Why I'm Building a Consultancy While Targeting FAANG
People ask me this a lot. If you want to work at Google or Amazon, why are you spending time building a consultancy? Should you not be grinding LeetCode and preparing for system design interviews instead?
I understand the question. It assumes that consultancy and FAANG are two different paths that pull you in opposite directions. But in my experience, they are complementary. One accelerates the other.
What Consultancy Actually Teaches You
Working with real clients on real problems teaches you things that no online course or practice problem can. You learn how to scope a project. You learn how to communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders. You learn how to ship under constraints, deal with messy data, and handle ambiguity.
These are the exact skills that FAANG interviews test for in their behavioral and system design rounds. They want to see that you have operated in real environments, not just theoretical ones.
Every project I deliver is a story I can tell in an interview. A real problem, a real solution, a real impact. That is worth more than any number of mock interviews.
The Skills Compound
When I build an automation pipeline for a client, I am writing production Python code. When I design a database schema for a Q&A agent, I am doing real system design. When I optimize a slow query, I am doing performance engineering. These are not side projects. They are professional engagements with real users and real consequences.
The depth of learning that comes from production work is different from studying. You encounter edge cases that no tutorial covers. You make architectural decisions that have real tradeoffs. You learn what good enough looks like, which is something FAANG engineers deal with every day.
Building a Track Record
FAANG companies look for impact. They want to see that you have done meaningful work, not that you have spent months preparing for their interview process. A consultancy gives you a portfolio of real projects with measurable outcomes.
When I walk into an interview and can talk about how I reduced a client's manual work by 90%, or how I built a system that handles thousands of queries a day, that carries weight. It demonstrates ownership, initiative, and execution. Those are the traits that hiring managers are actually looking for.
The Financial Safety Net
There is also a practical side. Job hunting at the FAANG level takes time. Months, sometimes. Having consultancy income means I can be patient. I do not have to accept the first offer that comes along because rent is due. I can wait for the right role at the right company.
This changes the entire dynamic of the job search. When you are not desperate, you negotiate better. You interview better. You make better decisions about which teams and which offers are actually a good fit.
The Long Game
My goal is not just to get into FAANG. It is to become the kind of engineer who thrives there. That means building real things, solving real problems, and developing real expertise. Consultancy forces me to do all of that at a pace that no study plan can match.
So no, I am not choosing between consultancy and FAANG. I am using one to earn the other. And honestly, I think that is the smarter play.