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Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

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Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#81
post #20

Everything you've said indicates you are working at Amazon. Save all of the money and run away once you've lucked into a Google offer.

Not Amazon. Definitely Google.

While Google and Amazon might both suffer from a horrendous 10 year old code base all built in house, I can assure you that Google does not have high turnover lmao

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#82
OP joined Amazon without a doubt. (Build everything in house, working nights and weekends, rigid team-switching rules.) I just interviewed there and the onsite presented more red flags than a Soviet military parade. Would definitely recommend treating them somewhat differently from the other FANG companies

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#83
post #14

"staffed with below-average IQ people" I'm not sure why your co-workers' IQ is your concern. To come out of the gate with a comment like this sounds like you have a strong disdain for them. Part of your reason for joining the company was the paycheck. I assume the checks aren't bouncing. My advice is the same advice I would give to many people: Learn from your coworkers. Understand the problems that the team and the…

I seem to be getting a lot of heat for this comment - fair enough, but I will expand on that. Before joining this company, I hired and managed teams across various startups. I don't think I would be speaking out of turn to say in every company we looked for aptitude and intelligence. I don't know what my previous or current colleagues literal IQs are, but you know a highly intelligent person when you meet and work wi…

That reminds me of the old joke about hell being just a sales demo.

http://www.jokes.net/heavenandhell.htm

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#84
"Instead, I'm on a team that has and horrendous turnover and is staffed with below-average IQ people." "This company builds EVERYTHING in house, and the toolset is like going backwards in my career 10 years."

I am guessing this is either Amazon or Google. I would think that this is most likely Amazon ("horrendous turnover": 50% of people who join Amazon leave within the first 2 years). In LinkedIn you will routinely find people from Amazon showing their badges stating that they completed X+ number of years. Have you seen people from other places routinely doing this? That itself is a dead giveaway to the critical eye.

Btw, your IQ comparison is extremely derogatory. So please edit that out.

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#85
I appreciate all the comments (even the criticism). In so many ways, this post has already helped me see things more clearly.

One final thought is that I know I can quit - that isn't the question. I could make more money (with less stability) consulting, or find a middle ground at a Series C+ company.

What I probably should have said in my OP is that quitting feels wrong. I've never quit a position after three months and this is honestly the first time everything is telling that quitting is the right decision. As dysfunctional as this team is, quitting would feel like letting them down, and it just isn't something I've done before.

But again, these comments have given me perspective and will make me give this more thought.

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#86
Your post wreaks of working at Amazon. I hate to tell you, but Amazon is the lowest hanging fruit of all FAANGs. They hire and fire at above average rates to try to find the best and then bait the rest to stay on with stock.

If you're at Amazon and you think things are going to get better, let me tell you, they aren't. Find a way out immediately unless you're okay basically moving forward with the same schizo management and dev policies.

Hope you find some work you enjoy!

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#87
post #14

"staffed with below-average IQ people" I'm not sure why your co-workers' IQ is your concern. To come out of the gate with a comment like this sounds like you have a strong disdain for them. Part of your reason for joining the company was the paycheck. I assume the checks aren't bouncing. My advice is the same advice I would give to many people: Learn from your coworkers. Understand the problems that the team and the…

I seem to be getting a lot of heat for this comment - fair enough, but I will expand on that. Before joining this company, I hired and managed teams across various startups. I don't think I would be speaking out of turn to say in every company we looked for aptitude and intelligence. I don't know what my previous or current colleagues literal IQs are, but you know a highly intelligent person when you meet and work wi…

Maybe you are mixing intelligence with jaded people? I mean if you are in a team and nobody wants to do the hard work, they will probably realized something extra that you haven't or you just have more ambition than your peers and actually want to work. In mega corporations there are all kinds of talented and motivated people, some people just want to coast at work and that's probably ok.

Re: Ask HN: I joined a FAANG and it is awful

#89
post #14

"staffed with below-average IQ people" I'm not sure why your co-workers' IQ is your concern. To come out of the gate with a comment like this sounds like you have a strong disdain for them. Part of your reason for joining the company was the paycheck. I assume the checks aren't bouncing. My advice is the same advice I would give to many people: Learn from your coworkers. Understand the problems that the team and the…

I seem to be getting a lot of heat for this comment - fair enough, but I will expand on that. Before joining this company, I hired and managed teams across various startups. I don't think I would be speaking out of turn to say in every company we looked for aptitude and intelligence. I don't know what my previous or current colleagues literal IQs are, but you know a highly intelligent person when you meet and work wi…

IQ is kind of a weird metric to measure people by. Do they get their shit done?
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