I keep seeing people saying that it is easier to get promoted while you switch jobs. I am not sure how to approach the topic with recruiters. Sometimes they just straight up ask me what level I am at meta and sometimes they just auto guess based on my years of experience. I see so many people on here get promoted to staff level really early in their careers. I am curious how they do it. I am currently an e5 but it doesn't look like e6 is coming any time soon so I am considering if I should look elsewhere. Do you have any tips that I can use while talking to recruiters to have them consider me for staff level roles? I understand that there may be instances where your level may be decided on basis of performance but realistically I know it's higher likelihood of them interviewing me for the role that was suggested by the recruiter - > hiring manager based on my years of exp. YOE - 7 Maybe like 280k
It's all about showing you can punch above your weight. Show, not tell
If you truly believe you do E6 level work and have projects and work examples and skill set to prove it during the interviews, you can say you are E6 tbh… they have no way of proving it and you are correcting the wrong that your meta team is doing for not promoting you for some reason. But if you truly truly think hard about this and don’t believe you are operating at E6… then do not do this.
I think if you don't see E6 coming anytime soon, then why not look elsewhere? Even if you don't get an uplevel, find a role/place (even within Meta) with a clear path to E6. You may have outgrown your manager - you need a manager who can help you find a path to E6 and beyond.
I have gone through this before. I simply set my level expectations with the recruiter and only interview for those that agree. Did I have to say no to multiple offers because of that - yes. But I don’t join unless given the level I want .
Switching from senior to staff, l5 -> l6 is harder. Usually staff is promoted to after a longer tenure. Once you’re staff you get staff jobs elsewhere but not before that unfortunately. You need more cross team larger impact projects, try to push your manager to put those on your plate.