Leetcode hard and FAANG OR focus learning real skills
Mid career professional contemplating the future here. Happy with life, relationships are great, hobbies are fun, career is on the right track (mostly, will get to that later), sex life is good, no kids, no mortgage etc. No visa issues, I am a citizen. Only thing I am not happy with is TC. Currently contemplating 2 paths: Path 1 - Leetcode hard and FAANG. This is the most "logical" and "practical" path. Except I really don't care for FAANG. The only reason I would consider it is because of TC. I couldn't give any fucks about brand name prestige or the people (I find most FAANG people insufferable). Path 2 - Learn real skills that I actually I find interesting. I am into AWS/cloud and front end tech (my core competency is front end though I have exp full stack). I have a couple of entrepreneurial ideas that I want to make come to fruition. If I learn stuff like Serverless, I could stand up the entire stack myself. Best case scenario, I have a start up on my hands. Worst case, I learn in demand skills that I could use to leverage for higher TC (and I am ok with making less than FAANG TC). Possible Path 3 - do both. Highly unlikely, bc I like having a social life and when I do a thing, I do it 100%. I am leaning to Path 2, though blind would probably lean Path 1. I doubt there is anyone or anything on blind that could change my mind. So I guess try to convince me otherwise? TC - 125K YOE - 2.5
How old are you? You say you are mid career but only have 2.5 YOE?
Old enough. I switched careers. Mid career in life, but early career in tech industry.
Path 1, as it is practical and executable. Path 2 won't lead you anywhere.
You'll need to elaborate, my guy. I think path 2 is perfectly executable and practical, just not the norm which would give the impression that it is not as practical or executable. Path 2 would lead me to learning an in demand skill/tech. Don't agree that it would lead to no where. A lot of companies and start ups are hungry for AWS/cloud/devops people.
"in demand skill" is not as valuable as you thought, especially in top tier companies eyes. They value more on problem solving, and real tech skills instead of some domain knowledge. Also, these skills obsolete fast. While the skills for example algorithms never obsolete. That's why more and more companies take leetcode approach.
For someone with 2.5 YOE, learning path 2 will only give you a shallow understanding I think. Plus, most companies (especially with only 2.5 yoe) won’t bother asking you that stuff. So if higher TC is your goal, why not do what you know will net you a bigger TC - study for interviews and land a job at a well paying company?
Shallow understanding of what exactly? What should I have a deep understanding of? Algos and DS material? I pretty decent at leetcode at the moment. Are you saying that learning practical tech won't help with interviews and TC? If yes, could you elaborate?
What I’m saying is - a deep understanding of the tech you mentioned takes a ton of time. And to reach the scale/complexity of what companies are looking for is difficult for an individual working on a side/personal project. Now it’s not impossible, I’m just saying I don’t think this route will net you the most TC. If TC is what you’re targeting, study LC, get a job at a top company, then you’ll learn all those skills you mentioned in a large-scale environment while working. However, it sounds like you’d personally prefer path2, which is perfectly fine. Regardless, once you have some more knowledge on the stuff you mentioned, you’re going to have to do some Leetcode eventually if you want to reach those crazy TC’s. Do whatever maximizes your happiness.
Only you would know the correct answer. Simple, always do the thing that's you are passionate on and makes u feel good.
Agree 100%. I already know what I want to do, just curious what blind thinks.
Agree with this. You can make money anywhere if you're good. I'm not in FAANG as you can see, but I make comparable TC. I've learned plenty based on the role I'm in and customer set I interact with. And I barely work 40hrs and can do what I want outside work. Do what you're passionate about and what your heart tells you, within reason. Path 2 sounds pretty normal, one must remember that outside Blind, FAANG is a small minority of people and tech employees. Yes its the top of the heap within this micro world, but in macro life who cares. Go do what you want to do.
I’d say the best you can do is try to get into FANG and then during team match or after joining the company, try to move to a team that work on the areas you are interested in. You’ll get a much deeper understanding from working on an actual system in production than you can get from reading and personal projects.
Fair point. I did think about that, but there is no guarantee that I would be placed working with the tech I want to work with, which is the norm - you're placed where you're placed and the most in demand tech stacks are also the most competitive. I'll give this path a little more thought though.
Do both. Leetcode is real skills.
If you start walking on path1, you will automatically be on path2. Reverse may or may not be true. This assumes you are in a decent team at FANG.
The tech stuff you learn today is obsolete next year and again you would have to learn something else for your interview 4 years down the lane. And don't even consider aws as a skill unless you are working in devops. If you are interviewing with multiple companies, each one would have its own tech requirements and would focus on that during interview. The big tech companies have standardized the process by going the leetcode way. You don't need to learn specific tech used by your prospective employer/team. Leet leet leet
All great points, my friend. Totally agree with what you’re trying to say. A couple of thoughts: - if the entrepreneurial route doesn’t work out and I focus on leveraging those AWS skills for a job, there are a lot of companies that are looking for that skill. - I predict all web focused tech workers will need to be familiarized with the cloud/devops workflow. AWS is a way to do that and is the most popular tool. - I agree that there always going to be a hot new tech stack that comes along, but I am ok with learning new things. Bedsides, don’t you have to refresh leetcode skills every time you look for a new job anyway? The golden rule of the tech industry - always be learning. Again, I do appreciate the thoughtful feedback.
Yes you need good knowledge of some cloud to survive in this space and that's bare minimum. Not sure if that alone would get you a job. In my experience, I felt that I have developed decent programming skills thru interview prep sites and books. I didn't learn any fancy stuff but I felt I learnt what's needed to adapt to changing tech landscape. Ds & algs put you on that path to tackling difficult problems and thinking logically. It's not totally useless after getting a job. Just my opinion here.
Real skills knowledge and experience have nothing to do with your ability to get in to Faang or make high tc. Sad but true. Path 1 > path 2. If you want to be an entrepreneur, there’s no better professional experience you can have. Just make sure to do it seriously.
Agreed, but I would prefer not perpetuate that system if I can avoid it. I want a higher TC, I am willing to trade lower TC for less stress and free time. Although I don’t think any professional experience could prepare you to be an entrepreneur.
I’m saying that being an entrepreneur IS the best professional experience you can have / get.
If you have no issues like immigration to work on your own startup, i’d say go for path2 Its about time these so called smart people abandoned FAANG, these companies are a disgrace to humanity