Moving from ATL to Seattle FB
Currently 200k + equity in private startup doing really well Offer to FB Seattle TC is around 450k for m1. Actually a step down in career ladder for me but comp / perks seems way better at FB WLB isn't great at the company I'm at now, but it is doing well and in ATL my comp is top of the range here. Trying to figure out if COL cancels out TC increase as well as whether WLB will be better at FB. unsure how accurate these online COL calcs are. Obviously this depends on company, team, manager, etc.. but curious if anyone has made the jump from ATL to Seattle and whether they are happy they moved.
Don't know much about ATL. Some facts below may help you to decide - Average price of a single family home (2000+ sqft) in good district will cost you about $1M. For new constructions, expect to be > $1.5M. - No state income tax in Seattle. - Sales tax is 10%. All said, $450K should live very comfortably in Seattle.
Are you supporting a family? There are very few situations where you're going to be banking less cash (assuming we're discounting the startup equity); remember that CoL is a multiplier on your expenses, not something you divide your TC by. Even if your CoL goes up 2x (extremely unlikely), say from 50k to 100k per year, your post-tax, post-expenses savings go up from ~80k/year to ~200k/year. I can't speak to Facebook's wlb but the financials are most certainly there. You'd have to be giving up something of enormous value for it to be a serious question (e.g. free childcare for multiple children is one of the few things that's expensive enough to replace to be a relevant factor in these calculations).
This is excellent post thank yku. I do have a family. My wife has a good job here too (Around 100k TC) that she would be giving up
No problem :) With dual income my tax calculations may be slightly off, but not enough to be a big deal. The more relevant question is whether your wife will be able to find comparable work in Seattle - if she's doing something that earns 6 figures I assume she shouldn't have too hard a time, unless it's super niche. Even without her income, you're only down another ~70k/year, which still puts you ahead, though iirc Facebook doesn't do immediate vesting on equity, so you'd have to figure out if you can live on just base for some time.
I lived in Atlanta for 7 years, and while I do like Seattle, there are a few small things that I miss that really add up: 1. If you are a foodie, nothing really beats Buford Highway. This is the biggest thing I miss here 2. Parks and green space. Seattle is pretty good in this regard, but I think Atlanta's treescape and Piedmont Park are tough to beat 3. The radio stations/music scene are also tough to give up. It basically boils down to the fact that I think Atlanta is much more a city of variety, where Seattle strikes me as more uniform, especially in the tech scene. That being said, comp and opportunity is great
What is your impression of cost of living difference?
In day to day COL, I don't think there is a big difference. For housing, I am happy with my rent right now, but i don't think there is any way I can afford a house (that I would enjoy living in) in a central location in Seattle. Where as in Atlanta, I could probably afford something reasonably central, like in Brookhaven or Decatur.
How was the interview at FB? How was the coding section like?
LC medium. TBH I struggled because last time I ever did these problems was after college... interviewing at other tech companies 🙄
Great. How many coding and system design rounds?