[nicolashahn]

The people that attempt and fail their interviews settle for FAANG and are probably pretty happy. Most software engineers I've met don't even know about Jane Street.

Also, definitely not "in basically every way," but very specifically logical/mathematical intelligence.

[wk_end]

Yep. I worked at JS, and there's plenty of ways you're probably "superior" to me.

Also, ~almost everyone I worked with at JS was brilliant and I don't say this to disparage anyone, even as engineers there were definitely blindspots.

Also also: please remember that SBF worked there too.

[laidoffamazon]

> and there's plenty of ways you're probably "superior" to me.

I guarantee you there is probably none, lol. I can't play an instrument, I can't lift, I can't run a marathon, haven't written a book, don't know a Presidential candidate - those are all normal things for the Jane Street that came from HYPSM or even the Google class of people, but extremely out of reach for people like me.

[vgatherps]

I know plenty of Jane Street (and other “prestigious” quant firm people). They’re generally smart, admittedly tend towards overachievers, and are otherwise relatively normal people. They’re not a class of god tier humans sitting above everyone else.

[filoleg]

You are a bit delusional about what "google class of people" is, not even mentioning the delusions about the whole concept of those "classes of people" really existing on such a level.

Out of bajillion googlers I personally know well outside of work, I know exactly one that knows a presidential candidate, and it has nothing to do with the school they went to (we both went to the same public college in the south). That's just one out of tons.

> I can't play an instrument, I can't lift, I can't run a marathon

No one is just naturally "good" or "talented" at those things. Those are all just skills that no one is good at (at first), and then they practice those, and then they get better. And yes, not everyone can be Michael Jordan, but I think the bar for "I am pretty good at basketball" is way below the MJ level. That would go for pretty much all of those things you listed. It is all a question of what you are personally interested in and why. Because if you hate playing an instrument just due to its nature, then you probably would find it really difficult to put the time in to get good at it.

[laidoffamazon]

> You are a bit delusional about what "google class of people" is, not even mentioning the delusions about the whole concept of those "classes of people" really existing on such a level

How so? After several years at Amazon and several years of knowing people at other companies it’s apparent the ones at Amazon have a totally different standard of living - one without having Olympic medals (apparently Google publishes a list of Googler-olympians) or famous friends or ski trips. And they don’t even know people that do these things, even though it’s common at Google.

I didn’t even ever meet a Harvard grad when I was at Amazon - it’s hard to not meet one at Google or Jane Street (more so the later of course).

To remind you, I don’t know any and nobody I know knows anybody that knows a presidential candidate, but I go on Twitter for 5 minutes and see a Yale grad with 15 mutual with Vivek. It’s obvious there’s a big club of elites with accomplishments I can’t even dream of and I’m not in it or anywhere close to it.

And yeah, you gotta get good for all of those but everyone starts with some talents (and I have none). Ive been “lifting” for years with zero improvement (probably a protein thing but I’m also fat and vegetarian, the former is probably genetics too despite my failed attempts at starvation). I’ve been leetcoding for years with zero improvement. No matter what I do I’m still mediocre, still a failure no matter how much I work while everyone else gets ahead. What’s even the point of working hard if I’ve never gotten anything for it?

Nobody has ever been able to elucidate ways that I’ve ever accomplished anything, ever.

[filoleg]

> I didn’t even ever meet a Harvard grad when I was at Amazon - it’s hard to not meet one at Google or Jane Street (more so the later of course).

I met two at Microsoft and none at Google. It mattered exactly zero to anyone. Do you, like, just ask everyone at work which college they went to? Because I don't know that info for most of my coworkers, and neither do I care. Pretty certain that most people I work with don't know where I went to school either. The only times I even remember it being brought up front and forward was when we hosted interns, because duh, they go to school somewhere and they mention it.

> one without having Olympic medals (apparently Google publishes a list of Googler-olympians)

I personally don't know a single googler-olympian or know of one. I am sure they exist, as well as that list you are talking about, but this is literally something that no one cares about. 99.99% (probably even more) of googlers are not olympians and probably dont even know what that actually means.

> famous friends or ski trips

Famous friends - you assume they made those "famous friends" from working at a tech company as a regular engineer? And what even counts as "famous"? As for ski trips, my friends working across a bunch of companies (including amazon and noname companies) do it all the time. They just don't see the need to expose it all to everyone who isn't their actual irl friend.

> I go on Twitter for 5 minutes and see a Yale grad with 15 mutual with Vivek

Bro. Having twitter mutuals is not the same as being friends with someone. Also, I am pretty sure that bragging about being friends with Vivek (if you were one) is how one gets ostracised in a lot of circles. For a lot of people in tech, admitting to supporting him would be a social semi-suicide.

> Ive been “lifting” for years with zero improvement [...]. I’ve been leetcoding for years with zero improvement.

Get a personal trainer for at least a little bit, so that they can pinpoint what you might be doing wrong and teach you proper form and advise on nutrition. Something is going wrong somewhere, unless you suffer from one of the extremely rare diseases (e.g., some thyroid ones) or you figured out how to break the laws of physics or defy all that is currently known about human body.

Get a tutor or someone to study with using leetcode. Just throwing time at "practicing" things is a waste of time. Practice has to be mindful, and focused on improving specific aspects. If you practice a piano piece, you don't just go from start to finish over and over. You break it into chunks, focus on the problematic ones, figure out why they are problematic, train yourself in those areas, get better, then glue it all together. Just running a piece from start to finish over and over is a waste of time. Having a teacher, at least at first, would net you massive benefits. It is a night and day in terms of trying to get all the basics right on your own vs. with someone who can save you the time and anquish by pinpointing how and where you can improve.

> What’s even the point of working hard if I’ve never gotten anything for it?

Working hard isn't enough, working smart is.

[laidoffamazon]

Mutuals with Vivek on Facebook, on his private account. Very different situation. It means you’re friends with someone worth $600 million that was making $1 million a year when he was 26 at a hedge fund nobody’s heard of.

I’ve considered a trainer but it doesn’t seem like it would be terribly effective if starving myself hasn’t worked. It really does kind of feel like I’m just a defective human if I’m so bad at everything.