How common are exploding offers?
I am trying to line up my onsites to hopefully have multiple competing offers for negotiation. Are exploding offers common from top companies like FAANG? The recruiters already know I am actively interviewing.
I just tell them the date I'm making a decision on and that I'll need the offer a week before that date and for them to line up my interview and corresponding offer appropriately. Recruiters love this. They set the deadline of the offer as you had suggested (sometimes longer, rarely less). The only caveat to this was Google who doesn't work on anyone else's deadline.
Every time I tried to have exploding offers, it always imploded on me.
That's what she said
Never entertain exploding offers. Means you're just another body to them or that they were on the fence about you and want to see how desperate you are for the job
Not true. It's a negotiation tactic and they will budge if they want you. A better indicator is TC
I recently received offers from FB, Apple, and Uber, and the recruiters have been pretty flexible about timing. I haven't seen anything aggressive. I also had a Google offer some time back, and the recruiter was very accommodating.
What was your interview prep?
Started LCing / looking at careercup questions and refreshing DS&A book knowledge around Christmas holiday time. Had onsites mid January. Contrary to blind wisdom I didn't spend much time memorizing answers to problems, instead trying to internalize some of the common tricks and patterns. Definitely spent time making sure I had a deep understanding of some trickier problems. Also read Grokking the design interview and watched a bunch of YouTube videos on design interviews.