Found Blind, figured I was underpaid, tried to LC realized I'm not good at it and felt demoralized. Then COVID came and companies started to allow remote so more places I can apply which I did. I knew I couldn't crack FAANG without 6 month prep so decided to fish 🎣 where I'll have the best chances to catch. Recent tech IPOs that offer decent comp and less emphasis on LC. Glazed through Blind top 75 questions for few hours before every interview. All positions are remote and comp are shown yearly. Affirm: Very promising position & would have been a great fit but I failed the take home. 24 hour limit ruined it for me. I'm not good with timed tests. ⏲ Offer: $0 Equity would have 2x if I had joined 2 months ago in the $50s? Noom: Failed tech zoom screen. Wish: Failed tech zoom screen. Blend: IC3, 180k base, 100k equity, 10 sign on. Total TC: ~280k not sure about manager, didn't connect well 🤷♂️ Upstart: senior (L4/L5?? not sure), 170k base, 100k equity, 25k sign on). Total TC: ~ 276k (adding sign on 6k/yearly for 4 years). May be some room to negotiate? I don't know. levelsfyi says 430k in CA for L5. Carta: L4, 195k base, 90 equity, no sign on. Total TC: 285k (firm no negotiation). Take home was fun. Best interview experience. Even though I spent 8 hours on take home. No LC. Many other auto rejection and failed phone screens for over 3 months. Spend 1 hour every day applying online to companies. 200 online application total. Crafting resume to align with job description every time. Tried to find an hour each day to solve Blind top 75 questions but had rough time. I could only solve 2 or 4 a week on average and often had to read discussion. I was asked LC type questions in two of the interviews that resulted in an offer. I couldn't solve half of them but I explained my thought process and tried to approach the problems in multiple ways. The ones I could solve were LC easy type or I recognized the pattern from Blind top 75. System design is natural to me as I've lead initiative to build scalable system in a distributed environment for many years. If you are getting demoralized with LC, don't be and pick your battles carefully where the odds are in your favor. The more you interview the better the odds are. Think of interviewing as volunteering for the tech community that you enjoy doing on your free time, don't expect anything in return and always look for the next one. This was my way of persevering without any expectations. If you are a senior engineer (L4/L5) stuck at your low TC job at a no name company. Don't wait to solve 100s of LCs. It's not necessary just start interviewing at non FAANG, your seniority and experience will compensate for your mediocre coding performance. Market is hot so keep on interviewing. I also told recruiters to not reach out to me if they have no offer for me after the final rounds from the beginning so it doesn't hurt my confidence and I felt it worked out well. Current TC: 🥜 New TC Range: between 1.5x - 2.5x of current TC YOE: between 7 and 18 #affirm #carta #upstart #wish #noom #leetcode #blend #google #facebook #amazon
What is Blind top 75??? You mean top 75 firms rated on Blind?
https://www.teamblind.com/post/New-Year-Gift---Curated-List-of-Top-75-LeetCode-Questions-to-Save-Your-Time-OaM1orEU you're welcome.
Sounds like carta is the best among the 3
Omg! Thank you for this. This is definitely a motivational boost that I needed going into the long weekend and making thr most of it. I even asked a few days ago on Blind if I can make it without LC. I have a couple of virtual onsites and other coding interviews scheduled. I am chugging along the Top 75 looking at discussions. Some easy ones are coming to me naturally on the first go and I am getting a hang but I hate doing LC when I can spend that time on Systems Design more and more. I will definitely look at the companies the you have mentioned. I do have a coding challenge with Affirm. Can I DM you for some tips on that one in particular? The positions that I am applying for are Sr Data Engg, Lead Data Engg or Data Engg Manager depending on the company.
sure. dunno much about data engineering but I'd be happy to help.
what was the take home test of affirm?
We're the takehome backend related or full stack?
all were backend.
So why did you @ Google for this post? There’s nothing specific to G
To inspire people who put G on a pedestal to apply elsewhere while they keep day dreaming to work at G or FAANG like company 😛
Well, don’t put it on a pedestal then 😛
Wait… upstart pays that much? Fuck I didn’t know. I just am not a fan of ruby but still
Well done op!
Thank you! It's easy to get demoralized and feel you're not good when you start to get rejected. Gotta keep eyes 👀 on the prize 🏆
Op your post is a sermon to the leetcode weary. Thanks for reminding us that this can be a numbers game and that we need to build interviewing experience. Congrats on finding certain companies to target for compensation and remote positions. I want to say that sometimes non LC people can get lucky even in a FAANG interview. I'm proof of that. L5 TC260k YOE 20
I'd love to know how you got lucky!
Is the equity per year or over 4 years?
yearly
What are Blind Top 75 ? Do you’ve a link ?
https://www.teamblind.com/post/New-Year-Gift---Curated-List-of-Top-75-LeetCode-Questions-to-Save-Your-Time-OaM1orEU you're welcome.