Is the grass really greener at FAANG?
Perhaps I'm a slightly different breed here but I never quite understood. Besides the money and "perks" what's the real advantage working at a FAANG versus any other mid-to-large tech (i.e. Salesforce, Verifone, Intel, etc). Is the vision and management really that much better? Is it not that big a deal shelling out exorbitant amounts of money to live in the bay area? Or is there something I'm missing? I ask because I'm almost 3 years into a tech career and what I'm seeing so far is eerily remniscent of what I remember my mother putting up with at Johnson & Johnson for most of my younger years. To put it lightly I'm burnt out. What often gets to me is the amount of organizational politik my team and I deal with, to the point that everything we deliver is half-baked. I understand this is normal for large organizations to a degree, and a lot of people here acknowlege our products are quite far from the crème de la crème. Given the above, and knowing that I tend to be a quality-driven person, is the grass really greener on the other side? Or is it just about more money and better benefits?
TC and then we are talking
More money and better benefits.
Just money. From what I hear SAP is on par with benefits.
Green money makes everything greener
Not greener at all.
It's not greener when you work there, but having that brand on your resume can help in the future. Well, for FNG, anyway. AA not so much.
I genuinely appreciate the responses. It helps to see that my suspicions aren't entirely wrong (not to be misconstrued as confirmation bias; it'd be nice if the grass really was greener). Money isn't everything to me. It'll buy freedom but not happiness; the latter being my primary goal.
Seattle might be an option since FANG will have Bay Area tc and lower COL
Some of these big companies you mentioned (e.g. Intel) are going downhill. Good people already left for FANG. Do you want to keep working with mediocre people until the lights go out? Many old timers at these large companies are too afraid to leave, and they no longer can compete in the market place. FANGs in general move a lot of people every year, so you know you can keep up with the market.
It’s mostly the TC brah. What’s yours?