10 yoe, backend dev, Got offers from Atlassian, eBay, Apple, Facebook, Netflix. Torn between N, F.
Fb tc - 205/600/100, 15% bonus N tc - 480k, 5% options Netflix pros - almost similar work, under 30 mins commute, no bs culture mostly (though it can vary with team). Cons - although I am impressed by most aspects of the culture, the thought of being laid off without notice makes me a bit uncomfortable. I am on H1b and think the interview process these days is too painful to be done again and at a short notice esp once you have kids. I feel that may prevent me from enjoying during my off time such as weekends and I may not be completely there for my family. Facebook pros - can move to any team, get to do different work that what I have been doing. Not many companies give you that opportunity at a senior level. Of course I would have to perform but that's the case everywhere. Also fb might be a bit more recession, visa issues proof than Netflix. Cons - commute is around 1 hour, wlb may be bad based on the team I end up in. Summary - I value career growth, learning, stability. I know pip is common at Facebook too, so that ways it's not much different from netflix. Only thing is you may get some time to plan your next move. Based on the above, I am mostly leaning towards Facebook. Am I overlooking or overthinking about any aspects here?
At Facebook you can help spread hate and disinformation. May even swing the next election, again. In terms of impact, you can’t really beat that.
Just curious, what was your Apple TC was like? Also which team if you don’t mind.
Can't tell the team. But wasn't impressed enough to negotiate. The first offer was around 320k.
Depends on if you think the extra $130k/year with N is worth it if you’re laid off for a short bit. If you’re this talented, I wouldn’t sweat it to find another job if you needed. I’d vote N just because the TC is way higher with less commute.
Fb tc will be around 410k including the 15% bonus. Edited the post.
FB is nearly 500K the first year (and should be the same in subsequent years since they give refreshers)? Not sure if Netflix has refreshers.
Congratulations, both good places to work. Overall, the answer depends on what you are looking for going forward. Career growth? Stability? Better WLB? Facebook is highly performance based - you can learn and grow fast, get promoted fast, and relatively stable as a company. On the other hand, it could be painful if you are not a effective worker and not good at time management/efficiency. Although you need that everywhere, it is just ever more painful at fb.
Career growth, stability is imp esp as I have a mortgage and I am on visa. TBH, I have never worked in super efficient workplaces to have that experience but I think that would be a skill I would want to develop for future roles too, if that's something that can be learnt :)
I expect everything is learnable. Refreshers at fb are generous, and so the pay gap should not be a huge concern in long run. See if you can negotiate a better offer.
Congratulations 🎉 do you mind sharing your preparation strategy Leetcode count, System design etc. I'm in the similar experience range and plan to interview shortly.
Mostly leetcode, system design videos on YouTube. You can read the company blogs to get idea about architecture.
Your analysis looks pretty good. Do you believe this is fb s final offer?
Yes, I tried negotiating but looks like this is the highest. I know they can go up to 750k too but not in my case.
What’s your FB level? It’s important context as WLB will depend heavily on that.
Here’s what I would do : I would join FB. FB offer is top of E5, which means you are being paid very close to a new E6 but with E5 expectations. Since you want all of stability, learning and career growth, I would try to do them one by one. I will start with stability: which means I will shop around a lot during boot camp to find a team where the work is as close to something you have successfully done before. This means when you take their tasks, you are able to go through them faster than expected. This will tell you that if you join that team, you won’t have much trouble ramping up and getting started. Once you are comfortable with technical stack, I would throw in some late hours and weekends initially until I build good reputation among teammates and managers (trust me, it’s very important and will help you in long run). In the process you will also successfully ship a project or two. Now that you are comfortable, getting good ratings, it’s time to prioritize other two. Look for learning opportunities and career growth inside your team first. Your manager will support you. If they don’t, you can always look for a new team after 1.5-2 year timeframe (changing teams earlier is not recommended but possible). This strategy has worked out for me so far but YMMV. Good luck
And choose a team which allows WFH flexibility. You probably wouldn’t do it much while ramping up but once ramped up, you can WFH even 2-3 days a week or work from a different office in Bay Area which is closer to your home.
Thanks for your inputs. This is indeed helpful. I am wondering what is the usual number of hours people work as l5 to get MA or higher. I understand it can vary with teams but just trying to get a sense of the average work hours given my commute is going to take a good chunk of my time. I may only end up getting 7 hrs in office. I am ready to put in some extra hours as you said but that should be to do over and above what I need to do. Else I will be in the catch up mode forever.
Is FB offer e5 or e6? If it is e5, then go for N; if it is e6; then choose FB
L5, can you elaborate more
E5 to e6 is very hard. At Netflix everyone's Sr SWE. So nothing is really preventing you to grow your responsibility or salary
Nope, you are weighing in the options perfectly. Facebook is where you have to go if the other option is Netflix.