FAANG prep — operating plan
A working document, not a brochure. Edit it as your situation changes — see how to edit at the bottom. Dates and progress below are computed live against today's date.
00Mission brief
The one rule that shapes this whole calendar
No visible job-search activity before the promotion lands. Applications and recruiter screens are low-visibility and start 15 Jan 2027. Onsite loops naturally land in February anyway — after the announcement — so the constraint mostly resolves itself. See visibility rules.
01Target companies & comp
| Company | Level | India total comp | Clears ₹81L floor | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L5 | ₹98L–1.52Cr (med. 1.19Cr) | clears | Certain | |
| Amazon | SDE3 (L6) | ₹1.0Cr–1.81Cr (med. 1.37Cr) | clears | Certain |
| Microsoft | 65/66 | ~1.1Cr–2.08Cr | clears | Likely — 65 interpolated |
| Atlassian | P50 (Senior) | ₹80.5L–1.26Cr (med. 1.03Cr) | clears | Likely |
| Stripe | Senior+ | likely 1.2Cr+ | clears | Likely |
| NVIDIA | IC4 (Senior) | ₹68.6L–1.23Cr (med. 87.9L) | clears | Certain — thin cushion |
| Databricks | Senior | ~90L–1.2Cr (est.) | clears | Likely |
| Confluent | Senior (L4/L5a) | ~95L–1.2Cr (est.) | clears | Likely |
| Salesforce | Senior/Lead MTS | ~90L–1.3Cr (est.) | clears | Likely |
| Anthropic Bengaluru | Senior IC | wide — ₹65L–2.2Cr range | likely clears | Low — thin data, verify per req |
| Adobe India | Senior | no reliable data found | unknown | Low — check directly |
| ServiceNow | Senior (IC4/5) | ~70L–95L (est.) | borderline | Likely — IC6/Staff clears, standard Senior may not |
| Walmart Global Tech | Senior SWE | ~51L anecdotal | below floor | Likely — needs P5/Staff |
Watchlist, not committed: OpenAI India — confirmed scaling, engineering-specific roles not yet confirmed. Re-check each quarterly refresh.
02Visibility rules
Always safe, any time (Jun 2026 onward)
- DSA, system design, mocks with paid platforms or peer-swap outside your company
- Public writeups under your own technical brand — framed as career-building, not job-search
- Resume/LinkedIn edits made privately, not published as "open to work"
- Reconnecting with contacts — framed as catching up, no asks
- Applications and recruiter screening calls — no leave required, not visible to your employer
Hold until mid-Jan 2027 (referral asks) / expect to land naturally near Feb (onsite loops)
- Explicit referral asks — send these with applications from 15 Jan, not before. A referral after a cold application is weaker.
- Informational interviews that explicitly discuss hiring at the target company — keep framed as career conversations through Dec 2026
- Onsite/panel rounds — these need blocked time and naturally land 2–4 weeks after first contact, which puts them in Feb, right after your announcement
Never, until you've decided otherwise
- LinkedIn "open to work" badge
- Asking anyone inside your current circle for a referral or introduction at a target company
- Authorizing a background check that would contact your current manager before you've resigned
03Risk & contingency
If your weekly hours drop below 10 in any week
Cut in this order: networking first (it's the most recoverable), then DSA depth (maintenance only), then system design (full mocks only, skip topic study). Never cut behavioral live rehearsal or, once active, applications/interviews — those have real deadlines attached.
Indian hiring seasonality — plan around it, don't fight it
- Jan–Mar: strongest hiring window. You launch into the back half of this — good positioning.
- Apr–Jun: stays elevated — post-bonus resignations force backfill hiring.
- Mid-May–Jul: postings stay up but interview velocity slows — panel availability drops for vacations. Expect loops to stretch, not stall.
- Aug and Dec: close to dead for lateral hiring. If anything slips into either month, expect a stop, not a delay.
Notice period math
3-month standard, negotiable to 2. If an offer lands in March–May 2027 and you negotiate the 2-month notice, your join date lands May–July 2027. Don't promise a start date to a recruiter before you've actually had the notice conversation with your manager.