How is Careem?
Heard a lot of cool things about the company. I want to put it on my list of choices after leaving Google. How is the work culture in Careem? How is compensation? How is life in Dubai? Do I have any advantage being an ex-Googler? How do they treat middle easterns vs Indians vs white people?
The company is owned by locals. They don't treat engineers as well as Google does. Their tech level is a little low compared to Lyft. The Sweedish co-founder looks to have been demoted. Salaries are pretty low. Not many engineers in Dubai. Most are in Karachi and Berlin.
How do you know about salaries? Maybe there are just discrepancies?
Work culture: flexible hours. WFH occasionally depending on team. Tech infrastructure and processes aren’t that great but as ex googler you can fix that. As for compensation, I’m not sure. One data point is that I got AED 22k per month as a new grad. That’s 72k USD per year and there is no income tax. I negotiated though and I suspect salary discrepancies may exist. Just make sure to negotiate. Are you a US citizen? Keep in mind that US citizens pay tax on income that exceeds a certain amount ( around $110k/year) if they work overseas. Do your research on how much tax you will pay. Being an ex googler makes you incredibly attractive to Careem which struggles to get tech talent in Dubai. Most people want Berlin office. About Dubai. I grew up there and lived there for over 15 years. With a tech salary you can live a very comfortable life and save money. If your ex-google you don’t have to worry about salary discrimination but it’s well known that some companies pay different salaries based on passport/skin color. As for treatment in society it is south Asians that receive the brunt of racism in the Dubai but that racism usually limited to opportunity in your career which shouldn’t impact you. I think day to day interactions would be free from racism but I’m not south Asian so I dunno. White/Arab people will have no problem. Tbh it’s what you do that matters more than where you’re from. Being a googler makes you highly desirable. Negotiate a lot. Act interested but aloof.
Thanks for the detailed response! That’s very helpful info. Sorry I have too many questions and it would nice of you if you can help clarify them :) Is that AED 22k your base salary? How about bonus and equity? How are the engineering levels in Careem? I have 10 years of experience and I’m L5 at Google, do you have an idea what’s the equivalent at Careem? Do you think it’s better to go for a management position? Do managers do any technical work? Does the company offer other benefits like free housing, car, yearly flight ticket, etc? Do people have closed offices? How does it compare to other rising startups like fetchr?
Why people prefer Berlin office ? Can’t u make more in Dubai due to no tax ?
They pay nicely in Berlin. Nicely compared to other berlin companies thought, not compared to the US. I've heard numbers like 100k€ base
€100k isn’t bad for a new grad. It’s about $115k which is similar to what you’d get in Silicon Valley.
Who said new grad? It's 95+ percentile, new grads don't get that much
It's spelled Kareem. Some people think he's the greatest, but critics say he doesn't work hard enough on defense. A lot of the time, he doesn't even run down court, and he doesn't really try except during the playoffs. But to be fair, those critics aren't the ones dragging Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.
As an L5 at Google you can easily get well above 40kAED monthly and I would push for ~50k base. AFAIK Careem doesn't offer sign on bonuses but you can 100% negotiate for this if that's what you expect. Stock, well you will get some, whether it will ever be worth anything is debatable. And it's not liquid at all IMO so my advice is don't let it influence your decision much but surely go ahead and get as much as you can. Don't have numbers here. Regarding levels, as far as I remember L1 entry L2 intermediate L3 "senior" L4 first level lead L5 second level lead L6 third level lead L7 principal And there are two more levels in the technical track. I'm not a big fan of the lead title. No one really knows what it means. If you want to have big influence Dubai might be a good shout as it's lacking in talent compared to Berlin
Thanks for the info! Do you think it’s better to target management positions rather than technical positions?
No real difference between the two as Careem has 2 parallel ladders (IC or Management) so no difference in salary as far as I know if you go one or the other.
I would stay away from Careem. Don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s the same as any other tech company. VP engineering left some months ago as did several VPs and SVPs. They have high turnover and I know three people who left because they came from outside the region and felt very underwhelmed. Too much hype.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/260814/Egypt/Politics-/Careem-Egypt-head-Fakharany-rejects-news-of-resign.aspx He was an executive at google before joining Careem and subsequently getting fired.
Over rated. Guy walked around like a celebrity. No end product.