Evaluate apple offer
Curently at amazon sdet l5, apple position is a QE in img group. Got offer from apple Base 165k Signon 40k only first year Stock 200k total, 4 years vest This is already after negotiation, it is a little higher than my current tc, of course first year is much high because signon, but after that 10% increase than current tc on amazon. I am in seattle now, apple position located in cupertino. I heard apple rsu refreash is good, could you help me compare overall (company culture, benefits, future and so on)
go ahead but compare cost of living
there is 8%-10% bonus yearly, donation matching if you care, ESPP as well
Only 10% bonus? That seems quite low. Any possibility to get more?
If you consider the cost of living difference, especially if you have a family, you are getting a payout joining apple.
It’s a pay cut if moving to Bay Area. I wouldn’t do it unless you can get more.
Except for the first year, you are taking a pay cut. Since you are moving from WA, you’d pay ~10% more in state taxes. If you have kids and want to live in Cupertino area for schools, housing is ridiculously expensive. At least $2800-$3800 for a two bedroom apt.
Don’t believe the posts that tell you 6 figure refreshes. It happens but only on the right teams and for the right ppl. Recruiters know but aren’t willing to tell you which ones since it’s a conflict of interests.
I am x amazon was l5 - joined Apple as ic4 dev , exact same offer , Are you QE at amazon too ? I would never move from sde to QE , Apple QE is not the best. Moving from Seattle to Cupertino could be difficult , would not do it for 10% hike . Apple is a different company all together , Apple is very much top down , amazon is engineering driven . ( I had heard this a million times before but I understood the gap after joining Apple ) Work life balance is better at Apple but if you enjoy checking out any code and learning from it or cross collaborate with completely different product people, Apple will be very hard to work at . Hiring bar is inconsistent , I have met smartest and the dumbest people here , at the same level. Refreshers are much better at Apple , no thumb rule here but could see your stock grant increase nicely per year . (I don’t know about other teams but have always had 6 figure refreshers ) Apple is a awesome company but it’s design driven not engineering driven unlike amazon . Fyi: I got fed up and leaving for the same reason .
Can you advice in the difference between design driven and engineering driven?
At amazon you would not have to scratch a implemented v1 product just because a designer changed his mind and had to redesign it from the ground up which may lead to redesign of all layers , ui, api , backend micro services .
State tax: +9% Rent: +1500$/month (== $2300 before taxes If you average out your sign on for 4 years then TC is around $225k. If you subtract the above additional costs it would be around $180K/annum. Now does it make sense to make the change from a comp perspective? Given that AMZN outperforms AAPL by +10%/ year you might be taking a huge paycut. Irrespective it looks like a low offer for an L5 at Apple. You should rethink your motivation behind the job change. If comp is a big factor then let the recruiter politely know that and tell them you are not comfortable taking a paycut.
Thanks for the deatails, make sense, i did similar calculations, seems really same as my current tc in seattle, and i am sdet here, apple position is more like a test engineer only, not a big push on job type. I heard l5 in apple is really hard to get, i am going to comfirm this with recruiter. When you day amzn outperforms aapl by 10%, you are talking about the stock?
Yes talking about stock performance
You know, Amazon has an img org in Cupertino looking for sdet. Look under Max Paley.
Is 200k rsu offered every year?
Not according to the post.
No, 4 year, if it is every year, i will go directly