Comment by ccajas

Re: getting your foot in with interviews. Mileage really varies here. I agree with you that getting an interview is very luck-based. I have no contacts in FAANG that would be strong referrals. But from my own experience, I garner more interest from recruiters passively from my job history, than from taking a more active route of applying to FAANG jobs. (And I have no history with any big or "corporate" work environments either)