I started my career in 2014 after doing a MS in CS. I started late and was 26 years when I got my first job. Worked for a year in a bank where there was pratically no work. Manager treated me like a kid then and kept saying just learn the system from others. TC 87K + some 10k bonus. Then I moved on from bank and worked for a mid size fintech company for 2.5 years where I mainly used Java, Oracle DB and some UI framework to build an application (mostly a glorified CRUD application). I was making 125k here by the time I left. Throughout people were happy with me and they tried to hold me by offering better salary. Then I moved to Amazon where I stayed for 4 years. Here I used Java, AWS to build even better application though nothing novel. For some peices I do feel proud (given my experience at that time). I came in as SDE 1 and got promoted to SDE 2 after 2 years but after that I didnt saw any way to get to SDE 3 so I left the company BTW, tragically I recently learnt that my last manager at amazon marked me as a low performer in the system when I left which kinda made me a little sad as during all my yearly reviews (4 of them in 4 years) I always met expectations. I agree that last 6 months when I decided to move on, I stopped taking any active interest, went on paternity leave and when I was back, I resigned. I was making a base pay of 160k. Total stocks I got in 4 years was around 90. 75 of which were awarded when I joined (at that time it was 900 dollars a stock, this was 2016-17 era). Another 15 when I got promoted (at that time it was 1600 a peice). So without stock inflation my salary was like 190k I think. After this I moved to a startup where I got to work with python, postgres, aws etc etc. Again work was more so glorified CRUD and nothing very challenging I would say. Here I got to lead a team and I made some process changes as well. They paid me decent money. I got a staggering base of 240k + 50k joining bonus + they have me 16k performance bonus so I was making more than 300+ in first year. However in Aug 2023 my team was laid off. It was a first layoff and a big shock. Again, mostly people were happy with me. No red flags I would say. I buckled up and prepped hard. Got a job at MSFT in canada ( I hold a PR so decided to leave US). I had another offer form a well to do mid size company paying much better but I let it go. Decided to stay with a bigger company given the market conditions. Its been 6 months since I have been at MSFT and quality of my work is pretty bad but I decided to put a smile on my face and do it as soon as I can. Delivered couple of projects in my first 6 months (they involve migration and no coding or designing as such). Here I am a Sr SDE which is deemed as an SDE 2 level at Amazon. I am making 150k CAD base + 15% target bonus + 200k USD worth of stocks (which are now 250k I think). If I complete a year here my salary would be 290k CAD for the first year which is reasonable as per canadian standards (infact top of the band). 265k for the second year. To conclude, I now have a decade of experience and I am 36. Never got to work in a very challenging project except the one that I got in my first year at Amazon ( way back in 2018). Growth wise I pretty much stayed the same (SDE 2 level of Amazon). I feel bad about this. I see people whom I used to mentor ahead of me now. Yeah last few years have been tough as we had a baby so I had to slow down but now baby has grown up. I feel fired up and want to do great stuff but I am not sure how to go about it. I have built a level of trust here at MSFT and I think people like me as I have delivered stuff quickly. Should I stay here and try for L64 or should I interview and see what I can get ? Will leaving MSFT make me a job hopper ( 5 jobs changes in a decade if I leave). Looking for guidance and some motivating comments. I am confident about my skill and I think I can do good hard stuff.
On a side note, Can I DM you for MSFT referral?
for sure !
My situation is almost similar.. DM?
sure !
can I get some attention here guys ?
thanks op for sharing this with us
long and inspirational story!
Stay and get promoted then look out