Hi all, I am graduating this spring and I am struggling to decide between new grad opportunities. I am currently an intern at SNL and am expecting my team to start talks about bringing me on full time post graduation. On the other hand I have a new grad offer from Walmart Global Tech. A new grad from my school was recently brought on to the same team and so I have some insight to what a potential offer would look like. Walmart: Bentonville, AR TC: ~120k, 85k base SNL: Albuquerque, NM TC: ~110K all base SNL offers the opportunity to work on some pretty cool projects and everything I've worked on so far has been in a modern tech stack. I imagine that working with a national lab offers far more job security in times of uncertainty than most places in industry. I also have friends/community here which helps make SNL attractive to me. With that being said, my ultimate goal is to work my way towards FAANG/adjacent in industry and I feel like getting industry experience with Walmart would align me closer to my goals. Neither opportunity is located in a great location. I have been in ABQ for most of my life and I would enjoy a change of scenery, but I've got friends here and wouldn't have to worry about building a new social group in AR. Ideally, I would like to gain a year or two of full time experience and then look to move on to greener pastures. If you had to choose between these two opportunities which would you lean towards? Would it be dumb to turn down the chance at industry experience if moving towards FAANG is the goal? Any insights would be greatly appreciated. #software #swe
I started my career at Sandia and then went to FAANG. Knew others that made similar jumps, so i don't think Sandia would be a barrier to that. I'd take Sandia.
Just be sure the work at Sandia lines up with your long term goals of course. If you want to transition to web backends at FAANG doing embedded C development at Sandia won't be as helpful. DM me if you want to chat more. Spent several years at Sandia and now have been out for a few.
Walmart industry experience doesnt align you close to FAANG, working at a national lab is a standout point that gets attention and is unique. I'd stick with the lab and move on to something better than AR opportunity.