I have seen people (colleagues) literally walk into FAANG and other companies after barely passing (or not passing interviews) because they had someone who would “vouch” for them.
I have had mediocre (and less than mediocre) engineers hired into my team because I referred them/agreed to “vouch” for them.
Whatever “vouch” means :)
OTOH, I have seen people struggle day and night with Leetcode/System Design practice and interview multiple times at FAANG (and other companies) only to fail once more.
Many times the interview goes perfectly, but they fall through the cracks in the administrative processes. Even though you spend 6 months Leetcoding day&night for FAANG, you’re just another candidate - one of several hundred/thousand.
It lead me to the hypothesis that your best path to career advancement, higher TC, FAANG, etc is to be a friend and maintain a good network. Have people who will “vouch” for you.
It’s a lot better than brute forcing your interview process (aka leetcoding hard).
#engineering #software #swe #leetcode #leetcodehard
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Also note that I have interviewed candidates only upto Staff level. I my you talking only about above staff candidates then maybe my observations don’t apply
This is a classic example of “no body cares until it happens to them.”
As a hiring manager, I wouldn’t want to hire a leetcode addict. I would want the best “engineer” I can possibly find for my team. Because MY team’s future/reputation/success is at stake.
HFTs care even less as a quant or swe. You either deliver or you get fired even if you somehow walk through the door.
Every recruiter will throw your app to the HC if you have any chance at all because they get paid based on hiring metrics.
It just sounds like you're salty you got rejected or something
As far as getting fired for poor performance - that’s a topic for another day :) It’s not really relevant to this post. This post is about getting an offer.
So the best path
LC hard —> FAANG—> work hard&smart —> climb the ladder —> network —> “walk” into roles
Nothing of sort you are hinting at happens ( at scale) .Well connected People come in through references / personal network and those who do well get in and those don’t do well don’t get in.
Not denying that nepotistic rats 🐀 don’t exist at FAANG but let’s not exaggerate their numbers.
It’s up to each individual - do you want to be a statistic (and hope for the best)? or do you want to objectively get what you want?
1. Help you pass through borderline cases in interview
2. Help you get promoted and grow quickly by getting you the right projects and right opportunities
Someone vouching for you, cannot get you accepted in companies like google, fb, LinkedIn etc with one or more strong negative interview feedback. Someone vouching for you also cannot get you promoted beyond Sr without you executing on the projects
That said, nepotism aside, a referral/recommendation (basically having someone to vouch for you) goes a long long way. I know it for a fact. When you apply for a job, you’re a stranger. With someone to vouch for you, you’re much less of a stranger.