Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

_maxt3r_ t1_jdwlo95 wrote

Congratulations on your new job.

How was your overall impression of the interviewing process compared to your last job hunts?

60

captboscho OP t1_jdwmjhb wrote

A little better, not so many "leetcode" questions and a lot more higher level questions to test my understanding of full systems.

55

CountVampaDantes t1_jdxwym3 wrote

Congrats and happy cake day! Do you feel comfortable sharing the annual compensation details for the one you accepted?

13

captboscho OP t1_jdxxbc3 wrote

Sure! So I live in a non-coastal state so comp ratios can be a little different, but salary is 155k

24

Jimmer117 t1_je39tcm wrote

Congrats on the new gig! If you don’t mind me asking. How did you prepare for system design? Any recommendation?

1

ElectroFlannelGore t1_jdwlq9x wrote

Ahhh thank you for confirming that at 35 I have no chance being self taught.

28

captboscho OP t1_jdwmoko wrote

I'm in my 30s too

16

captboscho OP t1_jdwmrys wrote

You always have a chance!

19

ElectroFlannelGore t1_jdwoge4 wrote

Eh... I'm on a scholarship studying to become a mindfulness meditation teacher.

Some graduates have gone on to start businesses that teach mindfulness to corpos.

So I'll probably just be leading mandatory wellness classes you hate....or don't. It's nice and actually works.

1

Chickensandcoke t1_jdx7j3c wrote

We used a mindfulness app/coach for our college sports team. High level, power 5 school. I believe they worked with most sports there. I enjoyed it a lot and definitely saw the value

6

ElectroFlannelGore t1_jdxagcn wrote

That's awesome. I know someone who does that specifically for college sports teams. They're doing really well and everyone they work with has nothing but good things to say.

5

RadFriday t1_jdwru13 wrote

Care to share some techniques? I work in tech and struggle with being present

2

ElectroFlannelGore t1_jdwvbd2 wrote

The bone stock basics are this:

Take a period of time during the day or several periods of time. I recommend honestly starting with 1 minute and then 5 minute chunks 4 times a day.

In that time you want to sit somewhere vaguely comfortable. Even your desk chair is fine.

Then focus on your breath. Find an aspect that you can focus on. Different aspects are easier fo different people.

Some like to focus on the feeling of the air passing through the nostrils on inhale or exhale.

Some focus on the feelings of the lungs filling and the ribs expanding.

Others focus on the entire cycle of breathing.

Then the final step is when you notice your attention wandering to anything at all, you label that "thinking" and move your attention back to your breath.

The point isn't to "Stop Thinking" the point is to notice your thoughts, feelings or emotions as they happen and stop following the narrative of the thought. Don't judge the thought. Don't indulge the thought.

Some also find it helpful to repeat "I am breathing in, I am breathing out, I am present." However as your practice goes on and evolves you should try stopping the mantra and just focusing on the breath.

Like any exercise you are working a muscle. It's going to be difficult at first and almost seem impossible.

Common complaints are,"I just keep getting off track!" Or "I catch myself daydreaming!"

Awesome. Great. That's literally the practice. Catching yourself and bringing your attention back is flexing the attention muscle.

I'm present this secularly and have plenty of information in that realm but this is, at it's core, a Buddhist practice for me and I'd be happy to expand on that as well.

2

TraceSpazer t1_jdx72te wrote

When you feel stressed, remember to calmly breathe.

It's one of the few things we can do that directly affects our parasympathetic nervous system. (I think that's the term)

Breath signals your heart and brain to come out of the stress-hornome cycle.

Game changer that.

2

AgentScreech t1_jdyqt02 wrote

I got a job at a big tech firm at 40 after switching careers at 35. It can be done

6

Nnelg1990 t1_jdws1vz wrote

5 rounds of soliciting? Wtf

16

aristidedn t1_jdwzfis wrote

If you're being considered for a job at one of the top-tier tech companies, you will typically go through 4-8 interviews (after the recruiter screening) before a hiring decision is made.

34

captboscho OP t1_jdx04mh wrote

Yeah those are all interviews after the recruiter screen

17

peepeedog t1_jdyf1ma wrote

I know of at least three that do not have third rounds. They also sometime skip the first round screen. It’s basically just one partial day of interviewing then done.

2

ThinkOutTheBox t1_jdws68g wrote

You hear back from 50% of applications?

15

aristidedn t1_jdwznsc wrote

This is not unusual for someone with a FAANG/MANGA company on their resume.

32

woofridgerator t1_jdyambn wrote

Much better results than those with MAGA experience I’ve heard

22

captboscho OP t1_jdx0v4s wrote

Most of them I heard back was due to networking and referrals

16

foxbase t1_jdxf8bu wrote

What kind of companies are you interviewing at? I’m in the same boat but I feel maybe I’m being too picky. I’d like at least median for US but getting lower offers.

9

captboscho OP t1_jdxiq25 wrote

Honestly out of those 9 companies I had interview rounds with, only one was a super established company, the others were pre-ipo companies

9

foxbase t1_jdxmm3v wrote

Ahhhh, are you mostly on linkedin? I feel like I get contacted more by headhunters for mid-sized companies than pre-ipo, but that could just be because I'm ex-faang with no startup exp.

5

captboscho OP t1_jdxoimn wrote

So of the 9 companies I actually interviewed with, 2 of them came from recruiters talking to be on linked in. 6 of them were from me networking and the last was just a cold application.

8

foxbase t1_jdxppu4 wrote

Ahh I see. Did you know people who worked at the startups from FAANG then? Oddly of all of my former coworkers only one of them moved to a startup. Not so helpful when the big companies are on freezes right now lol

2

captboscho OP t1_jdxqmn2 wrote

They were mostly people from school and my MBA - but yeah I'm mostly just grateful to have a job now, it's crazy out there

5

foxbase t1_jdxr4ng wrote

Ahh gotcha. Yeah that’s fortunate. Glad you found something!

3

ChocolateBunny t1_jdxp6wf wrote

I did not expect this much auto-rejection from ex-FAANG. Were you aiming for a higher position than you were before?

7

captboscho OP t1_jdxqxsi wrote

Like I did apply to a few managerial positions because I'm completing my MBA this year - but honestly the market is pretty crazy and most of those auto-rejections we're at FAANG or other very established companies

5

rigglesbee t1_jdyro1p wrote

Crazy good or crazy bad? Or crazy all over the place?

1

ZIGGY-Zz t1_je067zm wrote

You mentioned in some of the comments that many of the interviews were from networking. Can you explain a bit how you built your network and how you were able to convert a connection into a job interview?

3

captboscho OP t1_je06v2u wrote

Yeah that's a good question - i don't know, a few of the connections came from others students I knew or had projects with from my undergrad, had one old teacher that helped refer, a few people I had actually mentored and helped them find jobs in the past paid back the favor, then a few were "friends of friends" that I saw worked at desired companies so I asked our mutual friend to introduce us.

2

PeterGallaghersBrows t1_jdyxipm wrote

Why don't you count the recruiter as a 1st round? And why isn't "not a good fit" the same as "rejected" for other rounds?

2

captboscho OP t1_jdzrtqa wrote

Because the recruiter talks we're usually just a pre screen of 15-30 minutes, not something I really needed to prep for. Engineering interviews feel completely different to me.

I don't know, I could've convinced them to your point, I guess I just didn't take the "not a good fit" personally because it was just based on a non-technical person's opinion of my skills based solely on a short conversation. But yeah, you're right probably should've combined them haha

1

kkpam_ t1_jdzr4vk wrote

Recruiters are scoping, not hiring.

2

TheSirCheddar t1_jdylqal wrote

did you use any connections/referals/references, or just go through recruiters?

1

captboscho OP t1_jdzrwj0 wrote

Oh yeah, like of the 9 that turned into actual interviews, 7 of them were from networking really.

2