Does FAANG on resume get an interview at elite startups?
I work in AWS AI/ML and have some experience with ML infrastructure at scale. I'd like to apply to OpenAI but looking at the alumni rankings on LinkedIn these guys and gals are coming from MIT, Caltech, CMU, etc... My school isn't ranked and I'll have only been at AWS for one year. I'm interested in AV companies like Cruise and Waymo (or even Zoox) and other research companies like DeepMind (but is DeepMind really that special compared to AWS AI/ML which has offerings like Transcribe, Codewhisperer, Comprehend, etc?). There is the option of HFT too. I'm also open to startups but I'm not sure how you get on these elite early round startups. No one I know in Amazon seems like the entrepreneurial type. No former managers to "bring you on the team". TC 160k 1yoe and bored at AWS
You’ll need a phd or tons of ML experience for those jobs. 1 year at AWS won’t cut it
I want to work on infra and not so much developing the models. I saw they hire software engineer for model inference, product platform, and platform reliability under the Applied AI Engineering section. The job descriptions are almost word for word what I'm doing at AWS.
Forget about schools and all of that nonsense , find someone inside that can recommend you.
Why don’t you just apply and figure out
Hey, dont tell them something that makes sense!
Join us
You basically need some stamp of legitimacy. A great school or good amount of exp at good company counts. ML Infra in AWS is legit, but 1 YoE is short. Keep in mind that ML Infra is generally hard to hire for (everyone always wants to do modelling), so you will be in demand. The basic pipeline for great people is: Graduate -> Go to FANG to get on the job training subsidized by big corpo -> coast at corpos or go to the startups that only hire people with experience You can try now, but if it doesn't pan out now it should pan out later. No one asks about your school work. They want to see you thrive in your current role. Cruise is full xooglers and ex amazonians, not just new grads lol! Source: Ex Googler, now at Cruise in ML infra, (Decent school, top 20 globally)
To add to this, your performance at Amazon matters a lot more than you think. If you show that you're hustling / impatient to grow at Amazon and you're quitting for that reason, you're a compelling hire. If it looks like you're just coasting at Amazon and want to leave cause it's lame, that's a less compelling hire.
There was some elite startup hired bunch of FAANG ppl but end up going nowhere. If you are lucky enough, any random company you joined could be acquired by FAANG someday. You get both money and good title in FANNG. Is this rare? No, I have couple friends join google thru this route, no leetcode, no interview prep
Quality employment experience is much more impactful than school for this field IMO
For hot startups? According to LinkedIn they're heavily dominated by top schools. I had an offer from a late round startup but got rescinded due to layoffs.
Because they are new grads , and VC recommend their rich friends kids etc. real world exp is by far more important