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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

#171
post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm tired of the semantics, my co workers are dumb. They passed these interviews by memorizing the answers to questions, and they cant come up with useful software architecture. Everything they code is a one off solution to a one off problem.

> Everything they code is a one off solution to a one off problem. To me, this is more indicative of the company culture than your coworkers' IQ.

Not at all. They are not capable of building useful abstract components.

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

#172
It seems unlikely that your co-workers have low IQ, but it does go to show that doing well on algorithms and toy puzzles doesn't necessarily lead to an interesting job. It seems odd that you would be assigned to a team that didn't personally interview you - is this normal practice at FAANG companies?

Your co-workers may just be zoned out and collecting a paycheck - at some point the workload can become so impossible that you just don't care anymore. This is especially true if you don't care about a company's mission, product, or customers. Unfortunately the tech boom has led to high turnover at some places, and people just jumping to the next big salary instead of picking a good long term fit.

The tech industry is big enough that you can do what makes you happy - the big name places sometimes aren't a great fit. I've found a pretty good career working at mid-tier Fortune 500 companies. There a lot of good opportunities all across the US if you're willing to forgo SV salaries, know your stuff (and can learn new tech quickly), and focus on helping the business instead of the latest tech fad. (FYI, I make 175k in the mid-west with 40hr work weeks and a 10 min commute, 5 weeks PTO, great healthcare)

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

#174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When someone joins Google or Microsoft or Facebook, they say "I joined Google/Microsoft/Facebook". When they join Amazon, they say "I joined a FAANG company". It's amazingly how well it correlates.

Do you think that’s because Amazon is a lesser company? I work at Amazon and I’m depressed as hell because of it - not because the work is bad, but because you people think people like me are subhuman. I’ve studied leetcode for years but apparently my IQ is just too low to get into a better company - what should I do? Is my career over, or should I just accept being considered a subhuman for the rest of my life?

I don't work at Amazon and never have, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. I have worked at multiple other "FAANG"-caliber organizations, so add a few more grains.

Let's start with the obvious: "FAANG" was a term coined by financial types, not technical types, based on stock valuations rather than any particular technical merits. Exactly what companies are in it are controversial - Microsoft has the pedigree and the culture, they just didn't have the stock price (at that time). Netflix hires smart people but has never been in the same league as the rest in my personal opinion - they're too small and they have only one product.

Now, back to your question. If I had to guess, it's primarily about stigma. If I was working at Amazon, I would be fully aware of their reputation for abusive employee treatment, grinding fresh college graduates into a burnt out pulp faster than their RSUs can vest, poor work life balance, and so on. I'd be tired of answering the same questions about all of the above. I'd be aware that everyone already has their opinions about Amazon, that what I say isn't going to change much, and would probably deflect in the hope of getting interesting responses before everyone inevitably notices that my question lines up with all the feedback they've heard from their former-Amazon friends about the sad state of the internal tech stack, the working conditions, etc.

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

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think that’s because Amazon is a lesser company? I work at Amazon and I’m depressed as hell because of it - not because the work is bad, but because you people think people like me are subhuman. I’ve studied leetcode for years but apparently my IQ is just too low to get into a better company - what should I do? Is my career over, or should I just accept being considered a subhuman for the rest of my life?

I don't work at Amazon and never have, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. I have worked at multiple other "FAANG"-caliber organizations, so add a few more grains. Let's start with the obvious: "FAANG" was a term coined by financial types, not technical types, based on stock valuations rather than any particular technical merits. Exactly what companies are in it are controversial - Microsoft has the pedigree an…

Basically, all of this seems to wind down into the fact that Amazon engineers are lesser and less worthy than everyone else and that even Amazon engineers know about this.

Why the hell should I even continue if that's the case? I make a pittance and everyone in society thinks of me as a untermensch.

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

#176
post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everything they code is a one off solution to a one off problem. To me, this is more indicative of the company culture than your coworkers' IQ.

Not at all. They are not capable of building useful abstract components.

What should I do, if I have a low IQ?

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

#177
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Do you think people at Amazon are stupid then, if we can't get into a better company?

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

#178
post #39

> below-average IQ people. .. > Any advice is appreciated. Not shitting on your colleagues with this generation's phrenology would be a great start. More generally, it sounds like you are starting with the idea that you're better and smarter than everyone you work with and only you can see the problems, as opposed to everyone you work with being (by and large) decent and hard working people who are making the best of…

Everyone needs to be mindful of Chesterstons fence when marching in with a strong sense of confidence with little knowledge of history.

I didn't know it, so here goes:

"Chesterton's fence is the principle that reforms should not be made until the reasoning behind the existing state of affairs is understood."

Very reasonable.

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

#179
> staffed with below-average IQ people

> I'm going to be working nights and weekends for at least a year

I find it highly amusing that you're complaining about coworkers being unintelligent then following it up with "I'm going to spend the majority of my free time giving free labour to a trillion dollar company for a year"

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