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On Leaving Facebook

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Re: On Leaving Facebook

#91

Post by xenihn »

rsynnott wrote: post #57
dahdum wrote: post #22

I didn’t see retirement addressed, that would be among my top priorities personally. Unless he’s already financially independent and can retire at will, taking a 30% paycut off FB’s top 5% comp could mean delaying retirement by many years. Given fixed living costs, retirement savings could easily drop by much more than 30%. I’m not disagreeing with his choice, it’s a personal one and he may not want early retirement,…

I find it kind of fascinating how into the idea of early retirement many people on this site are. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it as such, but… I don’t really get it. I don’t think I actually know anyone who has early-retired. What would you do with yourself? Is it not better to work for a longer time at a job you like than a shorter time at a higher paying one that you dislike?

i personally feel that there's a good chance that the choices for people with 30+ years until retirement age are either retiring early, or not retiring at all. i want to have retirement money, but also keep working. i want to be in a position where i would be able to retire if i was no longer able to continue working. if im not in that position, i might lose my current income trajectory, and never recover it, and then im stuck working for the rest of my life

Re: On Leaving Facebook

#92

Post by ec109685 »

pm90 wrote: post #31

Why would you need several offers if the new job will be paying less than your current position? Can’t you just tell them how much you make and ask them to match that in equity?

I wonder how he valued that equity when determine total comp.

Re: On Leaving Facebook

#93

Post by jakear »

smallerfish wrote: post #73
rsynnott wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it kind of fascinating how into the idea of early retirement many people on this site are. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it as such, but… I don’t really get it. I don’t think I actually know anyone who has early-retired. What would you do with yourself? Is it not better to work for a longer time at a job you like than a shorter time at a higher paying one that you dislike?

Travel, surf, garden, build and fly drones, make music, enjoy time at the beach, sculpt metal, write interesting programs that occur to me, write a novel, play poker... I could go on. You'd rather be working? You only have 40 or 50 years left on the planet and then that's...it.

I think the critique is that you should be perfectly able to do all those thing and more, while working, if you have a job that properly respects work/life balance. On the other hand, if you spend a decade or two constantly grinding on work at the expense of all else, so that when you’re 40 you can do those things, you might find that your body isn’t up for the task.

Re: On Leaving Facebook

#94

Post by fallmonkey »

"A common question I get is about work/life balance. And I view it a little different too now. At Facebook I could get by barely working a few hours a day. But the job was so unsatisfying that it spilled the frustration in the “life” part"

This is the golden piece for me. I too recently left a big corp to a smaller place, expecting to sacrifice WLB and my free time - yet I ended up feeling happier and spending less time consuming short-form online contents, to the point that I even have more free time now! It never occurred to me that my self-indulging online addiction is actually a coping mechanism towards the unsatisfying and meaningless daily job.

Re: On Leaving Facebook

#95

Post by voakbasda »

elb0w wrote: post #79

It always blows my mind how most interview in our field. When I first started in tech I was afraid to talk about not knowing leetcode to my peers. 15 years in and I now can confidently say I’ve yet to meet someone who thinks these are a valid metric. Why do we make this the gate keeper to our industry when we know (except for the very specific roles) we will rarely need leet code type problems. When we do we just goo…

Somebody here on HN recently shared the notion that leetcode tests are a legal way to discriminate by age or lifestyle, as older and well-rounded developers do not have the time or inclination to grind on such things.

Re: On Leaving Facebook

#96

Post by dymk »

hiptobecubic wrote: post #21
donsupreme wrote: post #13

"everyday life it’s still very prestigious place to be working at. Getting a mortgage or a car loan is easy, saying you work for Facebook gets you on the fast line." I once felt that way but after leaving FAANG years later, I realized how snobby something like this would sound.

Doesn't make it wrong, though.

It is wrong. They care about the number on your paystub, not the company name.

Re: On Leaving Facebook

#97

Post by pkdpic »

ptero wrote: post #75
pkdpic wrote: post #11

Glad to see this was about working at FB / Meta rather than being a user. Just for personal interest. Newish dev doing my first attempt at a FAANG interview. Wondering if I should be trying for FaceBook as long as Im bothering to study. Had a very positive-feeling convo with a recruiter there ~6mo ago before "Meta". Sounds like it might be a negative thing to have on your resume now though? Any thoughts?

I think while you can hit an interviewer with a strong dislike of the FB and everything it means, including the people who work there, it is probably a rare thing. I guess a slightly more likely case is for your resume to get rejected as "we cannot match their FAANG salary, no point in an interview", but I would not worry about it too much.

Thats a good point. I've definitely heard of that but haven't thought about it in a while. You're right of course, its nothing to worry about. I'd be lucky to get to that point.

Re: On Leaving Facebook

#98

Post by gzer0 »

elb0w wrote: post #79

It always blows my mind how most interview in our field. When I first started in tech I was afraid to talk about not knowing leetcode to my peers. 15 years in and I now can confidently say I’ve yet to meet someone who thinks these are a valid metric. Why do we make this the gate keeper to our industry when we know (except for the very specific roles) we will rarely need leet code type problems. When we do we just goo…

The issue is the sheer number of fradulent and stuffed credentials people have begun using, and applying, en masse to job positions.

To be clear, I dislike the current way interviewing is, but do you have a better solution to screen out 7,000 applicants? The vast majority will be knocked out by the leetcode style interview, and sure, some brilliant minds might fail because they can't remember linked lists in the moment, but atleast you screened down from 7,000 -> 70. If there is a better way, we'd all love to know.

I am prepared for this to be voted down, but I am genuinely wondering the answer to this.

Re: On Leaving Facebook

#99

Post by zionic »

pkdpic wrote: post #11

Glad to see this was about working at FB / Meta rather than being a user. Just for personal interest. Newish dev doing my first attempt at a FAANG interview. Wondering if I should be trying for FaceBook as long as Im bothering to study. Had a very positive-feeling convo with a recruiter there ~6mo ago before "Meta". Sounds like it might be a negative thing to have on your resume now though? Any thoughts?

> Newish dev doing my first attempt at a FAANG interview.

My thoughts? Screw ‘em. They aren’t worth your skill set. I’m not joking, fuck these people. The paycheck they give you won’t make you happy, what will however is not working for these scumbags.

Re: On Leaving Facebook

#100

Post by throwAway97557 »

yla92 wrote: post #81
rsynnott wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it kind of fascinating how into the idea of early retirement many people on this site are. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it as such, but… I don’t really get it. I don’t think I actually know anyone who has early-retired. What would you do with yourself? Is it not better to work for a longer time at a job you like than a shorter time at a higher paying one that you dislike?

This is how I see it. It could also be more towards "financial freedom" instead of "early retirement". Financial freedom in a sense that you don't have to work for money anymore and can live on your investment/saving with some fix withdrawal every year. That also means that you can choose to work at the places of your interest but don't pay much and you will still be okay!

I left FB a handful of years ago and the RSUs left me in this position (low 7-figs in investments/savings). I still work full time, but I only work on things I care about, which mostly involves non-profits and social work. I like getting a paycheck and knowing that I'm still growing my nest egg, but I care very little about getting promotions and raises since they're a borderline rounding error compared to what I've saved. If the salary can cover my monthly expenses and I like the mission, I'm happy to take the job. That's what I've found financial independence to bring.
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