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Comment by QuitProgramming | Hacker News Reader

>And you can get good enough to do things without getting genius level great, or even good at the level (or with the ease) of the person with the innate talent

Maybe. It depends on how much innate talent you do have. Talent isn't an on off switch. It's a spectrum. It's possible to have enough talent to be a genius, to be just below a genius, to be good enough, but also to not even be good enough to reach a minimal employable threshold. It depends on the person.

>The industry needs tens of millions of programmers, for all kinds of levels, not only innate-talent-software-gurus.

But who gets the best rewards?

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>But who gets the best rewards?

Somebody else. Which is the case for 99.999% of the population, so?

Being part of that 99.999% doesn't seem to be a good life.

The best (usually) get the best rewards. The not-best rewards are still good enough to be worth getting, though.

I have done the calculations and only the FAANG level companies will get me where I want to go when I want to be there.

Have you considered working for non-FAANG companies for a little while, while you build up your skills on-the-job? I was nearly in my 40s before I got a job at one of those “top” companies, and it wasn’t for lack of trying.

I worked at a bottom tier company for 1.5 years. I got fired and hated my time there. I never want to repeat that experience.

You were fired from a "bottom tier" company. No offense, but what makes you think that you will survive the much higher expectations at a FAANG long enough to retire? I personally found that to be much harder than getting into one. For the record, I believe most people can get into FAANG with some (or lots) prep work, but if you think that regurgitating Leetcode is the only thing you need, I would highly recommend revisiting this assumption. Perhaps start with those social skills you mentioned elsewhere...

Strong +1 to this. I passed the FAANG interview after solving 100 leetcodes, mostly medium.

Being able to show up and do the work is table stakes –– and yes, I actually write efficient algorithms in my day-to-day because we process massive amounts of data. But the algos I write were invented 50, 60 years ago. My leetcode study process was to look up the solution and then memorize it through rote practice. Why reinvent the wheel? I'm not trying to win a Turing prize here.

But your intellectual mettle and day to day happiness in the company is tested by your ability to deal with people.

>only the FAANG level companies will get me where I want to go

So? You might never go "where you want to go" (some monetary compensasion?). It might be unreachable or a pipe dream for most and/or for you.

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