FAANG Engineer

Introduction

Over the past few years, the phrase "FAANG" has been frequently used. Jim Cramer brought this term to the people's attention for the very first time in 2013. So what does FAANG stand for? We can tell that it's an acronym but for what? The top five tech firms in America constitute FAANG. The acronym includes five tech giants: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google.

Did you know that the ROI on these companies' stocks has been increasing drastically in the past few years? The returns have been doubling; being more precise; the appeal of these market leaders is obvious. Keeping these insights in mind, employees can essentially be certain of possibilities for career advancement and job stability. Let's shed some light on everything you need to know about the career scope for a FAANG Engineer in detail.

Note that, with Facebook changing its parent company’s name to “Meta”, the ‘F’ in the term “FAANG” has been replaced with ‘M’ for “Meta”, making the abbreviation “MAANG”.

What is a FAANG Engineer?

FAANG software engineers are those engineers who work for any of the five companies mentioned earlier. Once it pertains to employee or leadership development, they are frequently ranked among the top companies. They are also widely acknowledged as innovators in retention and recruitment initiatives.

FAANG Engineers can either work as a junior FAANG software developers or senior, depending on their skill set. Now that you have a better idea regarding what a FAANG engineer is, let's discuss different FAANG variations before diving into how much FAANG software engineers are paid and based on what aspects.

Different FAANG Variations Everyone Should Know in 2022

Below are a few FAANG variations and what they mean in detail. The common variations include FAAMG, FAANGULTD, and FANG. Each of these variations incorporates a mix of some of the best technical organizations in the world and is coined by considering the same.

FANG

The original term Cramer coined was "FANG", to stand for Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. Later in 2017, Apple was introduced to the mix, forming FAANG.

FAANG

Students looking for jobs as data scientists, software developers, etc., at organizations like Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google frequently utilize the phrase "FAANG" online.

FAAMG

The variant "FAAMG" swaps out Netflix for Microsoft, thus the variation settling for Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google. Microsoft replaces Netflix in the mix since it hires recent college graduates without any prior full-time experience and which, as of March 2020, employed more than 150,000 people.

FAANGMULA

Companies like Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb form the well-known FAANGMULA. Other well-established organizations like Lyft, Netflix, and Apple are also a part of FAANGMULA. Although, in stark contrast to FAAMG (3,90,000 results) and FAANG (1,28,00,000 results), a Google search for "FAANGMULA'' only returns 12,200 results.

FAANGULTAD

Along with the common tech companies mentioned above, well-known companies like Twitter and Dropbox are also incorporated in the FAANGULTAD. FAANGTULDAD is very similar to FAANGMULA but without Microsoft. Additionally, it's a rarer mix of companies compared to FAANGMULA and only shows 153 Google Search results.

Big N

Big N companies are the top, highest paying, and most notable tech companies. It comprises several tech giants such as Google, MSFT, Amazon, and Apple, but at the same time, it also includes Uber, LinkedIn, Slack, Splunk, Oracle, etc. It is a mix of existing tech giants and emerging unicorns.

FAANG Engineer's Salaries And Other Compensations

Although our yearly guaranteed earnings usually gauge our income, bonuses should also be considered. It's important to take note of the issue of stock grants in the case of tech giants.

Stock grants are intended to maintain staff with a company for a specific time. A concept is an excellent tool for employee retention since if an individual chooses to quit before the designated period, they will forfeit their grant.

Junior Software Developer Salaries

A FAANG engineer's salary is much higher than the annual packages provided by other technology companies. The obvious reason is that these engineers are working for the best tech companies in the entire world. So what's the Faang engineer salary for a junior software developer?

For FAANG software engineers at entry-level, you can expect the following starting salary based on where you work -

• Google: $188000
• Apple: $172000
• Facebook: $181000
• IBM: $98000
• Amazon: $163000
• Oracle: $176000
• Cisco: $110000
• Microsoft: $159000

Senior Software Developer Salaries

Senior software developers receive a much higher salary package than FAANG software engineers who are just starting and new to the company. What's more? These engineers are expected to tackle challenges that junior software developers are unfamiliar with - no doubt they're paid much more.

The table below showcases senior software developers' salaries at different tech companies, including FAANG.

Lead Software Developer Salaries

Owing to the lack of open positions, finding information on lead software developers' pay can be challenging, especially as job descriptions can start to differ significantly. Lead software developer positions offer substantial financial compensation to employees and necessitate a high level of respect for work-life balance.

Due to the rarity of these roles, there is little knowledge about their salaries, even though they are the highest level a software engineer may attain. Regardless, we're familiar with the packages companies like Amazon and Amazon, Facebook, and Apple offer.

• Amazon: $960,000 (total compensation)
• Apple: $1,175,000
• Facebook: $4,490,000

An Overview Of FAANG Engineers In Detail: Pro & Cons

Pros

Large amounts of stock that "vests" are offered by FAANG businesses. When an employee vests, they gradually obtain assets like stock shares. It typically takes four years for the company-issued stock to vest and become yours. Nevertheless, a few of those stocks will eventually be given to you. Here are a few additional benefits -

• In addition to offering market-leading benefits, FAANG firms offer remuneration beyond monetary pay. Some FAANG members enjoy standard perks like free food, on-site gyms, no health insurance fees, substantial 401K matches, and company shuttles.
• A software engineer's career can take off if they work for one of these organizations. Your resume will probably catch the eye of more recruiters if it mentions a FAANG company.

Cons

Competition between FAANG companies is not always favorable for you. The competition will be to generate the cream of the crop. You will be assessed by the FAANG corporation's rigorous internal performance programs. Here are a few additional cons to consider -

• The potential to have a substantial impact is frequently limited. Your job at a giant tech company may be extremely small in the overall scheme of things, though this depends much on the company, team, and individual.
• To work at FAANG, you might need to reside in a place with a high cost of living. Some offices are located in areas where housing, food, entertainment, and health care have staggering rates. The remuneration easily compensates for the higher price tags.

Must-Follow Habits to Succeed as a Software Engineer at FAANG

You should have strong coding practices in FAANG and top-tier tech companies. You must follow practices such as:

• Making classes and functions for reusable code is a great habit. The file can be invoked every time this reusable section of the code is needed. Thus, you will save a lot of time by not having to rewrite repeating lines of code.
• As you know, standard naming conventions are crucial in every coding language. Simple variables, functions, and class names make writing code easier, and refer to a specific code section later.
• Coding significant software takes more than one day. Therefore, quickly understanding it can grow tiresome when you eventually return to a specific code section. However, you can handle it quickly if the code has proper comments.
• Optimizing your code with loops and arrays can significantly reduce code bloat and run-time.
• To ensure proper execution, you must test and debug each block of code you write. It would also be beneficial if you enabled error reporting so that you could check your mistakes as you go.

Some non-code-related habits to be better at your job -

• Understanding the goal of the product should come before writing code. The ability to see the broader picture underlying the product is much rarer than the ability to write the code.
• Since effective cooperation depends on clear communication, you must constantly update your team members about the progress of the product development process.
• The route to success is paved by effective time management, which is crucial for these top companies. It would help if you efficiently managed your time with adequate preparation to minimize project completion or delivery delays.
• You cannot be a master in every single programming language, even if you are proficient in one or more of them.
• FAANG Software developers should be determined and possess the necessary work ethics. It would also be helpful if you are dedicated to spending enough time and effort uncovering the answer.

Writing FAANG-ready Software Engineer Resumes

Here are a few steps to build a fabulous resume if you're aspiring to become a FAANG Engineer:

Step 1: Create an ATS-friendly format

• Use Google Docs or Microsoft Word to edit
• Use a conventional resume format by lowering the margins to create additional room.
• Use common fonts such as Arial, Garamond, and Calibri, with a minimum 10-pixel size.
• Add parts using the usual headers and citation styles.

Step 2: Writing quality content

• Create a professional synopsis of no more than 50 words.
• Under "Contact," provide your name, phone number, address, email, and LinkedIn.
• Under Skills, list your programming languages, frameworks, and databases.
• Job experience should emphasize the tools, frameworks, databases, and quantifiable results.
• At least two open source or side projects you've worked on should be listed, along with a link to a place where the hiring manager can see them (like Github).

Step 3: Boost the resume

• Highlight your best accomplishments over the mediocre ones
• Include the job description's keywords in your CV.

Step 4: Use free tools to test your resume.

• Free resume evaluation tools are available online.
• Use a standardized ATS to evaluate readability. Most large firms use such resume scanners.

Reading Resources

1. Software Engineer vs Software Developer