Microsoft: How long should you stay at level 60
I (internally) switched orgs over a year ago, and in the last rewards season, I got zero rewards (ZR). I have been a level 60 SWE for 29 months. What would your advice to me be? Are there other people who spent a long time at level 60 and still managed to be successful at Microsoft? Edit: I got IR/LITE in my last connect too.
max i have seen is 2.5 year. zr means don't have any hope. best advice start preparing and move out ASAP
a year just switch out
I was Grade 5 at Intel for 10+ years, so stuff like that happens, but, as I've heard it, MSFT expects you to move up to at least 63 in a certain time frame
Oh, I wasn’t aware of this. What’s the time frame please? Do you know?
Anything more than 1.5 year at L60 is trouble. You’re clearly underperforming.
Yes, I am aware of this. I’m wondering if I should stay and do the work to improve or if I should leave
get your promo by switching. TC will be higher
Did you get IR? ZR isn’t that common. What’s your Yoe? You should certainly look outside
Yes, I got IR in my last connect too.
What is IR and ZR?
ZR + IR/LITE == they’ve told you in plain English that you are on your way out
Start interview prep and move out asap
Why are you under performing? If you like the team/product, then stick it out and try to fix what’s broken. If those bad habits follow you around, you’ll be in a similar situation at your next job. As you have more experience, interviews have higher expectations for what you’ve accomplished over the years. If you keep up this pattern of underperforming you’ll tank your career over the long term. So understand your gaps and figure out how to fix them. If gap is caused by your team not being the right place for you, then fix that asap. If gap is your skills/style/etc, fix that pronto.
I truly want to stick it out and fix what’s broken, but I’m worried I might get fired while at it. This is the fear I have
If you have good relationships with some Senior or ideally Principal Engineer approach them yourself, explain situation and ask for help. Don’t be afraid that you will be burden to them, they will claim impact of getting you out of your shithole in their connect
29 months in level and IR I would say it’s probably time to move on for your own sake. The odds are absolutely not in your favour at this point. Certain products/teams/managers/engineers are just a bad fit. The reality is that perceptions tend to be pretty sticky, you could put in the work to climb up out of the well you’ve gotten yourself into but you will be having to work twice as hard as anyone else to prove yourself for the foreseeable future. You’d be lucky even at max effort to turn it around and get a promotion in 12 months, possibly longer if you survive. That would be 3.5 years or longer at 60 + whatever you spent at 59. Spending that long at SWE I is going to stand out on a resume. Jump to a new company and put in the effort there with a new group of people with no preconceived notions about your performance/abilities.
Have a conversation with your manager