Hello Blind, I'm in the midst of interviewing rounds with a few companies - Snowflake, Atlassian, Lyft - and have an incoming offer for Square. I am targeting a Staff/Principal role. Square has down-leveled me, but I am inclined to move forward as I'm currently in the fintech space; I feel like my domain knowledge will carry over and promotion path seems plausible. The company also seems to have generally good reviews and this is important to me. Snowflake has also down-leveled (from the screen) to IC3. Atlassian will continue forward with Principal and Lyft with Staff. But all of these still require a full on-site, so no guarantees there. The square offer, verbally, should look like: Base: $210 (CAD) Equity: $600 (USD) - 4 year Sign-on: Not sure yet? This is a slight pay-cut from my current role, but I am okay with this. Within a certain comp range, I will prioritize growth and happiness in my day-to-day over TC. Current TC: Base: $240 (CAD) Equity: $140 (USD, private) yearly YoE: 14 Thanks all! Edit: I should mention that Square sounds like they are not willing to wait on me completing the rounds + offer stages with others. I could have handled this better by organizing my interviews better upfront and managing expectations with recruiters earlier, but here I am.... #salarycomparison #square #softwareengineersalary
If this is l6 you can easily negotiate 30-50k sign on
Is your location CA-A or CA-B and is this for an L6 role? Edit: Toronto is CA-A, and for L6 your offer is decent. I'd negotiate a sign-on of at least CAD $15k
Thanks for the feedback. What is CA-A vs CA-B?
L6 to L7 promo is not easy. Don't expect to get promoted fast
Good point, I can be patient. I am not in a rush but I would like to know that there is a path and that my manager/skip is willing to prioritize it, even if it's across a longer window.
They will be able to help only if your team has L7 scope. Not all teams have it
I thought Lyft was on a hiring pause, is that not the case in Canada?
It sounds like they are building a presence in Toronto. I'm not sure how much HC they are looking to fill, but they are hiring afaik.
Down-leveled you and they won’t wait until you finish your other interviews…why would you want to work at a place like that?
That's a good point. I've heard Square is less flexible than other companies - hopefully this is only reflective of recruiting and not the inside/engineering culture. To be fair, I started first with square long before the others so they have been waiting much longer to fill this role.
Seems like a foreshadowing situation. Be careful and do what you feel is right. This is a big decision.
Clearing the Staff/Principal SWE interview is not easy. Don't count too much on the outcome of these upcoming loops and definitely keep Square warm if you are not ready to accept the offer yet. Congrats on your offer!
Thank you! Yes, I am learning that is not an easy loop to pass haha
How long did it take you from the onsite to your offer stage?
+1 also curious
+1
For Square: Which round do you think was the main reason for downlevelling? Past experience/System Design/Leadership?
Which location?
Toronto