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Ask HN: Is all of FAANG like this?

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411–420 of 648 posts

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

#411
post #81

Earlier 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…

Just wanted to let you know that I'm exactly the same way. In fact, I've even thought perhaps I was the one with the psychological defect where I simply can't stand the 9-5 grind, regardless of the pay, status or type of work. No amount of hobbies, travel or social efforts have made a dent in the deep, existential dread I feel after only a few days in a "normal" job. Unfortunately, while I have had some successes wor…

Definitely ok to feel the way you feel. Talking to people is always an option as well. For me i was lucky to find a wife and now have a child. The 9-5 literally blows by, i'm at a giant mega co (not faang) and it sucks similarly. Sometimes it's crunchtime and u gotta work hard, other times no one gives a shit as long as systems function. I've put in my time grinding (5 years at startup) and now want to milk the shit out of these corporate bastards as much as possible.

Basically my wife and now child have changed my life , work sucks (just like blink182) said but hey they are payin me big $$$ to chill out. As a father and husband consitent steady income is name of the game. If you are single and want to hustle, sure fuckin job hop all you want bud!!

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

#412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parent is not asking them to do that: > So either start putting in your best work, or switch teams or company and see if it suits you better... or else accept that you're being a freeloader and pretending to do more work than you really are. It's definitely a choice here, but the point is the OP needs to actually make some active choices and decide what they're ok with.

I agree with what you are saying. The "tough-love" message is usually to "suck it up" and stay where you are. "Life sucks, get over it." My point is if you are smart enough to be in a FAANG you are smart enough to do great work and make an impact on this world. You don't have to settle for fixing tiny bugs in some admin page for an ad company. I know there are people that are 100% cool with doing that for $$$. If you…

[deleted]

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

#413
> If the market value of such incompetence if FAANG salary, how can I do good work and get paid preportionally?

Asking this question shows that you do not yet understand how compensation and pay works in the world.

Roughly speaking there are two different kinds of jobs. The first kind of job is offensive. This job involves creating systems or value where it does not already exist. It is probably what you thought all engineering and development was. Surprisingly though these jobs do not always pay very well because they are high risk. Especially for unestablished workers who do not have a track record of successful value creation.

The second kind of job is a defensive job. Roughly speaking this job exists when a company already has a big Cash Cow Monopoly and can print money. These jobs pay very well because there is already a ton of money flowing in the value chain. For these jobs you don't actually have to create anything. You just kind of have to be around to make sure that nothing goes wrong.

Faang jobs have over time become more defensive than offensive.

Don't expect your current view of proportional pay for work to apply to other positions.

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

#414

This thread is seriously in need of some tough love. @faang0722, you're being a slacker, and not doing right by either your company or yourself. You're at one of the top companies in the world, and are safe from the jobs disaster that's gripping the entire country. Millions of people are desperate to receive $600-1600 from the government this month because they are unable to work. Millions are putting on shitty facem…

why are "tough love" people always douchebags?

Isn't that the case by definition?

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

#415

This thread is seriously in need of some tough love. @faang0722, you're being a slacker, and not doing right by either your company or yourself. You're at one of the top companies in the world, and are safe from the jobs disaster that's gripping the entire country. Millions of people are desperate to receive $600-1600 from the government this month because they are unable to work. Millions are putting on shitty facem…

I agree. Especially with the part about cheating yourself.

Have some integrity and self-respect. Otherwise, you will just become miserable and cynical.

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

#417
post #396

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, he should work harder -- he admits to working only one day a week, and then actively pretends (by "trickling out" work) that it took longer. Let's please not pretend that it's normal or OK to have 6-day weekends every single week. He is being compensated (I infer) very well for a safe and comfortable job, except he doesn't like the tooling and he's realized that people trust him and he doesn't need to be honest…

What's with this moralizing? If you can get away with working only one day a week, there's nothing wrong with doing exactly that. Is this like some Protestant work ethic thing?

It's also possible that this one day of intense work is unsustainable for 5 days, and this is just their working style. There's nothing wrong with that as long as this isn't done out of laziness.

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

#418
post #372

This thread is seriously in need of some tough love. @faang0722, you're being a slacker, and not doing right by either your company or yourself. You're at one of the top companies in the world, and are safe from the jobs disaster that's gripping the entire country. Millions of people are desperate to receive $600-1600 from the government this month because they are unable to work. Millions are putting on shitty facem…

AKA, please work harder for your corporate masters because poor people are suffering. What's that? You want your corporate masters to pay a fair share of tax so poor will suffer less? No, just work harder and that extra work won't benefit people who need it.

> AKA, please work harder for your corporate masters because poor people are suffering.

Not at all. Simply please stop complaining about how easy and well compensated your job is.

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

#419
If you feel like you're not doing enough, bring it up to your manager and ask for more. Don't get complacent, you might be told you're doing great, but secretly people think bad of you and it might come back to hunt you later.

Take a good look at your team within the org. Is it a sinking ship? Do people sing its praises or lament it? Would it be considered a success or a mess? You don't want to be on a sinking ship, it's only a matter of time before it attracts higher ups attention and people start to investigate what's wrong, if you're caught in that fire you will be blamed as part of the problem. So either become the ship's captain, or switch team.

Finally, it might be because you are too low down the chain and not seeing the bigger picture. A lot of the hard work at FAANGS isn't coding related. It's about decision making. Choosing what task to do next, what component to rewrite or replace, what business goal to meet, which project to invest in next, etc. Sometimes this takes a while and in the meantime, there's little change to do on existing live systems. What you should do is get engaged with that decision making. Learn who your stakeholders are, get involved in the planning process for your team, understand what business you serve and what their problems are, figure out the goals leadership has set out for your org and your team, etc.

In other words, at FAANGS you don't get work handed to you, you're expected to come up with the work yourself, be your own leader and advance the team and company forward independently with minimum hand holding. Don't wait for people to tell you what to do, figure out what needs to be done, what should be done, influence others to agree and support you, and get it done.

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

#420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parent is not asking them to do that: > So either start putting in your best work, or switch teams or company and see if it suits you better... or else accept that you're being a freeloader and pretending to do more work than you really are. It's definitely a choice here, but the point is the OP needs to actually make some active choices and decide what they're ok with.

I agree with what you are saying. The "tough-love" message is usually to "suck it up" and stay where you are. "Life sucks, get over it." My point is if you are smart enough to be in a FAANG you are smart enough to do great work and make an impact on this world. You don't have to settle for fixing tiny bugs in some admin page for an ad company. I know there are people that are 100% cool with doing that for $$$. If you…

>If you are not cool with it, then figure out a way to change it

>So either start putting in your best work, or switch teams or company and see if it suits you better.

You and the OP are essentially saying the same thing, except they are adding that an honest days wage deserves an honest days work

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