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Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

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

#281

Post by dasil003 »

eternalban wrote: post #264
Traster wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But there's literally nothing to indicate this person isn't smart. There's evidence that they are smart- they passed the interview, which let's face it, might not be perfect but certainly requires some level of intelligence. There's nothing int he Op post that indicates they're not capable of doing good work, only that they're in a situation where they and their colleagues aren't.

Smart enough to know yourself > smart enough to pass interview.

Knowing oneself has little correlation to intelligence as far as I can tell.

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

#282

Post by ACS_Solver »

sneak wrote: post #109
ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't feel like the multiples of a toilet cleaner's wage should be a measurement system since it mostly shows income inequality. For example in Sweden and most of Europe, most devs only make 2x-3x NET of what the toilet cleaner makes. Not only because we're underpaid(which I hate) but the toilet cleaners tend to be paid fairly(which I like). In places with high inequality like South Africa, Latin America, Eastern E…

> For example in Sweden and most of Europe, most devs only make 2x-3x of what the toilet cleaner makes. Most devs in Europe are massively underpaid, and should work on the internet instead of some local underpaid wage-slave job. There is a shortage of skilled programmers in the world. There’s no reason to remain underpaid other than really, really wanting to work a very specific set of local timezone hours.

What do you consider underpaid? Is it when you're making significantly less than people in similar positions somewhere else on the globe? Is it when you're in a low income percentile of your country / geographic area, taking the skill into account?

I tend to think it's the latter. I'm one of those devs in Sweden. I certainly make less than developers in the US, especially those in SV, and my effective tax rate is higher than for SV devs, even if California is considered a high-tax state. On the other hand, I'm firmly in the top 10% of earners in Sweden. Am I underpaid? By the first definition, certainly. By the second definition, not at all, even if my income is roughly 3x of the lowest-paid workers.

Then again, I approached the whole situation from the point of view where I first consider where I want to live, and then look for a job there. One could certainly take a different approach and go where the money is.

I also don't think it's that easy to get SV-level salaries for remote jobs. All-remote companies are perfectly aware of different economic circumstances in each country, and aren't keen on offering 100k$ to someone in a country where 70k$ is already an above-market rate.

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

#283

Post by CyanLite2 »

Yes, they're all like that. They call it resting-and-vesting for a reason. I'm happier at a non-FAANG company where I can do more meaningful work as a principal engineer, and won't have to do silly leetcode interviews to the candidates I interview. I realized either I can be a superstar at a mid-level company or a be a benchwarmer at FAANG. Pay is probably 20% less than at a FAANG but it's more than multiples higher than the U.S. median salary, so I'm doing okay and living well.

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

#284

Post by ensiferum »

jasode wrote: post #81
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…

But why would you do this passionate activity for someone else to profit from? Why not build it for yourself? And I don't mean necessarily starting your own business but if your day job is something else you put some amount of effort into that to accomplish whatever you've set as the minimum standard for meeting your work goals and then you put the rest of your energy doing what you ready want to do?

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

#285

Post by icebraining »

hardlianotion wrote: post #208
henrikschroder wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 meant to be helpful, but it does not help. And you cannot say to someone that is depressed - most out there are worse off than you. It will not help with the depression.

Not all feelings of "this sucks" are necessarily depression, though.

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

#286

Post by mywittyname »

dilandau wrote: post #193
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…

But they can always point to their resume, which lists a prestigious faang company. I worked for a well-known tech company for a couple years, with a grueling interview process. I regularly get cold called by recruiters asking me about "my time at X". So it's a good thing, from a career perspective. Whether it's a worthwhile thing of itself is a personal choice.

Does this ever get old? From what I've seen, former FAANG hires get paraded around like some exotic pet at some smaller companies. It's kind of cringy as an onlooker. I once worked at a place with executives who had "hire 3 people from google" as a KPI.

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

#287

Post by joubert »

"Is all of FAANG like this?" No.

And even within a particular company, especially very large ones, there's probably variability across orgs.

From your description, it sounds like a couple of things missing, such as:

- candor (does nobody speak up about this?)

- open communication ("of course, it's possible the rest of the team is doing that too, but I have no way of knowing").

May I recommend that you bring up this topic with your team? If you are thinking this, chances are others on the team experience the same.

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

#288

Post by jeffbee »

TACIXAT wrote: post #28

At Google things got done but it was slowed down from messing with testing frameworks, code reviews, and build systems (not that this is a bad thing, just not what you expect when you want to write code). Coworkers were all very good at what they did. Work was a bit boring and it was sometimes shocking how much work went into adding a button to a page. It doesn't really sound like what you are describing.

From an objective standpoint, testing, code review and distributed build speed up the pace of the whole project, even if individuals may perceive themselves as "slowed down".

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

#289

Post by ghaff »

nathanvanfleet wrote: post #127
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…

The only thing I disagree with is that it's "bizarre." I think on average people have 6 careers in their lives. And people change jobs every few years as well. It's just a part of life to improve or change what you work on and there is no shame in that. I've worked in the bay area for almost 4 years at the same company and I think about changing things all the time.

>And people change jobs every few years as well.

That's a fairly tech (and probably Bay Area) view of the world. I've been ~10 years or longer at three separate companies and I know tons of people in the same boat.

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