[leetcrew]

I just went through the job search again, and I found the exact opposite to be true. for context, I went to a regionally-known (at best) state university and have just a few years of experience at a small company you've probably never heard of. so not quite "self-taught" but pretty far from what you'd think of as a the typical FAANG employee.

I applied to at least twenty roles at startups and small/medium-sized companies that seemed like a good fit for my skills and wrote thoughtful cover letters for each one. not a single one of those employers responded, not even to reject.

I also applied to a couple FAANGs, thinking it was a pretty long shot. but I ended up getting two on-sites, one of which I converted to an offer. there's definitely some truth to what people say about the unreasonable/irrelevant DS/algo problems, but I found it comforting to know for once what I was actually being assessed on.

not sure whether I got lucky with the FAANGs, unlucky with the smaller companies, or what, but just thought I'd share that anecdote. not the outcome I was expecting at the beginning of the process.