it's funny, as the faang interview process, as i know it, does not select for the hybrid dev/product skillset the OP describes. in fact, it shies away from it about as far as you can get, instead focusing on beloved algorithmic problem solving, which i guess is a good fit for standardized testing and leveling, but will tell you nothing about broad skills in both software development and product design/management as described here.
What Silicon Valley gets about engineers that traditional companies do not
171–180 of 339 posts
Re: What Silicon Valley gets about engineers that traditional companies do not
#172I once had a rather prestigious developer position in a Silicon Valley company. The "approachability" was a double edged sword. One problem I fought was that a lot of people expected handholding from me, or wanted me in their meeting to "feel important." There really is value to having your manager act as a gatekeeper. Another problem I had was that less ambitious people in other departments (support, qa,) would thro…
> would throw their work over the wall to me
I can relate to this. One way to look at this is that dev-team is where majority of IP is created and not in teams like support/qa/docs/PMs. Over the period of time, they are also the reservoir of domain knowledge.
This often results into nuisances like:
1. Instead of reading product docs people will ask questions directly over slack (e.g Do we support Windows 2008? Do we have feature X?)
2. Adding dev team in a slack channels in which sales can directly ask questions which ideally should be answered by Product Managers.
Re: What Silicon Valley gets about engineers that traditional companies do not
#173it's funny, as the faang interview process, as i know it, does not select for the hybrid dev/product skillset the OP describes. in fact, it shies away from it about as far as you can get, instead focusing on beloved algorithmic problem solving, which i guess is a good fit for standardized testing and leveling, but will tell you nothing about broad skills in both software development and product design/management as d…
For senior engineering roles, faangs do have design related interview component. Usually, there will be 4 hour long interviews. With new grads, all of them will be algorithmic problem solving while for senior engineers there will be 3 algorithmic and one design session.
Re: What Silicon Valley gets about engineers that traditional companies do not
#174I've worked at both SV and traditional companies, and I feel like this very closely matches my experience. One of the things I worry about is that even at companies that are doing "Agile transformations" and adopting methodologies like Scrum, in practice have "Product Owners" who are there to give instructions via Jira tickets. Other roles like "Business Analysts" are there to ensure that lowly developers never have…
> So I get funny looks when I suggest that engineers should go talk to people in the business, and write design docs.
I've gotten more than funny looks. They get downright mean or irritated, because to them it sounds like you're trying to take their job away.
Remember, these are the people who bring the requirements to the engineers.They have people skills! Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcIMIyQnOso
Re: What Silicon Valley gets about engineers that traditional companies do not
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
We had a large disconnect between product and engineering. The directors solution was to have mandatory 8 hours of sprint ceremonies a week where we would review the definition of “bug” and “epic”, every week. We also were required to sit in on all team meetings regardless if it was your team. We had two full time scrum masters for a team of six engineers. I suggested instead engineers get looped earlier into the pro…
In many companies, the 'product' department exists to protect the owners from the leverage developers would have if they had access to the business context.
That...is so insightful that I am speechless.
I’ve never considered it from that angle.
Brilliant.
Re: What Silicon Valley gets about engineers that traditional companies do not
#176I think one of the most interesting thing about working for a tech company is how transparent everything is and how much more power engineers have in the decision process as mentioned in the article. There’s a higher tendency that transition companies are purely revenue focused (for reasonable reasons). When that happens, the engineers’ customer is sales. When a company is focused on the idea (which makes money too), the engineers’ customer is the product.
Re: What Silicon Valley gets about engineers that traditional companies do not
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
In many companies, the 'product' department exists to protect the owners from the leverage developers would have if they had access to the business context.
That's interesting... I think. Could you give an example (as contrived as you wish) to illustrate this point?
My guess is that if developers understood the business, they would understand how simplistic a lot of the business models are, and how much of the profit is derived directly from their skilled labor and yet how much of the profit goes directly towards someone else, and developers would suddenly realize they have leverage because they are essentially the profit model.
Re: What Silicon Valley gets about engineers that traditional companies do not
#178Then why need a manager?
Re: What Silicon Valley gets about engineers that traditional companies do not
#179Then what’s the point of a manager?
Re: What Silicon Valley gets about engineers that traditional companies do not
#180Sounds very true to me.
I'd summarize the problem as lack of real engineering leaders. It's as if programming/engineering is looked down on or not taken seriously enough.
- Biotech (in Silicon Valley to boot!)