I deeply regret clicking this. I've never worked with FAANG however I've been through 5-6 interviews. The way I see it, it's material that can be studied/recalled but you can make much more difference in your life with that amount of energy, unless you're a new graduate OR your job is interviewing other people. I understand the side effects that study can bring on to help ease the pain, though it won't work if you only rely on knowledge alone. That's where experience/context helps. Just be aware that fangs are not a measure of what a best software engineering can be, they're the ones make use of their branding well as a high entry wall. So please do yourself a favor and don't take the harsh to your heart, keep enjoying what you do.
Facebook senior software engineer interview
271–280 of 524 posts
Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
I couldn't disagree more with your post. The author is basically just putting out a detailed study plan for passing an exam. If a doctor posted a plan for passing the medical boards would your first thought be "Wow, look at that massive medical monoculture problem!" That seems like a ridiculous stretch in my opinion. To your second point, I hear this all the time in threads about tech interviewing: "Tech interviews a…
> If a doctor posted a plan for passing the medical boards would your first thought be "Wow, look at that massive medical monoculture problem!" That seems like a ridiculous stretch in my opinion. This analogy doesn't work. It's basically the final part of your education in that field (and others). If every hospital / medical center made you quit for a few months to study for their interviews when you switch jobs it w…
If every hospital felt the need to interview doctors assuming they didn't know how to practice medicine, doctors would definitely take time off between to study. But they don't, because they know everyone has a base level of knowledge. On the flip side I've interviewed people who simply cannot do basic coding tasks.
Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview
#273> The big tech companies will not get pedantic on the language that you decide to use in your interviews. Ten+ years ago, but I received an email minutes before my second phone interview with Facebook that they were passing on me for not being adept enough with JavaScript. I was supposed to be going over a take home project with the team on that call. They never even saw the project I’d spent the entire weekend on, a…
If it's a front-end position then that makes sense, considering there is really no alternative to JavaScript (or rather wasn't 10 years ago).
Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
>in most cases doctors have many, many thousands of hours under their belt in training before still needing to study a ton to pass their boards The difference is that what the doctors put so much time into learning can actually be quite useful for their job. The vast majority of competitive coding stuff isn't. Interview procedures based around it completely fail to assess some of the most important abilities in softw…
My ex girlfriend is a pediatric cardiologist who recently passed her boards. When I talked to her about it, she was very much on the side that she wished she didn't have to study for it because it didn't have much to do with her job at all. She just wished she could spend her time getting better at the skills she actually used rather than a wide range of academic material that didn't matter to her day to day. Her fri…
> just wished she could spend her time getting better at the skills she actually used
I can so relate to this when I look back at 4 years I spent studying for a CS degree. The first year had just 3 subjects out of 17 that had something to do with CS. The rest were wildly off the mark. Like engineering drawing, metal workshop, and what not. The second year was slightly better but just. It was crammed with electronics; and only from the 4th semester did things took a definitive turn towards CS topics. I'm sure the curriculum designers had a certain plan in mind but this was devised something like ~60 years ago, when engineering meant mostly civil engineering.
This was all 20 years ago, and I recently checked the syllabus out of curiosity, and no it's not changed one bit. One precious year of learning period down the drain.
Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview
#275How can anyone work at Facebooks nowadays and have a clear conscience. Is it just the salary? It is, isn't it? Just money. How depressing.
You can say that for any FAANG company really.
I would rather work for Facebok than for the "cult" and $20 charging bricks..
Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview
#276How can anyone work at Facebooks nowadays and have a clear conscience. Is it just the salary? It is, isn't it? Just money. How depressing.
Turns out you got to pay bills even if you are on a moral high horse. Besides if one has to have a clear conscience to match everyone's standard here, one should stop working at FAANG, stop using FAANG products, maybe stop using big oil products, stop using big pharma products, is it ok to pay taxes to a govt if you don't agree with something they did or should one pick up and move too? what else did I miss? HN is so…
>Turns out you got to pay bills
I'm sorry but if working for a FAANG is the only way for you to pay your bills you need to learn how to budget... How absurd.
Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview
#277Besides the usual advice, this observation is very interesting: > Applying for senior engineering positions (>E4) in FANG companies is one of the best ways to get into them. This comment by a veteran senior engineer confirms to me that Facebook, just like most other FANGs, does a poor job of promoting from within. There are multiple comments to the same effect from many other FANG employees: It's much easier to get r…
This is a major issue that causes major frustrations to the people working on such companies.
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Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview
#278Earlier quoted context omitted.
>in most cases doctors have many, many thousands of hours under their belt in training before still needing to study a ton to pass their boards The difference is that what the doctors put so much time into learning can actually be quite useful for their job. The vast majority of competitive coding stuff isn't. Interview procedures based around it completely fail to assess some of the most important abilities in softw…
My ex girlfriend is a pediatric cardiologist who recently passed her boards. When I talked to her about it, she was very much on the side that she wished she didn't have to study for it because it didn't have much to do with her job at all. She just wished she could spend her time getting better at the skills she actually used rather than a wide range of academic material that didn't matter to her day to day. Her fri…
My third daughter was delivered by the anesthesiologist, because the ObGyn was stuck in traffic and the anesthesiologist was the only doctor on the floor. Doctors don't need that stuff outside their specialty... until the day they do.
Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview
#279Do people have any pride? Why would you subject yourself to this?
Re: Facebook senior software engineer interview
#280While I agree that these interviews can be a bit much but what's the alternative? If I am a job seeker I feel much more comfortable knowing that they expect me to write code and answer DS+Alg questions and prepare for it as opposed to companies selecting based on the the prestige level of the University you went or based on subjective judgments based on the resume and/or company fit. As someone who went to a Universi…
>While I agree that these interviews can be a bit much but what's the alternative?
So somehow literally every other industry on earth has figured out ways to interview people that don't involve whiteboard hazing but you think there is absolutely no alternative? Have you actually thought about what you are saying at all?
Might want to check linkedin because I can guarantee most of your bosses are from Ivys/Stanford/MIT/etc
>I also hate the new trend of "take home" tests. That just seems disrespectful of the candidate's time.
But doing leetcode for 2 months is somehow better? Are you high?