SWE Offer selection - Google vs FB vs Amazon

Jul 13, 2021 25 Comments

I have these three offers (final offers) as an L4 / E4 Software Engineer generalist in Bay Area. Looking for some advice with picking one not just based on TC but in terms of -
* High growth. (I've been a bit complacent recently).
* SWE to MLE transition, opportunities to work on ML starting as a SWE with only basic knowledge of ML.
* Gain knowhow of system design & scalable services. (so far I've only worked on standalone product).

Amazon Alexa SDE2 (L5): Base/RSU/bonus1/bonus2: 175k / 340k / 160k / 120k
- Would work on cloud APIs to interface with some ML model being worked upon by some MLE in the team.

Facebook E4 SWE: Base/RSU/bonus: 177k / 400k / 75k
- Team selection is after joining FB bootcamp, but I checked that there exist teams which do ML work and have openings for SWE, and have other MLEs on the team to collaborate with.
- FB has some kind of ML Academy / ML Prep that supposedly makes the SWE to MLE transition easier. FB folks, can you shed light on how helpful it is? This is a main differentiator from google for me.

Google L4 SWE: Base/RSU/bonus: 175k / 320k / 50k
- Matched with a team that has backend services and some existing ML model that need some improvements.

Current TC: ~160k, 5 yoe.

#tech #machinelearning #swe

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TOP 25 Comments
  • Oracle
    BilButcher

    Go to company page Oracle

    BilButcher
    Google all the way.
    Jul 13, 2021 0
  • Google
    tfh5:hut

    Go to company page Google

    tfh5:hut
    At Google it's very easy to start doing ml projects. There are plenty of projects and courses/internal trainings. Here they try to apply ml in everything. Plus team would push you if you show interest in ml.
    Jul 13, 2021 1
    • New
      5b1w2xxa

      New

      5b1w2xxa
      Hey, that sounds super interesting. Could you elaborate? Would you have to transfer to ML team if you are interested?
      Jul 20, 2021
  • Snap
    Nfui03

    Go to company page Snap

    Nfui03
    Come to Snap 🥺
    Jul 13, 2021 0
  • There’s a lot of risk associated with bootcamp at FB. Based on timing there might just be a shit selection of teams. Even with a good selection its *unlikely* (though possible) that you’ll get picked to work on ML things over someone with ML experience.

    Then consider that FB expects you to be productive ASAP and generally has worse WLB and your chances of successfully transitioning from one domain to another start to look bad. That said, if you don’t care about changing domains, FB promo to E5 is way easier.

    Meanwhile at Google, even if you don’t land on the team of your dreams, transitioning is easy. And if you have the self discipline, you can use your free time to learn ML and jump teams pretty easily. Promo will *definitely* be slower though.

    Source: recently switched to google for similar reasons and have no regrets.
    Jul 14, 2021 4
    • It’s more around what your capable of than what you’re “allowed” to do. If you take on a task and fail to deliver, that’s pretty-much guaranteeing you a MM at PSC (performance review time). Two MM in a row and you get pipped. To avoid this you usually want to find the lowest risk / highest reward tasks and do those exclusively. Working on something totally new to you is rarely the right thing to do.

      The internal forums are littered with stories from E5s who tried switching domains (most commonly product to infra) and the TLDR is it’s doable, but very difficult. Maybe it’s less risky as an E4 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
      Jul 14, 2021
    • I also just had a thought: consider talking to new-hire managers. Old managers often still reminisce back to the days when there was lots of low hanging fruit. Those days are gone now, and many teams find themselves fighting for impact. You may just end up on such a team. If you want to de-risk, ask your recruiter if you can team match before signing. It’s definitely something that happens more and more often.
      Jul 14, 2021
  • IBM
    E6n00b

    Go to company page IBM

    E6n00b
    FB No-brainer. They're moving to PSC once a year starting in 2022 so there will be way less stress and more room to grow and make an impact over the long term.
    Jul 14, 2021 0