Got an offer for AWS SDE 2 in Vancouver. Currently a VP at a bank which I think would equate to SDE 3. It was my fault, I didn't ask for an SDE 3 interview loop. Doesn't seem possible now. The offer is right at the top of the band so no real TC growth unless I get promoted I would assume. It equates to the same as my current comp if you take into account cost of living. In London at the moment, just want to get out and live somewhere else for now. British citizen if it matters. However this would be a first move into a tech company. Have also previously been a quant / product manager, not 100% sure if I want to give up the quant career option. My main concerns are the following: 1. SDE 2 seems like a downgrade. And will take another 3 years at least to hit SDE 3. 2. Money will be static for the next few years, which isn't a huge issue but the opportunity cost would be that I would expect my comp in London to be rising by about £5-8k a year without moving. Benefits 1. Get out of England for a couple years 2. Amazon seems to be good with internal relocations as well if I want to move elsewhere. 3. Team sounds interesting, so work wise should be good. Main question is, should I go for it? Or wait a year and go for SDE 3? Offer: 220k CAD (yr 1 est) Current TC: 150k GBP YOE: 9 years #career #tech #offer #finance #aws #amazon #amazonaws
Joining Amazon as SDE2 with 9 years experience may be a bad idea provided if you don't care about the culture. You will see 1.5 years experienced working as SDE2. Secondly to get to Sde3 it takes time in Amazon. But to help you make decision I would like to highlight that expectations for Sde3 level in Amazon are quite high so if you think you may not be ready for it then join as SDE2 and understand the work and culture which may help you build solid base. Saying this all with my experience as an ex amazonian.
Thanks for the advice. If I do care about the culture, are you saying it's definitely a bad idea or a good one?
Culture is very aggressive, arrogant people and everyone is very busy. Some are really busy and most are unnecessarily busy to just show they are busy. Everyone knows about amazon culture. You may read more on glassdoor. But as I mentioned joining as SDE2 will build strong base for you and will help in future to survive for long. So this you can take as positive point to join.
I was in a similar position as you. I got offered SDE 2 top of the band offer whereas it should have been sde 3. I joined hoping that I would get promoted in a couple of years. It's been 3 years and still no chance. I would not go for a level downgrade. You should ask recruiter for a sde 3 interview loop.
Yeah this was what I was thinking. And if I don't get it then it would probably be better than joining as sde 2 and thinking I could've got 3.
Although the other thing is, I've shot my resume over to Facebook, Google, Twitter and either been selected outright or never heard back. To be fair, my resume could be improved. At the moment, it half shows me as an SDE and half as a quant. Need to focus it properly.
Why join amazon Canada for 25-30k more than any other non faang company here would pay for that level. Not worth the stress. IMO if you’re going faang it’s gotta be in the United States unless you’re only looking for the name on your resume.
Need sponsorship for US. Amazon said they wouldn't do that so had to be Vancouver office.
Just curious... how does VP equate to to SDE3? If you have 9 YOE and are technical with management experience why not apply for SDM? Unless you want SDE.
In Banks, it's usually Analyst-> associate -> VP -> director -> md -> c suite. VP is considered a perfectly acceptable rank to stay in for your whole career. Although I expect director in a few years. Have heard of director level people move to Google at L7. Don't have management experience unfortunately. Well, no direct reports technically. Have always been around the middle of the team curve when moving roles because I wanted to learn from people with more experience. Heiarchy has generally been flat in all my roles.
How can one be VP without direct reports or management experience? I think that’s why they put you in sde 2. Sorry, number of years don’t matter in leveling. But interview experience and impact in previous jobs - stories of high achievements. ^^
Sde3 is based on interview performance not your current role
220k sde2 in canada is near top of payband
Where is the Canada band? How do you know that?
Vp at a bank is either l5 or l6 at amazon depending on scope and how the interview goes . I work with several bank VPs at amazon who came in as L5
I see. Interesting
1 year Vancouver then L1 to Amazon Seattle to increase that TC
Congrats on your offer, I think it's a good one. Can I DM you?
Sure
I would go for it.