[lumost]

I started at a FAANG as a senior swe with 8 years of experience. I did not get a comp sci degree, nor did I start my first job as SWE.

Just keep working towards your goals. When I started out I made a point to work an extra hour or two every day. If there was no work to do, I would study a topic of interest.

[lovich]

Not for nothing man, but an extra hour or two of work every day over the course of years is a high barrier.

Good for you that you made it, but it’s not so trivial a bar that I think telling people to not worry about getting into a faang early in their career is good advice if they care about money or career progression

[nvarsj]

Indeed. For lots of us, 2 hours a day is basically all the free time we have with family and other obligations. Spending all your free time for 6 months-year is a pretty brutal proposition, not to mention a huge ROI risk if you don't get the job at the end. OTOH, I think FAANG companies see this is a feature of the process (it filters out people who have a lot of external obligations).