u/Present-Rain3393 wrote (the comment Michael replied to):
I have 5 years of experience as a web dev, but in the public sector, and I graduated from a third-tier state university, BUT had a 4.0 GPA. I pretty much assume that I have zero chance to get another job in the field and that I need to change careers if I want another job (again)
u/michaelnovati replied ·
If you have 5 years at one company and had 1+ promotions, then I think you'll be completely fine.
The "limitations" you have are that you haven't been around a culture of the "DS&A", system design interviews, probably haven't conducted them yourself at the FAANG bar, etc...
If you can get to that bar then all you have to do is land an interview and I see people with 5 years of SWE experience landing interviews very easily right now. 2 to 5 years is sufficient, but not as easy. Under 2 years is tough.
This post just has these requirements because they want the recruiter to bring in people likely to pass the interview process and these traits tend to have more people that pass.
I would be you you can get big tech interviews if your 5 years is legit SWE work.