Марія Бровінська Work 5 March 2025, 09:22

How to successfully pass an interview at FAANG and get a profitable offer: 5 (not) easy steps from an experienced IT professional

Software & QA Engineer from Lviv, Dimitriy Wildstein, published an instruction in which a Reddit user shares life hacks that helped him get an offer from global tech corporations.

Step 1: Skipping the black hole

I have never applied through company portals. They receive thousands of applications and the automated system filters most of them.
Instead, I targeted engineers and hiring managers on Linkedin and asked for recommendations.
I kept my messages short and to the point: «Hi [Name], I’m really interested in [Team/Company] and would like to apply. I have [X years] of experience in [Relevant Skill] and I think I would be a great fit. Would you be willing to refer me?»
This got me several referrals in a week, and I went straight to recruiter screens, instead of waiting in the void.

Step 2: Only study what is actually asked

Instead of grinding through hundreds of LeetCode problems, I reviewed and studied interview questions.
I searched Glassdoor, Blind, and LeetCode discussion forums for the latest questions from my target company.
I found patterns — most companies ask the same 10-15 main problems repeatedly.
Instead of solving 500 random problems, I studied: the top 30 questions for the company (sorted by frequency), patterns rather than solutions (e.g., «Oh, it’s just a problem with a sliding window with rotation»).
I did mock interviews on Pramp and with friends to get real-time feedback.

As a result, I was solving interview questions in less than 10 minutes, instead of struggling with brute force.

Step 3: Preparing for the Behavioral Interview

FAANG behavioral rounds are not about «personality”—they look for structured answers.
I prepared 5 stories using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) and adapted them on the fly.
The key is to always demonstrate effectiveness with metrics. Instead of saying, «I helped optimize the backend service,» I said, «I optimized the backend service, reducing latency by 40% and saving $500k in cloud costs.»
The biggest trick is this: if they ask about a failure, always turn it into a victory («I learned X, and it led to success Y later»).

Step 4: Exploiting loopholes in the hiring process

I timed my interviews strategically—companies move faster when they know you have other offers.
I looked for hiring events and «bar-raiser» systems (Amazon, for example, has bar-raisers that can screen out bad interviewers).
I built a relationship with my recruiter — they have the power to push candidates to the limit and help with negotiations.

Step 5: Lifehacks for Proposals and Negotiations

Once I had one offer, I used it to pressure other companies to move faster.
I acted a little selflessly — companies chase candidates who seem to be in demand.
I persistently negotiated:
«I like this opportunity, but my other suggestion is, $X — can you match or improve on it?»
«| was hoping for a higher base/signing bonus to bring it in line with market rates.»

The result is a $40,000 increase in the total compensation amount.

What in the end?

FAANG offering with a total amount of over $300,000.
Minimum time spent on irrelevant preparation.
Less stress, more control over the process.

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