AWS SDE III Offer
Should I join Amazon? Spotify: +Great team + mgr +Fully remote +Great WLB +Great benefits -No path to increased comp for the next few years -Learning / professional development slowed down in recent months Amazon: +Comp +Potential for learning about systems at high scale +Mgr + teammates gave good vibes during interview -Benefits look subpar -Could still be super toxic according to Blind reviews (though this does seem to vary by team) -Potentially longer hours Don’t really care about moving from NYC to DC, like both places equally Also, how high can I push this offer for the HQ2 location? This is all pre negotiation, and I am expecting competing offers. Exact breakdown: -205K base -2360 RSUs at usual 5/15/40/40 vesting schedule -Y1 188K, Y2 140K sign on bonus M32, 8 YOE (started late-ish) #aws #amazonaws #amazon
I would switch but the offer seems to have come down quite a bit from 2021/22
😞 all I can do now is make sure that I’m getting a fair offer for today’s market conditions
My normal reaction is a knee jerk no for Amazon. But damn, this is a tough one.
Only variance in Amazon experience is how bad it gets (bad vs worse) and not good vs bad
Spotify TC is higher assuming you work 30-40 hour weeks vs. Amazon’s 50-60 hour weeks. This doesn’t even account for losing many benefits (401k matching, lower health premiums, etc) If you have the opportunity to boomerang back to Spotify it may be worth a shot, but you’ll have to pay back relocation if you leave within a year
This is true on a per hour basis, but there are certain things that are just not possible without a certain level of capital (eg home ownership in HCOL). And I don’t really have a reliable way to monetize my extra hours at the same rate.
I do think boomerang in short term is unlikely, given the fact that there are no open positions at Spotify. Seems like the company is interested in encouraging voluntary attrition.
You will pay around 50k tax for those extra 100K, also it's not guaranteed after year 2 as Amazon assumes 15% yoy stock growth while calculating the TC. I'll take remote anyday instead of joining the PIP factory even with half the TC 550K
lol I am literally half your TC
+1. I would not go in without assuming that you may want/need to transition to another company within the next three years. Lots of burnout throughout the company as people try to hang on for vests this year, so morale is quite low among many rank and file employees because of increased pip quotas, threat of layoffs, and RTO.
Try getting Seattle. This pay is good for Seattle
Amazon really varies but in general it’s been pretty bad across the board since layoffs and tight market conditions. Most people are working a ton and pip is being enforced. I think it’s still a good name to get on resume but be prepared to leave in a year if it’s truly miserable. If your interview skills are sharp then it doesn’t matter.
Layoffs is a good point - I survived the massive layoff wave at Spotify so it does feel more stable. Do you have a sense of how high I can push this offer? Need to make sure it fairly compensates me for the additional risk.
Search blind for L6 bands for your location. It’ll be hard without competing offers but worth a try
You will be constantly compared with other L6 for every quarter by director. And if you stay at bottom for 2 quarters then be prepared for focus. If you are confident that you won’t be in bottom then go ahead with Amazon or just don’t go. It’s not worth.
The team I’m joining has at least a couple very seasoned L6 engineers with lots of Amazon experience, and a few L5s. It’s pretty likely that I will be at the bottom for a while as I get onboarded, but in theory it also means I have really experienced people to learn from, yeah?
“In theory” yes. In reality, they will take credit for everything they help you with and will make sure to point out your mistakes from the moment you step through the door.
Amazon offer looks low for l6.
What would you have expected it to be?
500k-600k