the thread, which is about working for FAANG companies.
Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?
#239At apple, you cannot browse internal resources. At fb and google, it is called SWE instead of SDE. Amazon has SDEs. (perhaps netflix too?) Although you might be smart enough to know that and misdirect. Even at the best universities, best tech companies, best startups, you will find pools of miserable and unmotivated people. Don't get stuck. There are brilliant people everywhere and certainly at faang. Find them, lear…
> At apple, you cannot browse internal resources. What does this mean? Aren't there resources for onboarding, training, project wikis, repos, etc. which are accessible to employees but not the general public?
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Re: Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
I honestly don't see how a life could be fulfilling if you hate or even just don't care for what you spend most of your time on (work)
You're not always in control of whether your job is fulfilling. Maybe you've been lucky so far, but it's unlikely to last forever. A piece of advice: The moment it stops being fulfilling for you, you may get the urge to change jobs to something that you think will make you happier. You may change jobs several times trying to rediscover that initial feeling that made you satisfied with your work. But it may never come…
ninkendo has written some wisdom here.