Chances of L6 Staff SWE from a L64 with 14 yoe
Senior @ MSFT 4+ years. Have been through several reorgs and manager churns that I missed out on the Principal promo every time. I've had great connects, rewards. However, bad luck, stuck in a principal heavy org where someone has to leave to create a 'promo slot' (I know it's BS, but that's how it works, may be it works as a counter offer, idk) & I'm not politically savvy tbh. Not sure if moving to a different org helps, basically I'm starting over. I'm doing the work of a L65+ own a critical cross org v1 feature. Received a few pre-ipo offers at 375k+, but with 14 yoe I'm looking at staff/principal roles and quite confident with the interviews. How do I convince the recruiter to slot for a staff role and if I were to be slotted, does the candidate's packet go to HC with my current level and will that weigh me down? Looking at you. F, G, Uber, Snap :) 255k #tech
I mean - it’s possible they’ll have a recruiter buddy at msft and they can look you up on who — but just don’t reveal your level - if they ask just pivot to a question to them.
I've tried to talk about scope and ownership, the level question gets asked at different times. At this point probably they have it in their notes. lol
Eh! Then have an ultimatum or move on. Just be frank - time is valuable and you don’t want to waste theirs dancing around what level they’re gonna bring you in at.
Here's what I'll suggest. Talk to your recruiter at Google and if they ask for level, tell them you're on track for 65 in x months and therefore only interview for L6. They may come back and tell you that 65 maps to L5 (true) however, given your yoe, you might be able to convince them to give you an L5/L6 loop. In this case, depending on your interview performance, you have a non zero chance of landing L6. I'll be honest, it's difficult but it's worth a shot. Edit: How long have you been at MSFT out of that 14yoe ?
Google L6 is nothing like L65. I was staff and Microsoft gave me L67.
Well, thats because only at L67+ MSFT starts being competitive in the TC war games. Target equity at L65 is mid 30k.
The poll has progressively answered that my chances are likely <10%. For those who voted <10%, could you chime in to say why you think so? 1) Historically that's the trend 2) Goog is in general hard to crack and so is L6 (immaterial of where I come from) 3) Pre-conceived notion that a L64 should not level to a L6, since we know how MSFT works 4) something else May be I'll add a new poll if there is interest, suggest other choices if any.
1, 2 and 3.
For L6 roles, they're really looking for leadership across different teams. Microsoft is hard to get that experience i hear
If you’re getting a 60% salary bump at 375k, why are you not taking it??
And for those who vote do not disclose the current level, LinkedIn gives away my title and its an easy guess for recruiters. How to navigate that?
Just put in “tech leader”, “head of engineering of x” or some other vague thing I see in many, many folks profiles that I work with. But they’re an L6 or an L7 😂
In resume or on LinkedIn? Will not a background check give away the true title.