🥇LET FAANG tremble* or [practical guide] for IT professionals seeking jobs in the USA/Europe

*FAANG is an acronym for the 5 largest tech companies (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) that offer some of the best opportunities for developers dreaming of or planning to join the wave of IT migration.

The reason for writing this guide was this publication with a list of useful resources that I stumbled upon a few days ago. Along with the user's effort, Sergunka, which revealed insights into the hiring process back in 2015, the aforementioned information could have been a decent starting point. In theory.

Unfortunately, in practice, such a job search process often ends in failure. Job listing sites are one of the least effective methods, at least in the US.

Below, I will share practical recommendations that will help 'tweak' the system and significantly increase your chances of receiving an offer from top companies in a short time.

Important note! In my opinion, education in the US/Europe is one of the easiest and most effective ways to secure a job, especially in IT. Details on how to do this for free can be found in my very first article and in an excellent description by Roman..

I will just add that besides Fulbright, there is a similar opportunity for direct admission to a university, which is not much different from the procedure described in the links. If you still have this opportunity, stop reading this article and run to the links above. It’s a great shortcut.

Now, let's get to the point! MOST positions at FAANG are filled through referral recommendations. This is when an employee of the company recommends you to the hiring manager or at least to a recruiter.

For many, this is not only a great opportunity to bypass strict pre-screening programs that can 'cut out' even top specialists, but also a significant time saver that helps avoid lengthy calls and all sorts of tasks from recruiters, which in 99% of cases do NOT help at all (and only pass your resume to the hiring manager).

Moreover, according to numerous studies and insights, referred specialists receive more generous offers in a shorter time frame. Networking is of colossal importance in corporate America. We will try to leverage this.

In general terms, the process looks like this.:

We search for a position — find a contact at the company — prepare a killer resume/cover letter tailored to the specific position — submit documents — go through a series of interviews.

We search for a position.

It's straightforward here. We browse the company's websites/LinkedIn/Indeed (these are really helpful resources). These resources.)

We search for a contact at the company.

The ideal scenario: be in the city to have the opportunity to meet someone from your department (better yet, a manager from a higher hierarchy than your position).

This is one of the reasons why education in the U.S. can greatly help (at least you will be in the country for a long time to get a chance to hold meetings). Particularly desperate guys, like my friend who ended up at Amazon, fly in on a tourist visa and try to network with as many professionals as possible.

If there's no opportunity for a personal meeting (how to arrange one is below), there are at least two fantastic resources.

1. Blind — an anonymous professional network where you can get tips about interview processes, gather information about working at a specific company, discuss offers you received after the interview, and request referrals.

I recommend installing the app, joining specialized chats (dedicated to specific companies), and learning a few abbreviations that are used at every step:

TC — total compensation. Includes your salary (salary), signing bonus (signing bonus), annual bonus (annual bonus), and equity (equity in the company).
LC — leetcode, which will be discussed below.
There is also CTCI — CRACKING the CODING INTERVIEW (similar to the previous resource).
YOE — years of experience.
LP — leadership principles, usually refers to working at Amazon, for which you need to work through many case studies on various types of LP.
STAR — Situation, Task, Action, Results, an approach to many case studies during interviews.

2. Rooftopslushie.com — a fantastic resource where you can ask for feedback on your resume, recommendations for a company, and just advice. For a fee. Upon registration, access is opened to a huge amount of questions and answers from other users. This is free.

These are great resources that are not widely known in the CIS, but are definitely worth exploring if you are planning a move.

Looking for a contact from the company (FOR A PERSONAL MEETING)

If you do find a chance to meet someone from the company, there is a very good approach that I recommend to students learning English with us.

If there is no opportunity, feel free to skip this section.

Looking for a person on LinkedIn who is one/two positions above (if you are applying for Software Developer, you should be looking for people from Senior Software Developer, ideally department managers)
We write an email/LinkedIn message with the subject Quick Question: xxx (this really works amazingly well). In the body of the email, we add information about his background and offer to meet for a coffee break to discuss an interesting issue
At the end of the meeting, we ask the person THE KEY question: 'What is the biggest challenge your team is facing right now?' We try to find out as many details as possible
We do our homework and try to suggest an interesting solution a few days later. Meanwhile, we ask them to refer you for position X

It looks complicated and scary, but it works flawlessly in practice and greatly improves soft skills (which many programmers dislike).

We prepare a killer resume/cover letter for a specific position

It's worth doing this alongside the previous points. I HIGHLY recommend using paid feedback on the same Rooftopslushie.com, to create the perfect resume. Many people from the CIS do it completely wrong.

I will give two simple but important tips:

ALWAYS add a Summary/Headline in the resume that clearly SHOWS interest in a SPECIFIC position in a SPECIFIC company. Avoid 'general' phrases. The resume should should be maximally tailored to the desired position.
Support 'achievements' with specific numbers. In any field, you can find figures. Numbers are much better than general phrases.

We go through a series of interviews

If you have responsibly addressed the previous points, the likelihood of getting an interview with your desired company has increased significantly (compared to applying through job search websites, including LinkedIn).

You just need to get through the final barrier — a series of interviews. Initial interviews will likely be conducted via phone/Skype. Final ones (in most cases, but exceptions exist) will be on-site. Many companies also cover travel/hotel expenses.

At this stage, you will need the assistance of future colleagues from the aforementioned resources more than ever. Glassdoor and various question banks will also be very helpful.

Gather as much information as possible on the types of questions, work specifics, and SALARIES for similar positions.

For preparing for technical interviews, the following will be VERY helpful:
a) leetcode.com
b) www.crackingthecodinginterview.com

Each large company has its own unique characteristics. For instance, consider the excellent article aforementioned Leadership Principles of Amazon.

Everything depends on your 'homework'. And yes, one last thing: never rush your salary expectations. Try to find out the 'range' from recruiters before stating your personal preferences.

Pay attention to the cost of living in a specific region. $100K a year in the Valley is VERY little. $100K a year in some Austin, Texas is a great salary. I recommend using the calculator from Banckrate, to compare offers from different regions and get a good understanding of the cost of living.

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Source: habr.com