If you're a new grad or an intern applying for a "brand name" tech company, you're gonna have a rough time.
There's lots of companies out there that pay well, offer far better wlb, and aren't nearly as "picky" as FAANG.
There's lots of companies out there that pay well, offer far better wlb, and aren't nearly as "picky" as FAANG.
It also has, historically, been very good on the resume. And they have tended to be on the whole respectful places to work with good perks / benefits.
Whether this all still holds in a year or two, we shall see.
I suspect the issue was that FAANG was massively overpaying junior talent fresh out of school (and hiring leetcoders without any engineering background) and now they're correcting.
I started in 2005 with no degree at $10/hr. Many years later, a handful of job changes, and I'm north of $200k total compensation when you include salary, insurance and ESOP. That's a huge leap from where I started, but when I see people nearly 1/2 my age hitting $200k on salary alone, it makes me wonder...
total comp for a senior engineer easily breaks $300k at any of the FAANGs. at the same time, downleveling is common for people who don't grind leetcode problems pretty intensely. I know more than one person with 10+ years at the "senior" level at other companies who only got a mid-level offer at FAANGs. and they still took it; it was more money even with the downlevel.