Am I getting finessed by Tesla?

Jul 26, 2021 33 Comments

Alright guys here’s the situation. I’m a new grad in SWE with about a year of internship exp. ( company wasn’t super sexy but learned a lot). Now I’m looking at two choices:

Tesla Offer (full stack) in Fremont:

Base 110

Equity 42k/4

Total: about 120 /yr

OR I have another offer close to home (SoCal) for around 100k. I’d have very little expenses here and be close to friends and fam.

I know Tesla has a rep for lowballing, but this seems really low for living in the bay. Especially considering the WLB at Tesla. I tried negotiating and my HR person came back with THE SAME EXACT NUMBERS and told me this is the final offer lmao.

How badly am I getting played? Should I counter and how hard? Or stick to the local offer and interview again later?

#swe #tesla #bayarea
#engineering

comments

Want to comment? LOG IN or SIGN UP
TOP 33 Comments
  • You will not have a good quality of life with $120k in Bay Area
    Jul 26, 2021 1
    • Tesla
      itsNotElon

      Go to company page Tesla

      itsNotElon
      Lol, coming out of college I made 100k here in San Francisco and felt like a king compared to before. Don't listen to this. 120 is plenty to start with.
      Jul 30, 2021
  • Google
    axhe

    Go to company page Google

    axhe
    Wow that's ridiculously low. I suggest taking it but keep interviewing and leave in 6 months. Use Tesla on your resume to immediately leave and get a significantly better offer.
    Jul 26, 2021 7
  • Twitter
    ub488bb

    Go to company page Twitter

    ub488bb
    I may be the odd one out but you are a new grad and you think you are getting finessed with 120K/year starting salary? Blind privilege much? I don’t think you are getting finessed. I think you have wrong expectations because of reading brag cases on Blind.
    Jul 26, 2021 4
    • Thanks Twitter I really appreciate the insight. Out of curiosity, do you usually negotiate your comp, and if so what kind of success have you had?
      Jul 26, 2021
    • Twitter
      Dix_PerDix

      Go to company page Twitter

      Dix_PerDix
      I *always* negotiate and that’s been the key to my TC success. With 7 YOE, I make north of $1M thanks to negotiating consistently. For your reference, 7 years ago my starting TC was $115K and that was on the high end because I have a PhD.
      Jul 26, 2021
  • Amazon
    XAqq12

    Go to company page Amazon

    XAqq12
    I would still try to negotiate citing living expenses in the Bay Area but if they don’t budge, I would still take the Tesla offer and use that to build my experience and skills. That will definitely open a lot of doors a year into the job.
    An alternate approach if you’re confident in your skills is to take up your other offer but keep interviewing on the side until you find something better.
    Jul 26, 2021 0
  • I’m worried I won’t have enough time and energy to properly prep for interviews given Tesla WLB😕
    Jul 26, 2021 1
    • Google
      axhe

      Go to company page Google

      axhe
      There's no need to work hard to satisfy their WLB since you're leaving in 6 months anyways. Put in your 40 hrs/week and spend the rest interviewing.
      Jul 26, 2021