Working at Bigtech, work/life balance, and IQ /u/Happy-Flight-9025 CSCQ protests reddit

I’m a computer engineer, and I have been in this area for 20 years (since I was a teen). In the past 10 years, my career grew exponentially, and I was always OK with my work/life balance until I started working at a FAANG.

Now my experience there was horrible since the first week! I was getting so stressed by all the pressure and that led me to be laid off in a short time. I later came back to think about it and couldn’t think of a way to work at such companies without being extremely anxious and stressed. Now I have a decent job at a mid-sized company and I cannot be happier, even after rejecting multiple offers from FAANGs.

BUT…I can’t help but to remember that many of the people I saw there seemed to thrive in this environment. I’m still not sure whether everybody was just forced to work there due to high monthly spending, debt, and mortgages, or whether they simply have the personality and IQ to handle such environments effortlessly?

Now I’m perfectly fine with the idea that different people can have varying IQ’s (or whatever thing that you cannot learn and makes you more suitable for such jobs), and I’m also OK with not trying to be the best as I’m pretty satisfied with where I am. But I’m still wondering whether there are actually people who can work at such a company, delivering the same number of tasks without working extra hours or overthink it.

I’m a computer engineer, and I have been in this area for 20 years (since I was a teen). In the past 10 years, my career grew exponentially, and I was always OK with my work/life balance until I started working at a FAANG.

Now my experience there was horrible since the first week! I was getting so stressed by all the pressure and that led me to be laid off in a short time. I later came back to think about it and couldn’t think of a way to work at such companies without being extremely anxious and stressed. Now I have a decent job at a mid-sized company and I cannot be happier, even after rejecting multiple offers from FAANGs.

BUT…I can’t help but to remember that many of the people I saw there seemed to thrive in this environment. I’m still not sure whether everybody was just forced to work there due to high monthly spending, debt, and mortgages, or whether they simply have the personality and IQ to handle such environments effortlessly?

Now I’m perfectly fine with the idea that different people can have varying IQ’s (or whatever thing that you cannot learn and makes you more suitable for such jobs), and I’m also OK with not trying to be the best as I’m pretty satisfied with where I am. But I’m still wondering whether there are actually people who can work at such a company, delivering the same number of tasks without working extra hours or overthink it.