|
Self taught programmer WITH a CS degree, worked at 2 of the companies you mentioned. I got a master's degree in CS a while ago. I still call myself a self taught programmer because I started learning as soon as I started practicing CS at work. A degree is like a passeport, hard to move around without it and people assume you do have a passeport because it's easy to get. So, it could be just a memory exercise. If you practice on leetcode and memorize about a 100 different problems, then you should be able to get in any of these companies (as illustrated by other people here). Last but not least, to really answer your question, you basically feel pressured to deliver a lot in a small period of time. Not once, not twice, always. You get judged a lot on your abilities and at the end of the day, you still work on products that solve very basic problems - web app, mobile app, e-commerce, social, etc. It's all about fear and ego. Was I able to work at one of these top companies? Am I the smartest employee in my group? Is my annual package bigger than my friends packages? Am I wearing a t-shirt of my employer during the weekends? Things like that... from experience, you should be hunting for a much bigger opportunity in life. Go where things don't exist yet and don't get distracted by very successful people like zuck, jobs, gates, etc. who have built empires. Do you want to work for their missions or yours? Use them as examples, don't work for them! |