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Oof, I've got an L3 interview with Google in a little over a week. Hearing about hiring slowdowns like this is making me wish I'd been more aggressive with my i

Oof, I've got an L3 interview with Google in a little over a week. Hearing about hiring slowdowns like this is making me wish I'd been more aggressive with my interview timeline, but I'm not sure I've prepared enough as-is. If I'd gone any faster I /definitely/ wouldn't have had enough time to refresh on DS&A and grind out Leetcode. I know the consensus on HN is that FAANG is nothing special (and not that hard to get into!), but for a recent grad with mediocre internships from the pandemic and minimal opportunities for development in the role I'm currently in, getting clout like that on my resume early in my career would be awesome. Here's hoping the slowdowns really don't end up hitting technical roles as hard.

metadat 4y ago
Good luck buddy, wish all the best for you.
titanomachy 4y ago
HN has plenty of people who say that, but I don’t think I would call it a consensus.
yegle 4y ago
AFAIKT Google's recruitment for SWE and SRE (system engineer ladder) are separate. If you did not pass the SWE interview, ask the recruiter if you can do an SRE interview. Hope this helps! Source: I went the process of failing the SWE interview but got an offer as an SRE.
- ignoramous 4y ago
  It isn't to mean that SRE is any easier...
  - thematrixturtle 4y ago
    There are two separate tracks for SRE, SRE-SWE (same bar as SRE) and SRE-SE (Systems Engineering). While SE has a lower coding bar, it's arguably the harder of the two since they make up for it with Linux internals etc.
    - aeyes 4y ago
      Any good resources to see how they interview for SRE-SE? For SWE you can find a lot of material on Leetcode and similar sites (and of course books) but "Linux internals" has a near infinite depth.
      - dilyevsky 4y ago
        https://overthewire.org/wargames/bandit/ https://overthewire.org/wargames/bandit/ I did a bunch of those panels in my time. Imo if you read 2-3 books on unix/linux/networking and can complete this wargame in a couple evenings you’ll stand out quite a bit.
      - yegle 4y ago
        NALSD question is a required part of the interview. https://sre.google/workbook/non-abstract-design/ https://sre.google/workbook/non-abstract-design/ I did a quick search and it looks like there are youtube videos explaining it so that might be helpful. Other than that I was asked to implement a 'tail' command using my familiar language, and explain why deleting a file from disk doesn't free up the space.
        mandeepj 4y ago
        > explain why deleting a file from disk doesn't free up the space. Because System deletes only the “pointer” to the file and not the actual file. For the exact same reason, cut+paste is faster than copy+paste
        moreice 4y ago
        It does delete the file, as long as no other processes are accessing it and there are no other hard links to it.
        mandeepj 4y ago
        Please check this one (I know you can edit Recycle Bin settings on Windows to directly deleted the file, instead of sending it in there) - https://www.lacie.com/support/kb/available-disk-space-does-not-increase-after-deleting-files-006369en/#:~:text=Available%20disk%20spaces%20does%20not,located%20in%20each%20hard%20drive https://www.lacie.com/support/kb/available-disk-space-does-n....
  - yegle 4y ago
    No it's not easier, sorry if my reply gave that impression. An SRE-SE requires a different skill set compared to SRE-SWE or SWE and the interview questions are different. If you have both skill sets, you effectively have two opportunities here :-)
  - waynesonfire 4y ago
    It precisely means that.
- okdood64 4y ago
  SE is arguably much harder. Instead of just optimizing for coding, you need to be good at linux troubleshooting, low level kernel stuff and networking. There’s a reason most new hires come in as SWE, particularly new grads with not much real world experience. That said, if you already possess this knowledge it could be easier as it takes a bit of the randomness out of getting a LeetCode question that you can’t figure out.
  - evercast 4y ago
    It is not harder, it is different. They just ask more system topics, while focusing less on coding. There is, however, a catch. If you get hired as a SRE-SWE, you can easily switch to a regular SWE. If you get hired as a SRE-SE, you may have to reinterview to change your job ladder. SE is okay, but you clearly have more possibilities as a SWE.
    - ikiris 4y ago
      You only have to take some of the coding ones though iirc
    - dom96 4y ago
      Why is there such a distinction? What's the difference in the day to day of a SRE-SWE vs. an SRE-SE?
      - smueller1234 4y ago
        Entirely the same job, same pay. We just want to be open to folks with DIFFERENT yet valuable experience.
      - yegle 4y ago
        SRE-SWE and SRE-SE on the same team will have exactly the same expectation given the same level. Depending on the project you work on, you might have a code-heavy project that requires you to work closely with the SWE team, or an operability-heavy project that doesn't have much coding.
  - 4y ago
- ThePadawan 4y ago
  I feel like I need to add my own 2 cents to this point: Definitely ask your recruiter and have them confirm which track you're interviewing for. They just have numbers to hit. They will try to drop you into whichever track they need to. If a recruiter ever "seemingly misspoke" and moved you from SWE to SWE-SRE, ask for confirmation and/or insist on interviewing the track you are actually interested in.
frays 4y ago
The title and article literally says that Google is still hiring engineering and technical roles. Why do you think this would affect you interviewing as a software engineer?
- wesleywt 4y ago
  They might be hiring as many developers as they use to
edmundsauto 4y ago
I hear you about the hypercompetitive perspective. I'm 20 years older and can't believe the stress that we put learners through. If I can offer my voice - focus on doing some real shit. Don't worry about the career ladder - find experiences where you accomplished some real goals. Getting on the FAANG career ladder too early is probably very limiting. The big differentiator is whether you can take on accountability for making decisions; this requires practice (and luck) => experience. Don't stress it. People told me this when I was a recent college grad in the mid 2000's. Develop your own heuristic of learning and growing versus stagnating. On the outside-of-FAANG-world, there are so many more opportunities for growth than a kept engineer can imagine.
- deleted 4y ago
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- deleted 4y ago
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- lovich 4y ago
  > Getting on the FAANG career ladder too early is probably very limiting I can’t help but at chuckle at this with how big a barrier there is in comp between faang and non faang companies. You can get in if you spend months studying again or have a job that legitimately has you using comp sci on a day to day basis but for most folks they are gonna forget the skills needed to get a faang job shortly after college if they don’t get into one
  - lumost 4y ago
    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 4y ago
      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
sangnoir 4y ago
> I know the consensus on HN is that FAANG is nothing special It's nothing special to those who are OK with leaving 6-figures on the table per anum - or are independently wealthy.
- xvector 4y ago
  I think OP called it "nothing special [on HN]" because the majority of HNers probably already work at or have worked at FAANG.
  - occz 4y ago
    >majority This can't really be right though, can it? There aren't enough engineers in FAANGs to equal half of the DAUs of HN, and I kind of doubt that all of them would be on HN.

metadat 4y ago

Good luck buddy, wish all the best for you.

titanomachy 4y ago

HN has plenty of people who say that, but I don’t think I would call it a consensus.

yegle 4y ago

AFAIKT Google's recruitment for SWE and SRE (system engineer ladder) are separate. If you did not pass the SWE interview, ask the recruiter if you can do an SRE interview. Hope this helps! Source: I went the process of failing the SWE interview but got an offer as an SRE.

ignoramous 4y ago
It isn't to mean that SRE is any easier...
- thematrixturtle 4y ago
  There are two separate tracks for SRE, SRE-SWE (same bar as SRE) and SRE-SE (Systems Engineering). While SE has a lower coding bar, it's arguably the harder of the two since they make up for it with Linux internals etc.
  - aeyes 4y ago
    Any good resources to see how they interview for SRE-SE? For SWE you can find a lot of material on Leetcode and similar sites (and of course books) but "Linux internals" has a near infinite depth.
    - dilyevsky 4y ago
      https://overthewire.org/wargames/bandit/ https://overthewire.org/wargames/bandit/ I did a bunch of those panels in my time. Imo if you read 2-3 books on unix/linux/networking and can complete this wargame in a couple evenings you’ll stand out quite a bit.
    - yegle 4y ago
      NALSD question is a required part of the interview. https://sre.google/workbook/non-abstract-design/ https://sre.google/workbook/non-abstract-design/ I did a quick search and it looks like there are youtube videos explaining it so that might be helpful. Other than that I was asked to implement a 'tail' command using my familiar language, and explain why deleting a file from disk doesn't free up the space.
      - mandeepj 4y ago
        > explain why deleting a file from disk doesn't free up the space. Because System deletes only the “pointer” to the file and not the actual file. For the exact same reason, cut+paste is faster than copy+paste
        moreice 4y ago
        It does delete the file, as long as no other processes are accessing it and there are no other hard links to it.
        mandeepj 4y ago
        Please check this one (I know you can edit Recycle Bin settings on Windows to directly deleted the file, instead of sending it in there) - https://www.lacie.com/support/kb/available-disk-space-does-not-increase-after-deleting-files-006369en/#:~:text=Available%20disk%20spaces%20does%20not,located%20in%20each%20hard%20drive https://www.lacie.com/support/kb/available-disk-space-does-n....
- yegle 4y ago
  No it's not easier, sorry if my reply gave that impression. An SRE-SE requires a different skill set compared to SRE-SWE or SWE and the interview questions are different. If you have both skill sets, you effectively have two opportunities here :-)
- waynesonfire 4y ago
  It precisely means that.
okdood64 4y ago
SE is arguably much harder. Instead of just optimizing for coding, you need to be good at linux troubleshooting, low level kernel stuff and networking. There’s a reason most new hires come in as SWE, particularly new grads with not much real world experience. That said, if you already possess this knowledge it could be easier as it takes a bit of the randomness out of getting a LeetCode question that you can’t figure out.
- evercast 4y ago
  It is not harder, it is different. They just ask more system topics, while focusing less on coding. There is, however, a catch. If you get hired as a SRE-SWE, you can easily switch to a regular SWE. If you get hired as a SRE-SE, you may have to reinterview to change your job ladder. SE is okay, but you clearly have more possibilities as a SWE.
  - ikiris 4y ago
    You only have to take some of the coding ones though iirc
  - dom96 4y ago
    Why is there such a distinction? What's the difference in the day to day of a SRE-SWE vs. an SRE-SE?
    - smueller1234 4y ago
      Entirely the same job, same pay. We just want to be open to folks with DIFFERENT yet valuable experience.
    - yegle 4y ago
      SRE-SWE and SRE-SE on the same team will have exactly the same expectation given the same level. Depending on the project you work on, you might have a code-heavy project that requires you to work closely with the SWE team, or an operability-heavy project that doesn't have much coding.
- 4y ago
ThePadawan 4y ago
I feel like I need to add my own 2 cents to this point: Definitely ask your recruiter and have them confirm which track you're interviewing for. They just have numbers to hit. They will try to drop you into whichever track they need to. If a recruiter ever "seemingly misspoke" and moved you from SWE to SWE-SRE, ask for confirmation and/or insist on interviewing the track you are actually interested in.

frays 4y ago

The title and article literally says that Google is still hiring engineering and technical roles. Why do you think this would affect you interviewing as a software engineer?

wesleywt 4y ago
They might be hiring as many developers as they use to

edmundsauto 4y ago

I hear you about the hypercompetitive perspective. I'm 20 years older and can't believe the stress that we put learners through. If I can offer my voice - focus on doing some real shit. Don't worry about the career ladder - find experiences where you accomplished some real goals. Getting on the FAANG career ladder too early is probably very limiting. The big differentiator is whether you can take on accountability for making decisions; this requires practice (and luck) => experience. Don't stress it. People told me this when I was a recent college grad in the mid 2000's. Develop your own heuristic of learning and growing versus stagnating. On the outside-of-FAANG-world, there are so many more opportunities for growth than a kept engineer can imagine.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
lovich 4y ago
> Getting on the FAANG career ladder too early is probably very limiting I can’t help but at chuckle at this with how big a barrier there is in comp between faang and non faang companies. You can get in if you spend months studying again or have a job that legitimately has you using comp sci on a day to day basis but for most folks they are gonna forget the skills needed to get a faang job shortly after college if they don’t get into one
- lumost 4y ago
  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 4y ago
    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

sangnoir 4y ago

> I know the consensus on HN is that FAANG is nothing special It's nothing special to those who are OK with leaving 6-figures on the table per anum - or are independently wealthy.

xvector 4y ago
I think OP called it "nothing special [on HN]" because the majority of HNers probably already work at or have worked at FAANG.
- occz 4y ago
  >majority This can't really be right though, can it? There aren't enough engineers in FAANGs to equal half of the DAUs of HN, and I kind of doubt that all of them would be on HN.