[tidbits]

FAANG definitely has a high bar, but there are many factors that affect interviews. However, I think a big part of it is that they were willing to take a risk on hiring me since I had 3 years of experience and did solidly on the interviews. In contrast with the non-FAANG companies I applied to, they probably saw the obscure company I had been working at as a negative and decided to play it safe and pass on me. What further supports this theory of mine is that, around the 6 month mark at FAANG, recruiters started flooding my email, even though the difference in experience between 3 years of programming and 3.5 years is minor.