There are some initiatives at Meta in which your recruiter will connect you to employees to help you answer such questions

Of course, not everyone will have an idea about how a particular team is but they can share their views on different orgs and sentiments across the company

I’ll try all ways and try to get as much information as possible.

Senior Software Engineer [E5] at Meta

Hemant Pandey

I try to not reveal my level at first and rather talk about my scope at work

If recruiter is too pushy, I will tell the level at which I want to get hired and convince that I am already operating at similar scope

It depends on what step you are facing difficulty with.

It is getting interview calls OR clearing interviews

In tech interviews, luck plays a significant role and you can increase the surface area of your luck by applying more aggressively
- Ping recruiters directly
- Ask for referrals
- Apply daily to at least 20 companies

If it is about clearing interviews, I think it is important to reflect on why you failed and move forward

You don’t need to tell your manager unless you want.

Also, I think it can be beneficial to you if you are senior/staff to get insights into what is the vision of the org and find opportunities and asking them how you can help.

But, if you have nothing concrete to ask or discuss, just keep it monthly rather than weekly or bi-weekly. I have it setup monthly and I cancel if I have nothing on agenda to save time for both

Do not reject yourself before the recruiter does.

I would apply to any role even if I have no experience in that domain or field.

I got into Meta as E5 when I had 3.5 years of experience. Even I expected a E4 offer and would have accepted that too probably.

If you get an interview call, you would then need to align your experience with the requirements and spend some time creating a compelling story.

But, always take chances. You literally have nothing to lose. 

Short Answer : Nope, not worth it unless you want to be a Solutions Architect or go into a cloud specialized role\
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Long Answer : I wrote a newsletter on same topic\
<https://open.substack.com/pub/thehustlingengineer/p/are-certifications-of-any-use-in?r=yznlc&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web> 