Thanks Blind. Made it to FB as E6

Amazon
Mr..India

Go to company page Amazon

Mr..India
Mar 21, 2021 385 Comments

Got a lot of help from Blind and I wanted to share some details that helped me succeed. This year, I finally made it as E6 in FB.

I am thankful for Amazon where I worked on really challenging distributed system problems. I not only gained technical skills but also learnt to get work done by others while helping them grow. I had some rough weeks/weekends but overall my WLB was reasonable (6-8 hours each day) and I have a very nice manager. I am leaving only because my TC was embarrassingly low and the next level L7 takes pretty long time. 

Was doing prep on and off for last 3 years, and my coding gradually improved. I did ~150 leetcode (mostly easy/medium) and read 'elements of programming interviews' a few times.  For system design, I studied using system design interviews insider's guide https://bit.ly/3tUG2ck, https://github.com/donnemartin/system-design-primer, grokking the system design and but real breakthrough came after I did some mocks in late January. After that I kept doing 2-3 mocks every week. Got really good feedback on what I was doing wrong. Mostly around not following a methodical approach & managing time effectively. The turning point in my prep was this blind post:
Facebook E6 - I made it!!!!! (Software Engineering) https://us.teamblind.com/s/pQAFKJ7b

Got ref for the discord group https://discord.gg/RTyVHUtRc2 of the author where I found several good mock partners. Author himself is pretty good interviewer and provided very helpful feedback in a few mocks: https://youtube.com/channel/UCJ8590hU1VY8YcZb7k5-IhQ

I concluded that for system design, mocks (with knowledgeable people who can provide meaningful feedback) are must.  After mocks, the real interview feels just like another mock and you may get same/similar questions sometimes. I also did 2 paid interviews on interviewing.io with FB system design & behavioral which were extremely helpful. They told me to focus on highlighting soft skills (creating team roadmap, breakdown large projects and dividing work between SDEs, cross-org/functional collaboration etc) as E6 is more of the leadership role.

Regarding the interviews, had 2 coding rounds (mostly easy/medium complexity problems, some were from LC directly) where I was able to code both problems well within 40 minutes and had spare time to ask questions. 2 Sys design was also straight forward and questions were exactly or similar to grokking or the systeminterview course. behavioral was very similar to the mock with FB interviewer and I was very well prepared for it.

Current: 300k TC, L6 SDE
New TC: 2x

Willing to help especially the Amazon L6+ to help leave at much respectable salary. Willing to help with mocks, advice on prep etc as time permits. Please feel free to DM.

Also, will appreciate any advice on becoming successful as E6 in FB and suggestions for teams in Seattle with challenging problems. I understand it won’t be a cake walk and I am willing to work very hard (and smart). Will appreciate helping hand in terms of mentoring and finding my path in FB.

Update 1: thanks guys for nice comments and encouragement. I have received several DMs and will be working through it over the week. Please have patience.
Also remove some details which revealed my identity.

Update 2: I have included the affiliate link https://bit.ly/3tUG2ck for the systems design interview insider's guide. I will be paid a small amount if you buy the course which I plan to donate for charity. I did find this course more in depth than grokking so I highly recommend it.

Update 3: Hey guys,
Sorry for not getting back to many of you on DMs. Some problem with blind and I am not able to get to unanswered messages and page just disappear. I will try to report it to blind and get it sorted out. In the meantime, please drop me email on m.i.abh2k21@gmail.com and we can continue the conversation there. Sorry for any inconvenience.

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TOP 385 Comments
  • Just FYI: The post which OP has mentioned and the discord server , that person now charge for taking mock interviewes. They blatantly preach Alex Xu book and high chance it’s him only making that post as an marketing tactic. Similarly , this post can be just another of his marketing skills to promote his book and mock interviews. Be careful.
    Mar 22, 2021 6
  • Investment Management Firm
    73vf

    Investment Management Firm

    73vf
    Mr. India....after reading your post and success...Mogambo Khuus Hua!! :)
    Congratulations friend!!
    Mar 21, 2021 1
  • Google
    qeoy61

    Go to company page Google

    qeoy61
    FB E6 average survive rate 30% or less, so good luck OP
    Mar 22, 2021 7
  • New
    LIFOstocks

    New

    LIFOstocks
    And the E6 PIP timer starts tomorrow
    Mar 22, 2021 1
  • Oracle
    tc107

    Go to company page Oracle

    tc107
    Thank God. Glad that someone admitted that they got easy/medium questions in the interview.

    Otherwise, everyone keeps saying "I got medium/hard" and makes newbies like myself wondering if I would ever pass the phone interview.
    Mar 21, 2021 0