Hi all, I have an offer from both Amazon and Microsoft with almost similar total comp. I felt L63 at Microsoft maybe a bit lower than my expectation but clearly they have made up in their comp so I can get promoted to L64 later as well. The roles are in Office and AWS teams respectively. At Amazon while I was qualified for L7 they didn't have L7 positions open for outside hiring currently so it was L6.5 now or wait (and I am told L7 hiring from outside is much tougher due to few positions, but growing inside is easier assuming one proves through good work) Are the levels fair for someone with 7 years if experience at good tech firms? I have heard a lot about Amazon's brutal work life balance and that makes me thinking of whether it will be a 2 year life at Amazon again requiring me to switch companies. How would you choose? Also, what is typical time needed for a good performer to move from L6 to L7 at Amazon?
Correct but of course I could leave with part of the RSUs if I don't enjoy the work or team or culture.
What they mean is the RSUs are backloaded, so if u leave after a year u only get 5% of the initial grant; if u leave after 2 years, u only get 20% of the initial grant, and such
63 is weak sauce. L6 is higher at Amazon
Thanks
That’s not true.. they’re both senior levels
Is 6.5 even a real thing? Did they tel you that lol? Amazon work life balance is good, it used to be bad but it is completely different now. It depends on your team and from what I hear most AWS teams are good
Really? Yes. The recruiter told me 6.5. isn't it real or is it a pseudo level to differentiate experienced level 6? Interesting to hear about the change in work life balance (or Harmony as J B calls it :))
I have never heard of 6.5 but I assume they mean you will be about halfway to getting to level 7. I’ve worked in two different teams in different orgs and different locations. It is all dependent on your team and on call. If on call is bad you can push to make changes to improve it. In general what I see now is most people work around 8-9 hours including lunch. I hear prime now and fresh have terrible work life balance but have never been near any of those teams
6.5 is a joke, there is no such thing. Having said that, L6 is better than MS 63. L7 is super tough to get, that's true.
Why is L6 better than 63? Both have the same comp and senior title
They do not have same comp. Avg L6 Tech role has TC north 300k. Doubt avg 63 has TC close to that.
I would prioritize the things that make me happy, not just at work but life in general. That should guide me in making the utility-maximizing decision. If I ranked quality of life and time for loved ones high, I would go with the company/team that espouses that. If I were all about the money, I'd go and try to leverage each offer to get them to the max and choose the highest. If I were more interested in career progression, I'd do more research and ask people on both teams how long it took for them to be in their current level and whether they see a clear path to the next level within the same team. If I were passionate about some particular industry or field of research, I'd join the company that has invested and continues to invest in that field, and position myself so I could work in that area. Example, if I like console gaming, I would go with Microsoft even though my offer is not with that team because I at least get the proverbial foot in the door. If I were a cinephile I would probably go with Amazon because I know there's an entire org dedicated to film and TV production. Now my question to you is: what are your priorities? Congratulations on the offers, and good luck choosing!
Thank you. Helpful piece of advice. I do think a happy and balanced life is important, and that doesn't have to mean I am not engaged or passionate at work. Anecdotally, MSFT espouses that more but I hear that has changed quite a bit in recent years at Amazon for the better
L6.5 is a recruiter BS, so just ignore it and be happy with L6 offer. If you do good for next 4-5 yrs, it's possible to get L7. Make sure you get a good team/product. L63 is very low level (comparing to L6), you should ignore it for now, and what's exciting about Office?
L6.5? 😂 is it SWE and TC??
A lot of times "L6.5" is used to make L6 Amazon finance managers feel more important than L6 individual contributors in finance. It's fundamentally just an L6 position, and doesn't necessarily get paid more than business L6s, or even L6 finance ICs. Finance managers can still switch to regular L6 positions. I haven't heard of the "L6.5" nonsense being used for employees in any other function.
As many have said, there is no 6.5 in engineering at amzn. And L6 amzn is at least principal at msft.
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You need to survive at least 4 years at Amazon to get all your initial RSUs