Those who went from traditional ElecE/CompEng companies like Intel, synopsys to FANG, transition worth it, how to do?
Currently at an traditional Intel/amd/synopsys like company doing EDA tools (Sw for chip design tools). Very different from web-tech stuff at FANG/big-n (esp Goog, fb, amzn, msft etc). So, - How did you go about learning all different stuff asked in sysdesign interviews at big-n? - was the transition worth it? (I.e. leaving behind all hardcore CompEng type studies, possible wlb involved in EDA) At one of those old EDA companies, staff eng, 18 yoe.
I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry for me too.
What's your TC? If it's low you probably don't even need to do system design problems. You could come in at L4 and get a raise. I've never been 18 YOE entrenched in a specific industry like that, but to me learning new things has always been part of my job as an engineer. I've already learned things that are more difficult than web development, so I never saw that as intimidating. Also, I don't agree with the premise that WLB is worse at better companies. If anything I've found the opposite: companies with high caliber employees trust them to get their job done.
tc 260k with sign-on: 280k sf bay area
Totally worth it! I changed from being physical design engineer at AMD to software developer at Amazon :) . The rewards are totally worth the hard effort needed for change!
You should be looking to put in about 1 year of effort and break free.
Already put in 1 yr, good at lc. but reject at goog, fb.
Isn’t it pretty tough though for person with 18+ yrs of experience to switch to SW ? Isn’t it hard to compete with the juniors?
Totally worth it. The only regret I have is didn’t make the transition earlier.
🍿