Advice on getting into a FAANG or equivalent company?

Question

I have 7+ years of experience, but mainly at smaller size companies in the midwest. Currently contracting at Ameriprise.

I'd love to make a run for a larger FAANG company or equivalent; Microsoft, Square, Shopify, etc... I always see/hear all these fresh/college students getting in with no experience. What gives and what am I missing?

I'm 37/M. TOC $80k.

Any tips help! Thanks!

Munkers · Accepted Answer

Echoing what some others have said, brushing up the resume is a must and referrals are key. It's tough to build the network from the ground up if you don't already have one, but makes a big difference.

Also, there's a dose of luck and timing. I have a friend that started at Microsoft a year ago. He had been applying for 3 years, had loads of experience, a degree and referrals from inside. They ended up calling him out of the blue because his profile matched something they were looking for but it wasn't because of him applying for a referral, he was just in their system.

I'm not sure about other companies but places like Microsoft or CDW have a career site where you can create a profile and apply, but that profile stays around and they'll search it when looking to fill a role. Creating a profile at those places, keeping it up to date and continuing to show interest in jobs helps as well.

Unknown · Answer

Good question, one of the things most people don't realize is that most "fresh/college students" that are getting the chance at these companies are extremely driven Master degree students who typically have a few years of work between their BA and Masters. I only point this out since I think it sometimes seems as those jobs are just being handed out and it just isn't the case.

kilimanjaro · Answer

I think there are two components to this. Number 1 is getting your foot in the door, that can be sprucing up and personalizing your resume or getting a referral from someone, and number 2 is doing well on the interview loop and actually getting an offer. Each one’s preparation is slightly different. Levels resume service is actually pretty solid for point 1 if you don’t necessarily know anyone. Cold reach out on LinkedIn for referrals too. For point 2, a lot of it is just tiresome preparation work and practicing face to face communication with someone else as a mock interview. I’d try to get on a call with a few senior design members just to calibrate and get their thoughts as well.

NIJf29i1ff · Answer

Couple things I always ask when I see this question:

1) Have you parsed your resume to match the key terms/etc in the job descriptions you're applying to?
2) Do you have any referrals you can take advantage of?

Bonus: are you trying to relocate? College grads are pretty flexible when it comes to relocation in my experience so that isn't a sticking point. Might be if you're an older candidate with a family, house, etc etc.

WhenIm64 · Answer

In a similar situation also wondering this

Advice on getting into a FAANG or equivalent company?

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