Before that, I was in several small companies in ad-tech. I didn't feel great about the work, but the cultures were also laid back and family-friendly. Non-FAANG companies with great culture are out there; please don't settle :)
Edit: if you're looking for the highest-paying jobs, you are correct in that often times, looking at a basket of job offers, FAANGs will offer the highest comp levels. If getting the highest possible compensation is your only criteria I think you are going to have a much tougher time finding compelling non-FAANG offers (though conversations with former colleagues lead me to believe that high-comp non-FAANG offers are indeed out there). I've chosen to prioritize my own happiness and time with my family over high compensation, and I can get by on the lesser (but still high in relative terms) comp offered by smaller firms.
This is not a judgement of your take. I’m merely offering my perspective.
I’ve worked at a large oil and gas exploration company for a couple years, fintech for several more years, and before all that I had two back to back internships at a nationwide insurance company. Since then, I’ve hopped around a few of the FAANGS you listed.
The other companies paid me less, but they were not less stressful, nor did they have a better work environment or company culture. As a matter of fact, the culture is fairly reminiscent of Office Space (and I don’t mean in a funny way). One of these companies did some fairly negligent things around the last recession. The oil and gas company treats people like less than humans and taught me what ageism means. They would hold the lunch and learns where they told us to tell family and friends that earthquakes are in no way related to fracking. They literally walked out everyone over 50 during the industry downturn when I was there. The insurance company had massive layoffs while I was interning before my senior year in college and replaced them with offshore “IT”.
My post is not a defense of FAANGs. I’m just saying all my other experiences were worse and paid significantly less.
Where do we go from here? I’m not exactly an entrepreneurial type.