I have a verbal offer from Apple for an engineer role but from the initial conversation with the recruiter, it wasn't clear what level they would be offering me (she seemed to imply that it is most likely the "highest IC level before a manager" or "at a level equivalent to a manager".. so was she talking about ICT4 and ICT5 ? I thought my interview performance would determine the level and it should have been clear to them by now what level they want to bring me in. (Fyi: currently senior at Google. Overall 12+ years of experience)
“Highest IC level before a manager” is entry-level. She might be confused herself.
It's IC 3 for all new hires regardless
http://levels.fyi has a good view of apple vs google
You need to nail that down. ICT4 and 5 overlap a fair amount, but with your described experience you should definitely be ICT5. Unfortunately M1 and M2 manager levels are “identical” to ICT4 and ICT5
That's not unfortunate. You should be a manager if you want to be a manager. Not because of the pay.
Second this. Manager is a different role, focusing more on grow direct reports.