I was an SDE at Amazon in Canada, I got laid-off around the 1-year mark earlier on 2023. Since then I have taken a temporary contract (6 months) as a Data Engineer for an online retailer, I like this client I have now because everyone in the team is both nice and competent, also the WLB is probably the best I've had (maybe I'm biased because at amazon WLB was the worst I've ever had, but still). Earlier this week I got approached by a recruiter from Meta, they said that I did very well on a round of interviews that I did (for ML Engineering positions) just before the lay-offs happened (Q3-Q4 of 2022). They said that even though timing was not great back then, they are resuming hiring now, and I can skip the interviews since they took place less than 12 months ago. Just for clarification: prior to being an SDE at amazon I worked several years as an underpaid ML Engineer in a smaller local company. ML Engineering is definitely what I want to be doing, the reason I joined Amazon was entirely related to TC. Another point to clarify is, as many users in Blind, I love working remotely and hate the RTO policies. I am very excited about being given a verbal "offer" to become an MLE at META, however the recruiter made it clear that Remote work is not an option. I have to make a choice between 3 US cities and a Canadian one, and any of these 4 cities would imply a relocation. I am a bit torn because on one hand I've been targeting MLE positions at Meta for years, and on the other hand I absolutely hate RTO for the type of work I do, especially if it implies a relocation. According to Levels.fyi these are the average TC for E5 (which is the level that they will be offering me) - Seattle: $413 K USD - Menlo park: $446 K USD - New York: $352 K USD - Toronto: $272 K USD Current TC: ~ $200K CAD (which is roughly $150K USD) I need to choose the city before I can go to the team-matching process, what should I do? Do any of you have any recommendations on how to get a remote exception? #remotework #wfh #hybrid #meta #relocation
Seattle. No state tax. Cheaper. Close to Vancouver (if you like going back and forth)
This is a no brainer
NYC actually has higher comp then mpk. Probably should check which org it would be with though. Ads and some others have really bad wlb
I don't have a formal offer yet. As I explained in the post, those are just the average TC values reported in levels.fyi I don't have other source of information regarding TC in different cities
Congratulation for the offer ☺️. can I dm you ?
What part of canada are you in now? If it’s Vancouver then I would pick Seattle so you can drive 3 hours and go back home. But my number 1 choice would be Menlo Park especially if you’re single
This is a great way to stay single if OP is male. Your advice is F-
OP got more game than you so being single won’t be an issue
Having worked at both Meta and Amazon, Meta is a shitshow. I would go to Amazon over Meta any day for WLB and mental health. Meta is toxic as fuck.
remote exception probably isn't happening, but you'll be eligible for a remote transfer in 18 months. until then, 2-3 days at the office but honestly that's probably doable. the TC at MPK, NYC, and SEA will all be within ~5% of each other, so here's your actual decision breakdown 1. NYC: if you are single or enjoy the city 2. SEA: if you want the most money with decent weather (due to no state tax), also close to vancouver 3. MPK: if you have a family, don't mind suburb life. great weather. 4. Toronto: if you need to be in canada
Following up on this - what did you end up doing, OP?
Hey OP can I dm you and ask you a few questions regarding your experience with Amazon and a ML engineer
Go right ahead