If you get high TC would you have crazy pressure?
tl;dr Do you get more pressure if your incoming TC is top of the band? ———- Had 4 onsite interviews. Kicked butt at two of them (Apple/late stage startup). Did good at Facebook. No offer at another. Two I kicked butt at are competing against each other and TC is comparable. Apple is slightly higher at just barely over 300k. Startup is about 270k but I like the culture/product I’d be working on more. Both placed me as senior. I’m a designer. I’m afraid I’m going to have so much pressure I’d fail. I have less than 7YOE though did a lot in those years, managed others, and made a kickass portfolio. Facebook gave me upper IC4. Still negotiating comp but I’m certain it maxes out at much less than the two. Recruiter implied base maxes at a around 165k (30k less than apple’s offer). I feel like I’d learn and grow more there and less pressure being midlevel instead of senior. I have google onsite Monday but thinking of canceling. Don’t think comp would get much higher and I feel like design culture at FB/Apple is better than google. I’m so sick of interviewing. And will need at least 16 hours to prep over the weekend. Been preparing for this job change for over a year now and burned out as heck. ...google was my dream company though and I’m worried I would have missed a great oppurtunity.
Google will be so slow that you’ll miss your competing offers. Sorry bud.
Yeah they were the slowest. I pushed them hard since the first call and they’re still last onsite.
I feel you. I had to give up my intern conversion because of how slow they were.
You sound like an incredibly talented person with a bad case of imposter syndrome. I’d just do the google interview anyways and treat it as a victory lap, don’t put too much effort into the prep.
I second this sentiment and I couldn’t have said it better. You are great at what you do so don’t settle. 🙌🏼
Thanks so much for the kind words. I’ll go to google just to see!
Take apple or Google
Go thru Google onsite, take FB or apple if they are too slow, and forget startup. Startup TC is largely paper money, and stint at FB apple Google will open many more doors in a few years
That’s true. The one rejection was from a startup that was afraid my design process wasn’t mature enough since I’ve only been at late stage/early stage startups. I don’t disagree since I’ve never been at a company larger than 400. Normally treat startup money as 0, thought this was late enough and successful enough. They weren’t options but RSUs and I can see a good exit strategy. But... so many high profile startups are bleeding. Really adore the product/team but maybe growth wise could learn more with more higher level designers.
wow designers get paid as much as devs now
Do your google interview with zero prep, just be yourself, and if they aren’t interested it is their loss. I’ve interviewed hundreds of candidates at Google, prep is way overrated. Beyond this, negotiate super hard for starting TC and level, and more TC won’t increase pressure once you join, it just puts you ahead from the start.
Can’t do that for design unfortunately. We have to give a presentation and a take home assignment. My take home assignment is only partially complete and I have to make the actual presentation.
If you really feel like being lazy and you already did a take home for another interview you could always see if they’d accept that because all the recruiters know it’s an ask to knock these things out when you have ft employment. I just did this while interviewing and it worked out fine: idk maybe even subtly swung the balance in my favor
Go to the Google interview anyway. I think of it like a networking event, if nothing else. Perhaps you'll run into the same names again at another adventure down the road or at a conference
Congrats on the offers. Stress is usually self inflicted. It is just a job, but we act like being fired is equivalent to dying. Don’t forget to take care of yourself, and realize that these companies are very good at weeding out bad candidates, they are making you an offer for a reason.
You never know if don’t try. Stop being afraid and take the offer you want. Take a vacation before joining. Kick ass and don’t worry about failing. Interview at google too.