Why everyone wants to work at FAANG (Facebook/Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google)

Written and Produced by: Mayuko Inoue
Editor: Shun Yamamoto
Research Advisors: Philip Guo, Den Delimarsky
Interviewees: Damonique Blake, Maddy Chen, Christofer Forbes, Tom Hooper, Manuel Oromendia, Daniel Sung, and Wilbur Vale
Thank you also to everyone who filled out my audience survey for this video!

🔖c h a p t e r s 🔖
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - About Me, for some context
04:26 - Part 1: The Pay and Perks
08:47 - Part 2: The Prestige
13:48 - Part 3: The Caliber
16:32 - Why this all matters
19:30 - Outtro

💖 m o r e m a y u k o 💖

🛠m y g e a r 🛠 (affiliate)

🌱r e s o u r c e s🌱

🎧m u s i c 🎧

🌸a b o u t 🌸
Mayuko Inoue is a content creator and Software Engineer. After working in Silicon Valley tech companies like Intuit, Patreon, and Netflix for six years as an iOS Engineer, she became a full-time creator in 2020. Her work aims to help people find their way through the tech industry by sharing her own experiences navigating this world through technology, career advice, and lifestyle videos. She is passionate about discussions around mental health, cultural identity, and creating technology with empathy and compassion.

✉️c o n t a c t ✉️

[hellomayuko]

Ok ok fam I got it, let's just call it "FAANG/MAANG/MANGA/GAFA/Big Tech" every time.

[Basta]

FANG companies and Ivy League type schools are brands. When you have a brand like this in your resume, you are essentially pre-vetted. Meaning you have gone through the selection process and have succeeded (not fired or kicked out) as a student or employee. You are a safe hire.

[arte]

Everyone's still using the acronym "FAANG" still to represent the "Top" tech companies, but ever since Facebook renamed itself to meta, why haven't we switched to "MANGA" yet :(

[Synkotic]

Faang pros:
Money
Perks
Prestige
Opportunity
Work/life balance

Faang cons:
Lack of impact
Politics
Skill stagnation
Difficulty leaving due to comfort

Small tech perks:
Skill advancement
Larger impact
Closer relationship with boss
Potential of massive returns

Cons:
Poor work/life balance
Poor compensation ( sometimes )
Difficult expectations
Redundancy and layoffs
Office politics

Overall I actually think that faang companies are great for a period of time, they're a big help in becoming financially independent.

But you run the risk of stagnation and it's difficult to leave these companies because the perks are so enjoyable.

[Person-bxey]

Had that experience before and after getting a FAANG offer. Was treated like complete trash amongst my CS classmates, guidance counselors, professors. Then they found out I got a FAANG offer and now everyone was my best friend. *rolls eyes*

[haruri]

I completely agree with you on one thing. When I first said I was a software engineer people doubted my abilities but once I said I worked at Apple people started to believe in my coding abilities more.

[big_zzzzz]

Holy Cow! Production value took a major jump. Nice level up Mayuko!

[hellomayuko]

In celebration of reaching 500, 000 subscribers on Youtube and to thank you all for subscribing and supporting, I'm doing a giveaway!!!

1 winner: a brand new 13” MacBook Pro
3 winners: a Medium Wool Felt Desk Pad from @grovemade
10 winners: A paperback copy of the latest edition of Cracking the Coding Interview.

[acupfb]

Had worked at FAANG is like you gradate from Harvard / Standford; it make your future life a lot easier/respected

[SriHarshaChilakapati]

My personal view about this is to go for startups in the initial stages of your career. I did that, because in startups, there usually is a lot of work across different verticals and you get to learn a lot. If not working there, at least consider startups for internships. I doubt you will get that level of learning in MAANG companies because there the teams are huge and you will only get to play a small part of the project. However, after 6-7 years in career, that is the great time to get into MAANG in my opinion. It is time you have explored horizontally enough and it's now time to get a specialization in your own vertical. To me, company I choose will depend on the amount of impact that I can deliver personally.

[browntechdaddy]

It’s hard to generalize a FAANG company considering how different the teams are within a company. Each company is like 5 different companies combined into one organization.

[FinancialAnalysisTJ]

The constant quality upgrade of this channel is inspiring for us small Youtubers! Congrats on 500k

[Brickswol]

As an aerospace engineering major, to me FAANG companies seem like to software engineers what SpaceX, blue origin, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman are to us.

[pedromarques]

To be able to apply to a FANG company I think is 70% marketing skills (resume, github, social media) and 30% technical skills. I had the opportunity to work with ex-FAANG employees. To sum up, they were both fired because they asked too much money for little return. They are awesome presenters of rushed and underdeveloped products

[createavity]

It's similar to how people choose their universities. FAANG is like the Ivy League universities. But in the end, it doesn't matter where you go, rather what you do in those stages of life.

[DasBeatz]

Actual reasons: money, challenging work, and opportunity to work at the forefront of innovation.
What people actually do it for: money, clout.

[R]

Thank you Mayuko. I am someone who won't work at these tech companies due to how they have abused their power and responsibility, but I definitely was interested at one time as a student for these reasons you laid out. Nice job!!

[markushuttner]

15:51 "There's a saying that you should work with people that are smarter than you" *shows very smart and sofisticated HTML*

[MoLewis]

I'm watching this from the perspective of somebody who started his career in software development long before any of these FAANG companies existed. I'm still working at the same place that hired me 29 years ago ( my first job out of college ), so I guess that make me a real dinosaur these days. Even back then, my older relative told me it would be foolish to stay at my first job, and that I should use it as a stepping stone ( as all of my college friends in tech did ). But you know what? 29 years later, I'm really happy. I feel like people know me, respect me, and rely on me at my job, and they pay me in a way that is commensurate with that. Maybe that's not a path that is available to a lot of people these days, but it's not a terrible path if you are lucky enough. To be clear, you do need to be lucky. I came out of school with a Mechanical Engineering degree during a recession in which the auto industry and the aerospace industry were doing a lot more laying-off than hiring. I got rejected by 50 different companies before I got my job. I would have happily taken a job an any of those 50 companies, but many of them have gone out of business since then, or had to do many layoffs during the 2008 recession . So, I was very lucky to wind up where I did.
I any case, I'm glad I don't have go through this cutthroat world, but I worry about my kids, who are about to enter college as CS majors ( which is why I find myself watching this channel ).

[ESwift]

This video is spot on! Personally prefer a growing startup environment compared to FAANG, but....can't deny FAANG has that reputation that is highly looked up upon by many folks, having it in the resume definitely helps in open more doors of career opportunity.