Facebook E5 to E6

Amazon
HjXu42

Go to company page Amazon

HjXu42
Aug 31, 2019 35 Comments

I’m joining Facebook as an E5. I’m very interested in getting promoted to E6. I have worked long enough to know that you should be thinking about promotion from day 1 if that’s something you’re interested in.

What advice would you give me? What is the promotion criteria, and how much scope is required?

#Facebook

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TOP 35 Comments
  • Uber
    mbbbtrrr

    Go to company page Uber

    mbbbtrrr
    inb4 you get PIP’d

    you’re coming from a different (and way shittier) place; meet your L competency the first year, then worry about L+1.
    Aug 31, 2019 5
    • Amazon
      HjXu42

      Go to company page Amazon

      HjXu42
      OP
      I’ve seen people at senior+ levels leave Google and Facebook to join Amazon. There are pros and cons for all companies. I agree though I don’t know anyone who’s at SDE1 or SDE2 level who left Facebook or Google for Amazon. I did meet some who have tried though.
      Aug 31, 2019
    • Op sounds like a bundle of sticks
      Sep 1, 2019
  • > I have worked long enough to know that you should be thinking about promotion from day 1 if that’s something you’re interested in.

    I don’t think this mindset works well for 5 -> 6.
    Aug 31, 2019 6
    • Amazon
      tokyо

      Go to company page Amazon

      tokyо
      Amazon is FANG and most of AWS is more technically legit than the majority of teams at FB.

      @OP, just ignore. There are a lot of mediocre and junior E5s struggling to keep up and trying to put others down. You have the right attitude wrt to promotions. There’s nothing wrong in talking to your manager and establishing criteria about what is top-tier at your current level and how to get to the next. Anybody can ask how to get to the next level but the question is who will actually put in the effort and deliver.
      Aug 31, 2019
    • Amazon
      HjXu42

      Go to company page Amazon

      HjXu42
      OP
      Agreed. On my first day in Amazon a few years back, my manager gave me the role description and leveling doc. He told me this is what you’d need to do to move to the next level.

      And I’m also aware of people who got hired as E5 without leading projects of a big enough scope in their previous work. No hiring process is perfect, but Amazon seems to be more risk-averse when hiring than Facebook. It works because Facebook is more aggressive at firing. So, I get the confusion on my question from the Facebook folks here who saw some recent E5s struggling to meet expectations.
      Sep 1, 2019
  • Facebook / Eng
    QGhE38

    Go to company page Facebook Eng

    QGhE38
    Make friend with your manager
    Aug 31, 2019 1
  • Facebook / Eng
    delete[]

    Go to company page Facebook Eng

    delete[]
    E6 here. Unless you're a upper band E5, the first thing is that how to survive as E5 and earn support from your manager to be an E6 candidate. If you're already close to principle at Amazon, I don't think you are asking like this.

    More serious answer: you would need to create your own project, implement it, delivery it, and make impacts. Mangers won't give you an idea. It's your job. So it will take some time unless you have a very clear idea in your future team. A rare case would be: you're already a domain specialist. But your future team/org doesn't have it. Then you can find a bit easier way toward E6.
    Aug 31, 2019 1
    • Amazon
      HjXu42

      Go to company page Amazon

      HjXu42
      OP
      Thanks for he answer. This is useful feedback. I have seen people going in with the mindset of “I just want to survive first as X”. It doesn’t help. People should keep in mind the strategic goals they have on top of their normal day to day work.

      I’m quite interested to know the expectations for E6. I’m not sure if E6 == Principal in Amazon, there is probably some overlap. I come from an org in Amazon where the principal bar (in my opinion) is ridiculously high. As a breadth principal, you’d need to be reporting to a VP or a director on a promotion path to VP, and helping probably an org of at least 100+ engineers. I don’t think that should be the bar for a principal engineer, but that’s how it was in my org.
      Aug 31, 2019
  • Amazon / IT
    Asdrru

    Go to company page Amazon IT

    Asdrru
    work backwards. create impact rather than thinking of promotion from day 1.
    Aug 31, 2019 5