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Comment by sjg007 | Hacker News Reader

I would not worry about test scores. Test scores have routinely been show to not correlate with actual job performance.

For coding interviews, to do well, work through all of the hackerrank.com or the equivalent problem sets in your preferred language. At some point you will see the "algorithmic" or "data structure" patterns in the problem sets and you will be able to go forth. I am not sure these even predict job performance though but they are the price you have to pay to "get in".

Also I think the average engineer at a FAANGM company takes 2-3 interviews to actually get in as well. So look at it as a challenge and learning opportunity rather.

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I’ve done like ~250 leetcode problems since undergrad (including redos) and I still fare poorly to get into FB/G. I’ve probably done 3-4 at the FANGs by now outside of my current one but failed all of them, so I’m definitely below the average.

Ok well if you’ve done the work then maybe google isn’t for you. But there is for sure another technology company out there who needs your skills and would love to have you as an employee. Also do you even want to work for google if they place such a high value on leetcode interviews? What are you looking for in a job that Google is the answer?

I want society to see me as valued, as measured in compensation and treatment. Currently people think of me as lesser for where I work.

I get the same number of massage credits (0) at my current job as does an electrician.

How do you know people think lesser of you? Have you asked people that? Is it really true? Why is what other people think important to you?

People are never impressed when they find out where I work but always are impressed at the perks and prestige of other companies. It feels like a “normal” job, not an elite one.

And yes I have asked others...it’s important because I agree with their thought process on this.

Do these other people actually think less of you as a person because of where you work? I get the disconnect between compensation and skill. I think it happens all the time regardless of the companies involved and that your pay is not a function of your actual skill or value but a function of leverage. There is a lot of virtue signaling in leetcode style interviews but the research shows that these types of interviews do not predict job success or even happiness. There is tons of academic research on this. You even see it in the NBA, the NFL, and the MLB.

However these signals are highly leveraged because they map to a compensation measure. Also people with the best offers tend to have the most leverage, meaning they've got multiple offers from equivalents. In fact this was a big problem earlier that the FAANG companies minus Netflix all conspired to suppress wages. Netflix did not because they were small at the time and were definitely not considered elite. Netflix then used mega pay packages to recruit and the rest is history...

So if the probability of getting a job at Google and Facebook is each 0.2%. Then the probability of having multiple offers is 0.0004% .. You mentioned you had a hedge fund offer. That is also pretty good in my opinion. I think all you are missing is leverage and this has nothing to do with IQ. I think your IQ is probably good enough. I also think that IQ is a floor to entry and not a measure of specific success.

So I don't think less of you. You say in another post that you already work at a FAANG! That is quite the achievement.

Yes, I think people do. I don’t get European vacations or work trips in first. I don’t get Hawaiian off sites or bonuses or a free phone or a massage. If I’m lucky I get two free drinks at the Christmas party.

Googlers know this and look down on me for being dumber accordingly.

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