I got two offers from Airbnb and Google and I really don’t know what to choose:
Airbnb: TC: 310k L4
Google TC: 270k L3
My opinion is Google seems to be a very reliable place to go, good work life balance, great benefits, just following the company’s ladder and I will have reasonable career development. Even if I don’t like the current team, I can still change team internally. It makes me feel that I can stay at Google for quite a long time. The only pity is I could miss the good opportunity to join a great start-up before its IPO, Airbnb is among the best start-ups of this year, and it will only IPO once, I feel like that could be an exciting experience.
Airbnb seems to have a better package, but their RSUs are still paper money, I have heard many different voices about the company’s future, all of them sound make sense for me. What attracts me is that I feel the projects at Airbnb should be more interesting than Google and I may have better impact. Also, people at Airbnb seems to be happy and passionate about their work (during on-site interview). However, I’m just an engineer and don’t have enough knowledge/experience to determine the future of airbnb, I expect it to be great, but what if it doesn’t and the stock price keep dropping after IPO? Then I may have to leave again…that really sucks! I don’t want to become rich from Airbnb’s IPO, I want a place to stay longer happily and worry less about the future, so I really don’t know whether their comps can cover the risk…or if it’s a good choice
Just curious what you guys would think about these two choices? Really appreciate if any current Airbnber or Googler can help!
comments
1. Much more upside in the stock than Google in my opinion. If you don't take risks in life you will never win big. You're still young (like me) and there is no better time to take a risk than right now.
2. I absolutely loved the vibe and the feel of the office. I interviewed with many companies and Airbnb's office was the most unique. Office life is important because you're gonna spend 8-10 hours a day there.
3. I liked the people who interviewed me a lot. Like you, I felt like everyone was happy, warm, humble, smart etc. And that turned out to be true
4. The last reason I joined was the level. airbnb gave me L4. That means L5 is doable in 12 months if you work hard under the right manager. Once you're L5 here, your stock refresh, base and bonus all increase. If you get promoted to L5 in 1 year, then by year 4 with stacking refreshers you will be making way more than you would have at G. L3 with 4 yoe is like resetting your career. Here you will advance much quicker.
So far I'm glad I came to airbnb. It was definitely the right choice. I may try Google again some day when I have more experience and can interview for L5. You can't go wrong either way though, OP. Best of luck and I hope you choose us 😊
1) How long was your interview? 1 hour each 5 rounds?
2) Was the difficulty similar to LC medium? Somewhere between medium and hard?
3) Were most questions reasonable? As in, common DS&A based questions?