Software engineers are the backbone of the tech industry. In the US, nearly 4.3 million software engineers are trying to land a job in reputed tech companies (as per Data USA). However, only a fraction of them qualify for Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google (FAANG), and other Tier-1 tech company jobs. Cracking FAANG and Tier-1 tech interviews can be pretty challenging. But once you do, it’s an entirely different scenario. In this article, we’re going to talk about what you must do to succeed after landing your dream job.
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Through this article, we dive deeper into how to become a successful software engineer in FAANG and other Tier-1 tech companies. This article will cover:
A Successful FAANG Software Developer’s Daily Routine Once you join a FAANG or any other Tier-1 tech company as a software engineer, you need to develop and follow a daily routine. It consists of a positive outlook, critical behavioral traits, and an ethical mindset towards your daily tasks.
Beginning your day with a positive attitude is key as it sets the tone for the entire day. Positivity keeps you focused on your task and, in turn, ensures success.
Additionally, discipline and focus also play an important role. Do not compromise on quality to meet your deadline. Instead, it would be best if you always focused on prioritizing the workflow.
Knowing the Ethical Coding Standards As a software engineer, you already know that programming and coding are key factors determining your skillset and success. In FAANG and Tier-1 tech companies, you should have some good programming and coding habits to start with. Read on:
Strategically Organizing Your Codes Before you start coding, have a clear strategy for the functions and implementations of the code. If you don’t have a plan before coding, you will have a buggy product that is difficult to understand later on. Also, planning and organizing a structure beforehand helps a lot while writing major codes. You should:
Start by setting up an organized code folder structure by creating separate folders for different file types. Use a cross-platform scripting system for your different coding devices, including mobiles, tablets, and laptops. Create a separate folder for all the reusable codes for that specific project. This way, you can minimize errors, bugs, and crashes, and save a lot of time throughout the project life cycle.
Implementing Functions and Classes One of the best programming habits is to create functions and classes for reusable code. You can implement this by creating a dedicated file for this cause.
This file will be called whenever this reusable part of the code is required. Hence, you will not have to rewrite repetitive lines of code and, in turn, save a lot of your time.
Using Easy Naming Conventions Throughout Your Codes As you already know, proper naming conventions are essential in any coding language. Easy variable names, function names, and class names ease writing the code and referring to a part of the code later. So, using easy-to-read naming conventions in your code is a good coding habit.
Writing Comments on All Your Codes Another critical aspect of a programmer’s daily routine is commenting on the entirety of your code. As you know, a major program is not coded in a single day. So, instantly understanding the code can become tedious when you later return to a particular part of the code. But with proper commenting throughout the code, you can manage it quite easily.
Optimizing Your Codes for Efficiency As a seasoned coding engineer , you already know the complications related to the run time.
For example, a greater run time indicates a slower compilation or execution of your code. Similarly, a leaner code will consume less space and execute faster. Hence, optimizing your code through loops and arrays plays a major role in curbing the run-time and code bloat.
Testing and Debugging Your Codes A diligent programmer always tests and debugs his code as he goes. However, the truth is testing and debugging a large block of code or the entire code takes a lot more time and resources.
So, for every block of code you create, you should test and debug it to ensure proper execution. Additionally, it would help if you had error reporting turned on to check the errors you make as you proceed.
Implementing a Version Control System Being a software developer , you may have come across version control systems while coding. It is an essential aspect of programming. However, no matter what your current code optimization is, the requirements may change over time. To cope up with the changing product demands, you may have to improve your pre-existing code.
In such a scenario, you will have to keep track of the different versions of your code and the changes occurring to every single one of them. Implementing a version control system also helps you to restore a previously deleted block of your code.
Understanding the Business and User Needs Before starting to write the code right away, you first need to understand the purpose of the product. Many can write the code, but few can visualize the bigger picture behind the product. So, it is important to first understand the company's vision at a business level as to why the product is required in the very first place. You also need to look at the product from the user's perspective before writing the code.
Transparent Communication Besides your coding skillset, you, as a software engineer at a FAANG and Tier-1 tech company, need to recognize and improve your team collaboration. Since communication and clarity are keys to good teamwork, you should always keep your team members updated and in the loop regarding the product development status.
Synergy With Your Team As a software engineer at a top tech company, you should always listen before you speak. Considering yourself the smartest person in the room is never a good approach. On the other hand, having the willingness and ability to admit what you don't know often works wonders. You are guaranteed success if you listen, pay attention to the details, and understand the requirement before you act on it.
Effective Time Management Proper time management plays a vital role in FAANG and the Tier-1 tech giants and paves the road to success. With proper planning, you should manage your time effectively to minimize any delay in project run-time or delivery.
Learning From Peers to Expand Skill Set Even if you are adept in a programming language, you cannot be an expert in every single one of them. So here, as a seasoned software engineer, you should create a network of peers and juniors and learn from them. Since the idea here is never to stop learning, you do not need to think about a mentor-mentee relationship in this regard.
Persistent Problem-Solving A good software engineer at FAANG and Tier-1 tech companies never gives up if he faces a difficult problem. Likewise, it would help if you were persistent enough to find the solution with ample time and research.
FAQs Q. What is the salary of a software engineer at FAANG? At FAANG, the salary of a software engineer ranges from $164,000 to $1,020,000, depending on your seniority.
Q. What is the difference between a coder and a programmer? A coder specifically writes code for a particular program. In contrast, a programmer creates an entire program that has other aspects to it besides the coding.
How Good Habits in Regular Work-Life Can Help Ace Interviews in FAANG FAANG and the Tier-1 tech companies always look for the best applicants in the industry while recruiting. You may have a solid technical skillset and ace the technical interview, but these tech giants conduct top-of-the-line behavioral rounds as well. So naturally, cracking FAANG interviews not only requires exceptional technical skills but interpersonal skills too.
Having good professional habits and ethics can prove beneficial to your interview prep.
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