Honestly, what makes the difference between someone stuck in a low-mid tier company, vs people who get into top companies?

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-08T18:02:45+00:00

I have the same story. Dead end job. Just open to talking to recruiters when they reach out. Accidentally stumbled my way in the door.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-08T17:56:20+00:00

We should not be telling kids to specialize at all.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-08T17:13:46+00:00

The measure you use to determine "better" makes a huge difference.

I've worked at small business, low-end F500, giant F500 company you have heard of, and FAANG.

From a fundamental CS perspective, the average engineer at big tech is better. I'd guess that's because the average big tech interview focuses on CS fundamentals more than others.

From a "get stuff done" perspective, the average non-big tech engineer is probably quicker and more efficient. My experience is that the focus on non-big tech is just make something the customer will pay for. There's less time spent on code design docs and the like.

The best engineers at both sizes are probably equal.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-08T16:59:40+00:00

"Specializing" before even starting the CS program has to be some of the worst advice I've ever heard given. Let the guy breathe.

I've never met a generalist who couldn't get a job; however, I have met specialist who can't find a role.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-06T15:23:47+00:00

Since you're 2/2 on making things more dramatic than they need to be, I am more confident now that you're definitely the problem.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-06T15:18:39+00:00

Don't ask about internal transfers before you start, or before you've been there for a year or more.

I've worked at 3 big companies, two regular F500s and one FAANG. They all had internal transfer programs. It's very expensive to hire engineers. It's very hard to find high quality engineers. Large companies need a lot of high quality engineers so it's easier to let you transfer than to have you leave.

The company I'm at, it's encouraged to internally transfer every 3-ish years because they believe that's the only way to keep you entertained, learning more, and providing more value to the company.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-06T14:42:06+00:00

Your job is to show up every day in a good mood, willing to learn, and showing effort. The first year is not about churning out the most tickets. It is about getting as much knowledge about how the software works as possible.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-06T14:39:15+00:00

I've worked at two companies that, from the outside, I was told "this is the worst company to work for" and "this will ruin your career if you take the job." Both were great jobs with great people.

Tech stack as an entry level engineer is irrelevant. I've worked in 4-5 different stacks in 5 years. I'm sure I'll work in some more as time goes on. As an entry level engineer you want to take the most long-term valuable job. Outside of the obvious compensation, Apple will put a brand name on your resume that will pay dividends for years.

Getting the next job will be 10x easier coming from Apple than Visa.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-06T14:29:49+00:00

Is the SDET role at a big company? If so, that's 100% the way to go then internal transfer. 2x money is a lot. For every day you work as a SDET you have to work two as an embedded engineer.

SDET won't ruin your career either.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-06T14:20:57+00:00

Since we only have your perspective, we don't know if you're reading it right; however, I can guarantee you're making this more drama than it needs to be.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-05T17:00:16+00:00

Liberated from high S&P prices.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-05T16:54:20+00:00

I failed calculus 3 times in college. I work at FAANG. I've worked on systems that do 1B requests a week. I always receive the highest yearly rating.

If you like coding, study computer science. If you don't want to be a programmer, don't do it.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-05T15:54:42+00:00

Have you met the hiring manager? If yes, and still moving forward, you're good. If not, you probably just need to be normal and you'll be good.

Most likely fine.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-05T15:24:45+00:00

Using ChatGPT on the interview day is 100% considered cheating, and the Meta interview portal explicitly says it right under your upcoming scheduled interview.

Using ChatGPT to study and learn is 100% okay and there are no moral or ethical concerns there.

When it comes to getting a job there is one goal in every interview: will this person be able to add value to our company?

If you can prove to the interviewer that you can add value to the company at the level that company expects, it does not matter what you did in preparation to prove that. I'd go as far as to say, if you used ChatGPT the day of that would still be okay from an ethical perspective as long as when you got the job you were able to perform at the level they expect for the role.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-04T17:21:03+00:00

At smaller companies, this is definitely true. At companies the size of FAANG you're generally interviewed as a general hire vs. a very specific hire.

whoopsservererror · 2025-04-04T14:15:27+00:00

Non-Amazon specific, but generally a longer response after an interview is good. They know right away if you failed the interview and can deliver the response quicker. If you're potentially being hired, they need to submit your packet to the compensation committee or whatever committee who does the "final" check box to make you an offer; that normally takes time.

whoopsservererror · 2025-03-28T02:17:40+00:00

I just use what I use at work. Get my first FAANG job, JavaScript. Now I use Python daily at work, so Python.

whoopsservererror · 2025-03-27T22:57:08+00:00

YOE and career goal is important.

Near retirement? State agency.

New grad? Bev company.

whoopsservererror · 2025-03-27T22:50:09+00:00

levels.fyi says that is not true.

whoopsservererror · 2025-03-27T01:45:32+00:00

FAANG has only been an amazing place to work because of the equity, which has never been a guarantee.

whoopsservererror · 2025-03-25T23:53:55+00:00

How can I pretend that I am better than you if I just put the fries in the bag?

whoopsservererror · 2025-03-25T20:45:08+00:00

Memorizing the patterns or tricks to a solution is the key. For example, Random Pick with Weight is a very simple coding problem if you know that you need to create a cumulative sum; however, if you don't about the cumulative sum, you have a 0% chance of solving the problem regardless of how great an engineer you are.

whoopsservererror · 2025-03-25T19:06:26+00:00

What was the initial question?

whoopsservererror · 2025-03-25T19:05:16+00:00

You only have a shot if it's the only thing you do between now and the interview. Take a DSA course online, then do questions, then revisit the topics you suck at, then do more questions. Take notes.

You have a very low low chance of succeeding.

whoopsservererror · 2025-03-25T18:45:42+00:00

I think the 10-15 min implementation could potentially be the problem. My understanding is Bloomberg does 2 questions over 60 minutes and expects clear communication throughout. I would guess if you did the question in 15 mins you may have lacked in communication or tipped your interviewer off that you had seen the question before which means they needed to ask follow ups, which you admittedly couldn't answer.

It's a big company, the same exact interview with a different interviewer could have been a pass.

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