Amazon Seattle office- NC hiring event
Recruiter reached out about Amazons upcoming hiring event in Raleigh NC to staff their Seattle office. Position would require relocation. What range TC should I say I expect? I have 3+ years experience and currently make 115k in VA, but this is at a much smaller company. Also, no idea what to ask/expect for signing bonus, stock, etc. would asking for 150k base/200 TC but underselling myself? Asking too much? I know it is all dependent on personal experience and interview but want to feel out the range. Also I would be moving 3000 miles away so it would need to be a good jump. Also, any advice for phone interview?
10+ story buildings take a few years to build. Whenever HQ2 is announced, I'd imagine it'll take at least that long for the campus to be ready for new employees.
Isn't hiring event mostly for new grads?
Recruiter reached out to me and my LinkedIn clearly shows 3+ years experience... also discussed how I recently left my first job to start a new one a month ago etc so he knows I’m not a grad... maybe he just thinks my resume sucks 😂
Remote hiring events are common for all roles and levels. It is usually faster to hire 5-10 people in one go by travelling with an interview team and talking to people locally. Versus flying people in to Seattle and juggling schedules and finding interviewers over a series of weeks or months to talk to the same number of candidates.
I would resist asking for anything and get amazon to make you an offer first. They already have the information advantage, so don’t make it worse by telling them what you currently make.
The recruiter asked what TC I would require to relocate before setting up the phone interview... I said 170k-200k 💁♂️
You said a number first, so you are guaranteed no more than $200 now, and likely $185 initial offer if one is made from which you’d need to negotiate. If you aren’t planning to get competing offers, you are at a bit of a ceiling. I don’t expect them to actually go over $190-$195 from the $185 starting point without competing offers. Again, you’ve decided you want to go and see what happens, but I would operate on a “is $190 worth it” tact in your considerations. You can legitimately price out everything compared to your current situation, and see what you actually would need and let the recruiter know if you’d want to adjust the range, but... cat is out of the bag. PS: I moved from a smaller city and got ~70% bump and felt like I was not better off with 2x rent versus previous mortgage, etc.
I’m currently a SDE II in a non HQ office and I’ve found that work life balance is based on the team you’ve gotten assigned to. Out here most managers are relaxed enough to allow you 40 hours without any grief. If you get fortunate enough to be placed in a cheap part of the country like I have you will be paid just as much in the other parts. I think it has been the smoothest interview I’ve had so it is totally worth your time to see if you get a nice offer.
Cost of living, especially housing, is going to hurt a lot. I honestly think you are really well-paid for where you are and your experience, so I wonder if an Amazon offer is actually going to be thrilling. Some things to know: Base caps at $160 in Seattle and most US markets. Starting at $150 gives you almost no room for growth (~6% to threshold) and normally base is lower with a greater amount of total compensation paid in stock. Bonus is for first two years, and makes up the gap between base and total comp target because stock vesting takes a while to kick in. Stock is a 4 year initial grant: 5% 12 mo 15% 24 mo 20% 30/36/42/48 mo I don’t know what SDE 2 offers are looking like but you can search on here and get a range. Be very sure you want to live in Seattle and take a hit to lifestyle though. I just really don’t know that there is a lot of upside for you with your current comp in a lower CoL market.
I agree with RBMY63. I made the jump from Richmond, VA to Seattle, but my salary doubled, as it was quite a bit lower than yours. With three years of experience you'd have to really nail the interview to hit L5, and at that point 200k TC is a reasonable ask. But if you get L4 expect 150-160 TC (which is where I am with three years experience) With all that in mind, COL is at least 50% more here in Seattle than it is in the Richmond area. For example, I pay double in housing for the same quality apartment. Doing the math, your purchasing power will actually decrease if your offer is less than 170k TC. I would only take the job if it is an L5 offer if I were in your shoes.
Thanks for the advice both of you. I actually am in Richmond VA as well, so I sure am reaping the benefits of the low cost of living while at my current salary. I’m more interested in the potential opportunity to work for a globally renowned company, especially one with such growth opportunities. Another question- how is WLB? I am a workaholic and have no problem working 80 hours weeks, BUT family is important and I would like to continue visiting them every few months (upstate NY). So far in my career I’ve managed this by working from home for a week while visiting so that I don’t have to worry about falling behind on work or using pto. Is something like that an option or are you expected to be in the office 24/7?