Amazon Alexa AI Team SDE 2 vs Microsoft Azure Level 60?
Hi I have received an offer from Amazon AlexaAI team located in Seattle. The recruiter reached out asking me a salary I am expecting. I said I am expecting 250k (Have got competing offers). Please help me out with your insights. The current level they are offering is SDE 2, L5. 1. What is the expected pay I can ask for? 2. Currently the team is in Seattle, can I ask for an opportunity in Bay Area? (Family and Girlfriend are in Bay Area) 3. I see a lot of complains about WLB at Amazon and have also seen some of my friends complain about it. Does anyone here have any idea about how AlexaAI team is? My other offer is: Microsoft Azure Data & Intelligence team: TC: 200k YoE: 2 I know there’s no job safety in any company and we have to perform, saying that which among these two companies is stable. I see a lot of posts about PIPs at Amazon. I am on F1 OPT visa and I have two more shots at H1B. Microsoft said they would send me to Canada if I don’t get H-1B. What would Amazon do? Any insights are really appreciated. Puns are also welcome 🍿
Family and Girlfriend? Doesn't make sense 🤔 ?
Well both Family and Girlfriend are in Bay Area.
Amazon, they will send you to Canada as well. What level at oracle? Props for welcoming puns.
IC2 at Oracle but I don’t think Oracle gives positions fairly. I mean at least in my org.
Go with Microsoft. When you are unhappy with comp in future, Go to amazon for some time and come back to Microsoft.
But both Amazon and Microsoft are not currently giving offers in Bay Area. How easy is it to shift internally? Well why do you suggest Microsoft to Amazon and not Amazon to Microsoft?
What’s the compensation range for principle at Microsoft ?
Go with amazon offer. 60 is similar like a L4. I disagree with the comment above about switching team or org in amazon. It’s super easy. I know people who joined for. 1-3 month in amazon and switched team. Compensation and career wise, Amazon is better. It will take longer to go from 60 to 62.63. But easier to promote from 5 to 6 if you are in the right track . With l6, you can get 63-64 at Microsoft depend on yoe
How easy is it to switch from Amazon Seattle to Amazon Bay Area? Do I have to go through the whole interview process again? Will my pay vary? Also I see about PIPs in many posts. Is it something to be scared of considering I am an international student and need H1B? I only have two more tries and anything wrong, I’ll be screwed. Also I hear about bad WLB at Amazon. Do you have any insights about my team? How much is the ideal pay I could ask for? I did mention I am expecting 250k.
250k is a reasonable ask for l5. But for 60, impossible. I don’t think you should worry about pip, that’s 5-10% if the org direct has >50 reports. Not all orgs have this quota. Although msft does not have stack rank, it does have manage out sometimes. You could probably use this offer to negotiate with msft ask for 61-62 and raise the pay. But I don’t think msft will match
2 yoe 200k is awesome. Both MS and Amazon are pretty flexible when it comes to visa issues. You can always talk to manager and hr before accepting the offer about contingencies
Which one would you advice on choosing? And why? How easy is it to move to Bay Area in future in any of your choices?
I'd wait till Amazon offers. I have seen some cases where they haven't matched competing offers. I think it's easier to move to Bay area with Amazon than MS as internal transfer is easier comparatively in Amazon than MS and also lot more teams in Bay area
Please check your DM
Btw Alexa in general is pretty bad. I’ve met a couple people from Alexa AI. All of them are trying to leave within a year. Nevertheless, Alexa AI is pretty big, maybe you get a good team. Odds aren’t good though
Could you explain why? I realized that WLB is bad. Are you in Alexa? Would you advice choosing MS over Alexa? If Alexa gives me in Bay Area I am readily willing to accept but my recruiter isn’t helpful. What would you suggest on approaching Bay Area opportunities?
I did some internal transfer interviews with them. It’s bad because of a lot of things, bad tech, leadership, WLB... However, Amazon has a pretty flexible internal transfer policy so you can always transfer to another team later.
Is MS in Redmond or Bay Area? I would take amazon unless ms is willing to negotiate to sde2
OP how did this turn out?
Which team in Alexa ai?
I don’t have specifics about team. I do know the hiring manager. They work on ML and NLU.
Is it Amazon blueshift building?