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Ask HN: Should I give up on FAANG as a low IQ late 30s engineer?

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Re: Ask HN: Should I give up on FAANG as a low IQ late 30s engineer?

#11

Post by drewg123 »

punkbit wrote: post #7

If you struggle, it'll be a struggle everyday once you get into one of those corporations. Listen to yourself.

No. Not really. I suck at all these FAANG interview questions. I think I barely passed my Google interview. And I still got promoted L5->L6 after only 2 years at Google.

I think that 99% of the interview questions are overkill and don't reflect the actual demands of the job, or the metrics by which you'll be measured. If you're a hard worker, a team player, and write decent code, you'll probably be fine once you get your foot in the door.

And yes, having Google on your resume opens doors.

Re: Ask HN: Should I give up on FAANG as a low IQ late 30s engineer?

#13

Post by JMTQp8lwXL »

Give up on FANG's and pick a B-list company that will pay 85-90% of what a FANG will. Not trying to diminish your goal, but it'll basically meet your goal with less input (higher ROI). Your income will be nearly as good, you'll be able to work on challenging problems, and it's not as hard to get in. You mentioned not much friends/family time, but it's good to have balance, don't put all your energy exclusively into your career.

Also, if you're good enough to score interviews at FANGs, don't diminish yourself. That's more than half the battle.

Spoken as someone who's been rejected by Apple, Microsoft, and Google -- and now I'm making nearly $250k. I don't have a picture-perfect resume but I am damn proud of myself.

Re: Ask HN: Should I give up on FAANG as a low IQ late 30s engineer?

#16

Post by ecnerwala »

drewg123 wrote: post #11
punkbit wrote: post #7

If you struggle, it'll be a struggle everyday once you get into one of those corporations. Listen to yourself.

No. Not really. I suck at all these FAANG interview questions. I think I barely passed my Google interview. And I still got promoted L5->L6 after only 2 years at Google. I think that 99% of the interview questions are overkill and don't reflect the actual demands of the job, or the metrics by which you'll be measured. If you're a hard worker, a team player, and write decent code, you'll probably be fine once you get…

I agree with the above comment and disagree with posters saying that the OP will struggle in a FANG. (They may indeed struggle, but that is not a certainty ;)

Answering interview questions correctly within a short time frame is the hardest part - actual work is way easier for the most part.

Re: Ask HN: Should I give up on FAANG as a low IQ late 30s engineer?

#17

Post by throwaway124av1 »

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #13

Give up on FANG's and pick a B-list company that will pay 85-90% of what a FANG will. Not trying to diminish your goal, but it'll basically meet your goal with less input (higher ROI). Your income will be nearly as good, you'll be able to work on challenging problems, and it's not as hard to get in. You mentioned not much friends/family time, but it's good to have balance, don't put all your energy exclusively into y…

What website did you used to find these good B list companies?

Re: Ask HN: Should I give up on FAANG as a low IQ late 30s engineer?

#18

Post by throwaway124av1 »

I dont have an answer to your question but as there are here people with a lot of knowledge will like to add another question:

How do I learn not to over-engineer solutions?

This is the feedback that I received on a couple of homeworks from some non-FAANG companies.

What can I read or what to learn to have this skill of doing simple solutions?

Re: Ask HN: Should I give up on FAANG as a low IQ late 30s engineer?

#20

Post by runawaybottle »

We live in a copy-cat world. Every company uses Leetcode now from my experience. I’m talking down to shitty digital agencies (yep, got Leetcoded for that).

You can’t give up because there is simply no other choice. There is nothing else to do but continue walking through the darkness.

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