$200k offers on paid work samples vs preparing for $400k FAANG interviews?
Hi Taro team and community,
I'm currently unemployed, living in my parents attic for the last 5 months, and I have been able to persuade a few early stage companies (seed/series A) to offer paid work sample interviews instead of the standard 3-4 live technical interview loops due to the depth of my experience. I have gotten an offer from at least 1 company so far (w/ a $200k base).
However, I'm trying to maximize compensation in addition to company fit and so my worry is that because the paid work sample interview approach doesn't scale to the FAANG companies (where the total comp offers there are $280k to $400k + sign on bonus + stock that doubles every 4 years) I'm not actually making progress preparing for those incredibly difficult kinds of interviews (data structures & algos, system designs, behavioral, etc) where the rewards are dramatically higher.
In fact, I worry the paid work sample approach is actually counter productive to my goals & growth and therefore maybe I'm cheating myself? 🤷
But at the same time it's hard to turn down $200k offers when one doesn't have an income coming in and is feeling marooned in their parents attic 😂
What advice do y'all have here for me and other fellow Tarodactyls facing similar situations?
![Senior Software Engineer [E5] at Meta company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fmeta.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Da7a5bcc0-e178-4b5b-b71e-09bf6c6aefae&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
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Discussion
(4 comments)- 8
15 days agoAI/ML Eng @ Series C startupTbh, you're probably not making progress on your DSA/interview prep because you live in an attic and have no coworkers to talk to. Your environment outside of work often affects your work deeply. So maybe instead of $400K being your immediate goal, just get out of your parents' place.
Personal experience: I dropped out of my Master's and lived at home for a year before finding a SWE job. It was a terrible existence. I still do live at home but have a job now so it's much more bearable.
- 115 days agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
First, definitely take the $200k offer. That is a nice opportunity if you're looking for a job, and you'll also improve your prospects for the next job by being employed.
Like Elliot said, a lot of learning is social or peer-driven, so just the change of environment will help you.
- 115 days agoEng @ Taro
Agree with everyone else. If you sign one of your offers at an early stage company, you'll be able to build more work experience and prepare for technical interviews at FAANG while you are working. It's not worth it to hold out for a higher paying offer because it might not be there.
- 1
15 days agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroFirst off, $200k base is really good for a mid-level engineer. Even if you went to FAANG, you probably wouldn't get $200k base (that's more senior band). As others have mentioned, you should probably take the offer unless you have a Google onsite next week or something.
Living in your parents' attic is rough, both tactically (harder to hang out and bring people over) and mentally (you don't feel independent/successful). I think your goal now should be to break out of that rut - Maybe move out into an apartment with roommates (ideally other tech people to learn more/stay motivated) to keep rent low.
When it comes to FAANG, it's more a matter of "when" not "if". You are relatively early in your career, and careers are long. I think you should just take your "bird in hand" so to speak, work hard to crush it at that job, and apply to Big Tech after 1.5+ years.
