MSFT 65 vs 66

Google
lcgorrila

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lcgorrila
Aug 22, 2021 58 Comments

What's the difference? With 10 YOE I feel I should be pushing for 66 but it seems they are only willing to offer 65. How good is this?

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TOP 58 Comments
  • Amazon
    devtestpm

    Go to company page Amazon

    devtestpm
    For context, I recently received a 64 offer at around 7 YOR.

    Can anyone elaborate on what the concrete differences between 65 and 66 are? 68 is partner, so I don’t really understand why OP can negotiate to 66.
    Aug 22, 2021 27
  • There is near zero chance of getting a L66 offer. L65 is “Principal” and most do not make it. L65 is a career level for really solid IC devs. 10 YOE alone is nowhere near enough to warrant a L66 offer.
    Aug 22, 2021 7
  • You should definitely push for 66. Base pays are mostly comparable, but 66 gets far better stock refreshes.
    I made the mistake of accepting 65... the recruiter told me that 66 has higher bar at year end reviews to even make 100% rewards.. and I will be 'setting myself for failure' if I push for 66 (apparently the hiring manager was kind of ok for 66 - but the offer rollout would probably be delayed had I pushed and sign on would be reduced, I agreed for the 65 offer since they said they can roll it out immediately, with significant sign-on)
    In hind sight, I should have pushed for 66. This was 2 years ago, and I am still 65 - while the team, work and wlb are good, it is unfortunately a well established team and hard to make majorly impact-full change, with random 'quality improvement' months making it very hard to do feature work. This makes it hard to build a case or promotion. The ongoing pandemic also did not help.
    Aug 23, 2021 10
  • Forget 66, unless you had proven track record, the impact and you can continue, I would suggest you to take 65 in higher range of the pay and make impact and blast off to next levels
    Aug 22, 2021 5
  • Manager or IC?

    IMO it depends. I’d expect MINIMUM L65 for 10 YOE for anyone. But 66 within 10-11 years has felt like a better goal, but in many groups it’s harder to achieve without being a manager.

    TLDR I think you’re right to push for L66 if you’re ambitious and high performer.
    Aug 22, 2021 3
    • Amazon
      ksnydyrv72

      Go to company page Amazon

      ksnydyrv72
      How easy or hard is it to get promoted from 65 to 66 as a EM? Is 65 a respected/influential role within and outside of Microsoft?
      Aug 22, 2021
    • Facebook / Data
      AznQuynh

      Go to company page Facebook Data

      BIO
      unemployed
      AznQuynh
      Why is 66 considered so prestigious? Maps to IC6 at FB, which isn’t that hard to attain if someone started their career at FB and spent a decade there.
      Aug 23, 2021