[__s]

> many direct entrants (your first job)

No degree here. I took on work at a low salary for the first few years, viewing it as "paid education". Now working for Microsoft

Let's not move the bar of this discussion to "first job"; it's not a useful metric. Better to discuss position attained by some age

[tylerhou]

> Better to discuss position attained by some age

I know a SWE at Google who is <20 and does not have a degree. So it certainly is possible, and it implies that you don't need 10+ years of experience to break into FAANG without a bachelor's.

[walshemj]

Your would need to compare the outcome of a large cohort and not relay on individual experiences maybe you and I where just lucky.

[__s]

Totally agree, nothing in my comment suggested otherwise

I feel like you're pulling the HN staple "anti anecdata" card when my point wasn't "you're wrong because I exist" & was instead "you're wrong because your metric says people who skip post secondary, collect a meagre salary initially, & eventually end up at FAANG by age 30 should've paid thousands of dollars to attend post secondary until their mid twenties to end up there instead."