She wanted to be an actress, now she's a software engineer at Meta making $200K/yr at 23 years old, with zero CS experience.
Marilyn joins Aman to unpack her rejection, the layoffs she survived, and why she chose stability over passion. A raw, practical look at building a career in big tech.
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I’m Aman Manazir, a career coach and software engineer. I interned at companies like Amazon, Shopify, and HP in college, and the day I graduated I landed a $168,000/year* full-time software engineering job. I help you make it as a computer science student & software engineer and get your dream job offer.
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⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:40 Software Engineer at Meta, Aspiring Actress
01:54 From Classical Pianist to Computer Science
06:05 Why She Randomly Chose Economics
07:57 Discovering a Passion for Acting
10:58 Landing the Atlassian Internship
11:15 Coasting Through Her First Internship
13:25 The Devastating Return Offer Rejection
14:25 Freezing Up, Ghosting 12 Interviews
17:57 Grinding LeetCode to Land Meta
19:36 How to Recover From Rejection
21:19 Don't Attach Your Identity to Companies
22:41 Cracking the Technical Interview Code
24:34 Is LeetCode Overrated or Underrated
25:58 What Changed During the Meta Internship
29:33 A Manager Who Trained Her Like a Senior
33:09 Earning the Highest Rating, Return Offer
35:18 Meta's Layoffs Hit Close to Home
37:44 Why Big Tech Keeps Cutting Jobs
40:12 Losing Her Team's Culture Overnight
41:26 Posting Online and Facing Hate Comments
46:07 Should Engineers Post Content Online
48:34 Is Big Tech Actually a Scam
51:01 Do Perks Still Matter at Work
52:04 Why People Get Disillusioned With Big Tech
54:39 Recruiting Right After Layoffs Happen
56:24 Revealing Her Meta Salary at 23
59:27 Personality Determines How Money Changes You
1:00:04 Choosing Stability Over Her Acting Dream
1:02:38 Why Influencing Beats Acting for Stability
1:04:00 Should You Follow Passion or Logic
1:05:45 Finding Time to Build a Side Hustle
1:07:30 Becoming a Translator Between Tech and Creativity
1:08:45 Where to Find Marilyn Online