Compensation is the biggest pro. Also, unlike other hire to fire companies (most tech companies at this point in 2024), you at least have a chance to prove yourself and are given a couple months to onboard. There are worse tech companies out there such as Amazon and Intuit, but Meta’s culture is still quite terrible. They try and justify the long hours and stress with how much you can make - Meta still pays more than any other major tech company, even in 2024, which is definitely a pro, but the culture is cutthroat and you can’t trust anyone. It would probably be easier to work two remote jobs at “less prestigious” tech or tech adjacent companies to make the same amount at Meta with more stability, better WLB, and less drama.
Pretty much the same as what one would experience at most tech companies in 2024. But some aspects are better or worse than others. Long hours. WLB is highly team dependent. Apparently Meta used to be a lot better in this regard, but now not so much. It is intense, but if you have startup experience, it is at least less intense than that. And again, it is more fair than a place like Amazon. Office politics are a thing at all tech companies, but a little more extreme at Meta. Blame and shame culture is big. People are snakes and are prepared to throw even the newest and most vulnerable employees under the bus to save their own skins. This makes things quite unfair, but as long as you’re proactive and document everything thoroughly, you’re at least given a chance to refute these attacks. A lot of gossip and backstabbing. This is separate from and still related to PSC culture, which everyone complains about. Management is terrible overall. Sometimes there is micromanagement. One of the few companies where it’s possible you’ll have a manager younger than you, even if you’re only 27-31ish. Often ICs seem to be held accountable for things that are way beyond their day-to-day scope - basically things that are ultimately the fault of leadership and management. Management frequently tries to pin things on their employees. Your manager is often trying to screw you, and if they can’t find a way, they are often trying to invent things you did wrong. This isn’t a dealbreaker because as long as you’re doing your job, it is easy to refute, but it creates a ton of work because you have to be extremely well-organized and have documented every interaction with your manager colleagues. I recommend studying employment law / consulting with an employment lawyer early on in your tenure at Meta, so you know what to look for. Because it is a massive tech company, you are there to please your manager and make them look good, so you need to do pretty much whatever they say. there’s a lot of internal conflict because it’s very authoritarian, also fairly draconian, and it’s bottoms up at the same time, every man for themselves. Do everything your manager says and it is somehow still all up to you as an individual employee to make the company successful. To top it all off, your colleagues suck too. People brag about work that YOU did as being THEIR work that THEY did if it is successful. If a project involving multiple people is so much as an hour late, then YOU are blamed, even if you had nothing to do with the lateness. The lateness itself isn’t really the problem because guess what? It’s not anything is broken. Except for when things do break and the whole app crashes for a day because everyone is forced to focus on office politics instead of their actual work. it’s not really about the value you create, so much as it is the PERCEIVED value you create and whether or not your manager likes you. Ergo, a lot of bootlicking charlatans make it to the top.
Good to have on your resume for next future jobs
No work life balance, 60+ hours is the expectation for everyone
Which is likely to spin off as a separate company first?
I know the following (through friends or public info) : Apple - AWS Netflix - AWS + GCP Snap - GCP (main) + AWS Stripe - AWS Uber - AWS Airbnb - AWS Pinterest - AWS Linkedin - Azure (future platform) + some AWS OpenAI - Azure Splunk - AWS Roku - AWS Spotify - GCP Slack - AWS Salesforce - AWS (mai...Read more
1. Google search massively threatened by Amazon product search, Tiktok, Instagram, Airbnb etc. 2. Google cloud is so far behind azure and aws 3. Netflix partnered with Microsoft for ad business 4. Hiring slowdowns
Currently a L6 SDM in AWS making ~500k. My team is small but upper management expects a lot. Don't see any path to L7 in my current org. I have only been here for 1.5 yrs. Even with the recent layoffs, I feel my position here is pretty safe. My friend at Meta approached me with a couple of open M1 ...Read more
Hi Is it ok to ask someone out on Instagram? I have been following few girls on insta and they have been following me too. Just wondering if I can get a date with 1-2 of them. One of them is in a different city. Are Indian and Asian girls open to someone asking em’ out on insta? TC: 305k YOE: 9 ...Read more
Interviewers keep asking me what was the hardest technical challenge with AWS and I don’t have anything memorable I can think of. I’ve never built anything or know of applications that require scale greater than AWS can handle. Netflix and Instagram run perfectly fine on AWS. I also don’t find any p...Read more
Meta laid off all the TPMs from their Instagram org. Google laid off many TPMs in their last round of layoffs citing AI resolution. Rumors are that AWS will be culling the TPM roles as well. So has the industry finally realized that TPMs are of no value? Will this role ultimately become obsolete? ...Read more
Have my AWS interview tomorrow for L5 SDE and am looking for a list of most common questions that I can brush up on which would cover most topics. So far I’ve gone over: Tinyurl, Instagram and Dropbox. TIA. #aws #amazon #l5 #sde2
After seeing Trump's success rate, I feel better about myself failing the interviews. Companies that rejected Trump, • Twitter • Twitch • Amazon / AWS • Facebook / Instagram • Google / YouTube / Google Play • Reddit • Snapchat • Apple / App Store • Shopify • Pinterest • TikTok • Spotify • Paypal
The recruiter listed out the following options for my E5 infrastructure engineer position: Could any Meta/ex-Meta folks shed light on which pillar you prefer and why? I prioritize job security and growth over wlb (I'm from AWS so it should not be much worse right? 😅) Also, among the apps (FB, mes...Read more
For example, implementing my own version of and scaling: 1. chess engine like Chess.com 2. cache like redis 3. real-time messaging like WhatsApp 4. Photo sharing like Instagram Is it worth doing this where I create distributed systems backends to address these problems, package it into docker conta...Read more
I’m tired of grinding at AWS and looking for an exit. I’m fine with working hard but I do not find Amazon interesting anymore. I no longer love what I’m doing and the culture is wrecking my mental health. Recently a couple of Meta recruiters reached out but I want to take views of fellow blinders b...Read more
Looking for better work-life, stability, and decent career growth. If Google, then why? Also, is Instagram's work life and work culture any better than the rest of meta? Did anyone work at both? I like to hear the perspective in the comment Google: yet to offer Instagram: had an offer (IC6) ...Read more
I’m tired of grinding at AWS and looking for an exit. I’m fine with working hard but I do not find Amazon interesting anymore. I no longer love what I’m doing and the culture is wrecking my mental health. Recently a couple of Meta recruiters reached out but I want to take views of fellow blinders b...Read more
Hello everyone! I'm an sde with ~1.75 yrs of exp in the US and 1 yr in India. I've an upcoming SDE 2 interview with Aws. Would I be getting ood or should I also prepare for actual system design. (like design Amazon shopping cart, Twitter, insta etc.) (Recruiter couldn't help resolve this doubt) ...Read more
I am preparing for technical interview for company that builds databases for cloud. Specifically AWS, GCP, Cockroach Labs, Databricks etc. I'm from India but you don't have to be to answer this question. I'm more concerned about non-coding interviews. Are they going to ask usual system design (des...Read more
How is it? Clarity on exact process? Tips, Recommendation ? Is there a way to ask only Pinterest/ex-Pinterest people on blind? just an fyi - heard from my friends at AWS and Meta (instagram specifically) - they are receiving unusually high# of profiles from Pinterest. #pinterest #pinterestsalary...Read more
Amazon is so desperate. I received an email on my Amazon work email for an external opportunity at Amazon 😂 So many senior managers reach out to me everyday. I also recently saw an AWS post on Instagram where an AWS employee is saying he would join Amazon for 6 months but then loves it there and st...Read more
Is it me or does anyone think Amazon needs better frontend/UX? Backend is great but their AWS Console, even the internal tools, Chime, Pipelines all the UI/UX sucks & is dull. Amazon retail is also complex sometimes and photos app is also bit buggy UI wise. Working with Amazon UI feels like working...Read more
Hello Blind readers, I’m a Senior SWE with 4+ years of experience im the IT industry ( 3 years in India and 1+ year in the USA after masters). I’m actively looking for opportunities as a Technical Program Manager in the Greater Seattle area and I’m interested in Product management as well. I’d requ...Read more