I wouldn't recommend at this point in your career/life. Unless you are going to a tier 1 school you're just going to set your career back.
If I was you, then I'd keep hustling with upwork and whatever else you need to while building and launching something meaningful on your own in the space you want to work.
- slap a founder title up on your linkedin (set the start date to now)
- ship something not terrible
- continue iterating on it while becoming a better engineer, product manager, designer, etc all on your own
- learn to use AI coding tools really well
- clone and enhance the features of competitors
- talk about it a lot
- go to conferences for the business sector and for the tech stack
- network a ton
Then apply for a job if you still want to in 1-2 years. You'll have met a lot of people doing that and can hit them up or apply to competitors in the space using your startup as the perfect showcase.
When they ask why you are quitting just say you are super passionate about the space but couldn't raise money or going on a solo founder was terrible and you want to join a team.
And just don't apply for jobs at FANG ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ there are so many other companies out there that need people with the type of experience you'd have after 6 months to a year of the above. They are looking for folks with FANG background, tier 1 college/other pedigree, or specific experience building the same thing.
I will not be going to any prestigious school. It's not in the cards for me.
I actually do own a SaaS along with my business partner. I'm not the founder, but we bought the platform from the founders who were looking to bail. It's a logistics company that is used by mainly bike messengers. 20+ companies around the world use it.
I would say I've shipped a few non-terrible things so far. I built an application that runs on a POS kiosk that kids scan their little IDs on when they are tardy to class. It's in a few dozen schools in the LA area.
I do have a pretty interesting resume. It has caught the eyes of people, but it takes someone who had an unconventional history like myself to appreciate it.
I haven't submitted a job application in over a year. I just haven't seen the point of it given the market. I'm also not interested in FAANG at all. This would be more of a future proofing move.
If I was you, then I'd keep hustling with upwork and whatever else you need to while building and launching something meaningful on your own in the space you want to work.
- slap a founder title up on your linkedin (set the start date to now)
- ship something not terrible
- continue iterating on it while becoming a better engineer, product manager, designer, etc all on your own
- learn to use AI coding tools really well
- clone and enhance the features of competitors
- talk about it a lot
- go to conferences for the business sector and for the tech stack
- network a ton
Then apply for a job if you still want to in 1-2 years. You'll have met a lot of people doing that and can hit them up or apply to competitors in the space using your startup as the perfect showcase.
When they ask why you are quitting just say you are super passionate about the space but couldn't raise money or going on a solo founder was terrible and you want to join a team.
And just don't apply for jobs at FANG ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ there are so many other companies out there that need people with the type of experience you'd have after 6 months to a year of the above. They are looking for folks with FANG background, tier 1 college/other pedigree, or specific experience building the same thing.