Upleveled on-site, should I downgrade?

New
mbg

New

mbg
Nov 6, 2018 27 Comments

I got upleved to Senior for my upcoming onsites with A and M. But I don't come from a tech background and I'm worried that I can't pass.

Should I communicate to them that I'm willing to be considered for SWE2, and if so what's the best way to communicate that?

I rather get SWE2 than no offer at all, and I'm desperately trying to get into a FAANG level tech company.

Microsoft Amazon
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 TOP 27 Comments
  • New / Eng
    Simon101

    New Eng

    PRE
    Starbucks
     Simon101
    What is your TC and YOE ?
    Nov 6, 2018 6
  • What do you mean you don't have a tech background? What is your education and experience?
    Nov 6, 2018 4
    • New
      mbg

      New

      mbg
      OP
      Was reading that AMZN will downlevel if you don't need senior bar, is there a similar thing at MSFT?
      Nov 6, 2018
    • MSFT is very team-specific, but they will likely downlevel you if they think you're still worth hiring
      Nov 9, 2018
  • Amazon / Eng
    kwq7812

    Go to company page Amazon Eng

     kwq7812
    You're not evaluated strictly or a hire/no hire basis. In most cases, baseline skills (e.g. CS fundamentals) are used as the basis for the core hire/no hire decision while design and soft skills (leadership) determine job level. They're somewhat distinct, and the idea is that you won't get hired at any level if your fundamentals are weak, but can get hired at a lower level if you have growth potential in the areas more relevant to actual experience.

    In any case, the "level" of the interview mostly just determines the minimum seniority of your interviewers, so we don't end up with, say, recent grads screening prospective SDE3s. For somebody like you, this is a good thing, since you're more likely to get senior people who focus on the nuance that matters to the job, rather than a loop full of Leetcode monkeys looking for specific solutions.
    Nov 6, 2018 0
  • A good panel will interview you and assess you for a lower level if they think that’s warranted. It’s much harder to get upleveled if your panel is designed for a lower level. I wouldn’t overthink it. Work with your recruiter post interview if you think it didn’t go well to set expectations that level isn’t important to you and you’re just very interested in working there.
    Nov 6, 2018 2
    • New
      mbg

      New

      mbg
      OP
      But if I'm interviewing for Senior, wouldn't that make the questions harder compared to SWE2?
      Nov 6, 2018
    • Amazon
      inks

      Go to company page Amazon

      inks
      Yes, it will be harder, but questions aren't an all or nothing affair where you get then right or wrong. How you answer can make a huge difference even if you never come up with a final working solution.
      Nov 6, 2018
  • Google
    Eating

    Go to company page Google

    Eating
    Does the recruiter know about this? I think they level you based on your experiences already right?
    Nov 6, 2018 2
    • New
      mbg

      New

      mbg
      OP
      No I didn't mention to recruiter I was upleveled. Should I say something? I didn't want to project weakness.
      Nov 6, 2018
    • Google
      Eating

      Go to company page Google

      Eating
      No what I meant was, the recruiter would have used a few questions to screen you to understand your skills as well as looked at your background and then proposed the level for you right?

      Anyways I’m not eng background so I don’t know the levelling practices to advise you :( sorry op
      Nov 6, 2018