Hello Blind, I'm here for advice about direction of my career. I'm an L5 SDET in Amazon. I've joined couple years ago as L4 and got promoted a last year (read, currently I'm being underpaid). My long term goal is get into management and optimize for TC. Currently, I see the following options: 1. Stay on my team, get promotion (not sure how) in a year or two to L6 SrSDET and move to management (L6 SDM3), move to engineering manager to Google or something in few years. 2. Move team for SDE2 position and get promo to SDE3 (no idea how much will it take) and get into management 3. LeetCode now and look for external developers opportunities (and eventually move to management) 4. Move to SDE, work there for a year, write all my experience at Amazon as developers and look for external dev opportunities (and eventually move to management) TC 220, 4 YOE, San Francisco
You're too deep in SDET to reset to SDE now. I mean you can but you'll be down leveled. If your goal is management just breakthrough the remaining SDET levels and get to management. Then you can pivot to managing SWE's if you really want and join the development side more than testing.
That’s why I was considering option 4. To an external employer I will be an SDE with 4 years of experience at Amazon. But yeah, I’m afraid that inside of amazon my promotion on SDE track will be very delayed if I choose to stay.
Are you sure that you are being underpaid as SDET? What’s the TC range for your profile?
Yes, because of the following: 1. SDET is pretty much the same pay grade as SDE at Amazon. 2. Hiring bar was the same as SDE: graphs, algorithms and stuff. 3. I am quite sure I can pass developer interview at any non tier1 company as is and can do FANG after some LC. External hire L5 SDET probably would get 250 TC.