Warren Buffet’s Lead Engineer Offer
“Warren Buffet needs a lead Java Engineer in SF!” Was the tag line from the recruiter. A part of Berkshire Hathaway in the FinTech sector, I was intrigued and applied.
I matched up exactly what they wanted, YOE 10+, lead of multiple teams, etc. Then the offer. Then the realization of why the 3rd most wealthy man in the world is where he’s at. Because he apparently doesn’t pay his employees crap.
Base: $175k
Sign on: none
RSU: none
Bonus: none
They only offer relocation and I already live in the Bay Area. They have no equity plans at all. And they “plan” to put bonus program in place within a year. Won’t tell me what percentages to expect.
Requirements are someone who’s lead multiple teams before, 5-8 YOE, and experience transitioning a tech stack to scalable distributed systems. I laughed at them. I could tell the recruiter was very frustrated. She asked me if I would lower my base expectations if they had the bonus plan in place. It felt like she’s been in this situation for a while, asked me a lot of questions about how much they really need to be offering.
Anyways - I was really surprised though. What a waste of time. Is this common for non-FAANG?
comments
The lesson here is set expectations early. Don't get blindsided by a good recruiting email. I have gone into multiple interviews with smaller companies and said "I don't want to waste y'all's time; I have certain goals in mind and need to maintain some benefits (e.g. Health insurance). Can we talk about that first and see if we are a good fit for each other?"
A recruiter or hiring manager reaching out to you means you have an upper hand. They've found your resume and already decided you get a conversation. Be clear: I'm not looking to move unless it is the right opportunity. I'd love to find out the salary range and make sure the benefits align with my needs.
If it's less, then play the track -
Krept and Konan -- 'Don't waste my time'
😉
There are lots of companies that pay a fraction of what top tier companies pay. I’ve been looking for new jobs and been shocked to learn even if I went to G my comp would probably drop. Then I talked to smaller places that would offer me less then what FANG and TS pay new grads.