I’m very fortunate and thankful to receive all the great offers, but really not sure which one to go to. Would appreciate any input, especially from startup and Apple folks :) SWE @ Google: 125/270/55 Pro: Great culture and WLB; only PA match so I don’t know the team yet. Con: It would be kinda hard to get an ML related role as a new grad at Google and that’s realy important to me :( ML related @ Apple (ICT3): 150/200/60 Pro: Interesting work; core team; level is one above the Google offer (I think it maps to low L4 ~ high L3). Not familiar with Apple: how is the company culture? How long does it take to get to ICT 4? Any insight would be helpful! ML related @ series B startup: 168k + 58000 options (the strike price is under $1, ~0.025% fully diluted) Pro: Interesting work, awesome team and culture. Probably faster growth. Basically everything is great!! Con: Not sure if it’s worth the risk though :( Risk-adjusted return is not as good as the other two options. Background: several big name internships and a decent ML background. MS from top school. Fairly undecided at the moment so any suggestion would be greatly appreciated!
You have done great. Both Apple and Google proposed really great offers. As new grad, I would say go for the startup. You will learn so much so fast, and most importantly will likely acquire very diverse set of skills making yourself very marketable. Even if things don’t go great you could get ICT4 offer at Apple, IC4 in Facebook after a year or two of your startup experience, much faster than internal promotions.
Thanks for the feedback! I’m a bit worried that big tech firms won’t recognize the startup experience - heard a few horrible down level instances :(
Easier to sell the value of your startup experience a few years into your career than at mid career, and I can imagine you would have some particularly interesting problems at the startup that would cement your ML specialization goal, right?
The alternative route I’m thinking about is: go to big name for a few years, and then join startup at a much earlier stage as something like a founding engineer. Would that be viable?
I agree with your strategy. Google on resume still gets people going. Your opportunities will only grow, and you will have max job security and tc
Can I please dm you? Had some questions regarding ML prep.
Yes, just dm me!
Do Apple for safety and the startup for fun. If you feel like having a base of prestige for your career is important, go Apple b/c you can do ML as well. Google might not put you on an ML team and that seems like it would stall your ML dreams for at least half year or however long it takes you to network and switch. I also think doing the startup is equally as good b/c ML is a field where hands-on experience matters a lot. Being able to deliver an ML product end to end is great experience and should be enough street cred to get you interviews at prestigious places later on.
You should do a poll. Gotta go with Google
Good point! I’m newbie Blind user 😂 Will try to figure out how to do a poll thanks!
Added! Thanks for the suggestion!