Yeah, but the discussion was about referrals. Referrals are for getting your foot in the door. You don't generally need them for FAANG. You just need a half decent CV.
The hard part is passing the interviews, but referrals don't help with that, from what I know.
There was no “confusion”. The only purpose of a referral is to get the interview. If an internal recruiter reached out to you, a referral isn’t necessary.
Either way you still have to go through the same loop.
Yes, I “work for a FAANG” like many others do here.
No I couldn’t pass any DS&A tech screen without a lot of preparation.