I know a person from my college got L5 with 3.5 experience at Google and that sounds like impossible for me because I heard it’s hard to be promoted at Google. Also I don’t think this person is exceptionally smart. Curious if it’s the common case for grads from great schools. How does Google evaluate people and determine if you can be an L5? There are engineers with 10yrs of experience and still L5. I don’t understand. (btw im not at jet anymore)
L5 is a terminal level, so it's possible your 10-year colleagues got it long ago and haven't bothered to push for 6. I know a couple people who went from 3 to 5 as new grads in <= 3.5 years. If you're a strong performer then I think it depends primarily on how much your manager is willing to push for it, and how your org views the "sustained performance" requirement. Also your performance relative to other L4s on your team going for promo at the same (sadly, due to quota). Edit: also, if your friend is a PhD they would have started at L4 straight out of school.
Thanks for your comment! My friend is not a PhD, just a new grad straight out of college and then went to Google. They also interned there before so I guess that could be a reason too.
Promo difficulty at Google can vary a lot based on the project you are on, how visible your role is, etc. So it isn’t always hard for everyone.
You comment “Also I don’t think this person is exceptionally smart.” 👆shows why you are still below your friend! Stop hate and start preparing. Good luck!
Sounds like you’re just jealous. The fact that you don’t think the person is smart doesn’t mean they’re not. Especially if they can be very hard working and know how to pick/fight for good projects. Don’t be jealous with others achievement and instead focus on your own. There’s no quick or slow promotion.
Agreed +1000. Thanks! I still got a lot to learn.
Were they hired at L5 with 3.5 yoe or did they get promoted to L5 in 3.5 years? One is harder than the other.
Yes it’s possible. Why would this be impossible? Unless there’s some random stupid rule that says someone must have X years for a particular level, of course you’ll find outliers here and there. I know someone who’s L6 with no more than 5 yoe. I know this because I went to school with him and can see his level..
i have 14 yoe and got hired as L5 :-(
Hired at L6
YOE is a bad signal. There are many L4 people with 10+ YOE. And the higher the level, the wider the brand is.
How are they L4 with 10+ YoE?
Totally normal if the 10 YOE were from less known company.