[fatnoah]

>I’ve tried this strategy a number of times and I wish it was that straightforward.

I'm currently at a FAANG and it is that straightforward. You don't just say, "hey, I should have people under me" but you do say that you're interested in managing folks some day. The company even offers a specific development track and training for people that want to do that.

That's also how I got into management at a non-FAANG company. I was hired as an IC, but indicated that my desire was to be a manager. I eventually became a VP.

Obviously every place is different, but you do need to make your desires known.

[syndacks]

I'm curious if you can answer the question I posed on this thread a few sibblings up. Thanks.

[fatnoah]

It looks like another user answered your question and covered it well, but I'll add my own color as well.

>What's the bar for being hired as a FAANG engineering manager?

In my past cycle I interviewed at, and received offers from two of the FAANGs. Past Engineering management experience was required and experience managing other managers was definitely a big plus. I think it's that latter bit that really makes a candidate very attractive since there seems to be high demand. A history of strong IC experience and technical leadership was also required.

I didn't have FAANG experience, but did have significant startup experience and a clear career progression, culminating in a few years at larger (>10k people) companies. One benefit of startup work is that the majority of my past experience is being the primary architect & owner of complicated production codebases and systems. The larger companies provided an opportunity to show how I was effective working cross functionally and getting things done in orgs where I was not in the chain of command.

So, tl;dr: is that strong IC background plus a few years of management are required, but specific types of experience can make you more attractive.