No nonsense. No BS. This topic is to discuss the real tier 1 companies. For a company to be tier 1, it needs to be top tier in all the following: WLB, culture, TC and stability. For instance, Amazon and Snapchat are not tier 1 due to forced PIP and poor WLB (or so Blind claims) even if they have top tier TC. Microsoft is not tier 1 because while it has the rest, the TC is way too low. Here's my list so far: -Netflix -Meta -HRT -PDT Partners -Uber -Brex -LinkedIn (lack of refreshers might make this tier 2 after 4 years) -Snapchat -Google (this is assuming you didn't get lowballed or downlevelled and get put on projects enabling you to get promoted quickly so Google is likely tier 1 only for a small handful of employees there) -Lyft -Snowflake What other companies are tier 1 and feel free to debate any on this list you feel aren't tier 1 and explain why below. Thank you.
Databricks
Damn, you're right. Added. Do they hire in NYC/remote or only in SF? And what's the interview process like? Just standard LC and system design?
I’m pretty sure we hire remotely for some teams at least. And yea interviews are standard
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I'm not sure about Google. They down level and low ball so damn often and have very slow promos compared to most. It seems Google will only give top tier pay to a small portion of hired candidates after they get competing offers and even then they might not. Sure the absolute best Google offers qualify but I'm not sure an average G offer does. Also have to factor in team matching and their lengthy interview process. I know of people that got stuck in team matching for MONTHS.
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Google?
I'm not sure about Google. They down level and low ball so damn often and have very slow promos compared to most. So long term even if you get in, your TC potential will likely suffer. It seems Google will only give top tier pay to a small portion of hired candidates after they get competing offers and even then they might not. Sure the absolute best Google offers qualify but I'm not sure an average G offer does. Also have to factor in team matching and their lengthy interview process. I know of people that got stuck in team matching for MONTHS.
Lowball G offers also tends to be on the high end of the market. Within top 20%. The culture makes up for that difference IMO. Team match can be a pain depending on location, but once you are in, the ease of switching teams makes all this worthwhile again
LinkedIn? Roblox?
Added LinkedIn. As for Roblox, based off recent TC numbers it does not seem top tier.
LinkedIn doesn't have guaranteed refreshers.
Brex paper money until IPO so no better than Microsoft with that logic. For me the tier 1 means right combination of engineering work quality, wlb, TC and company stability, IPOed. Google Apple Netflix Meta
Normally I'd agree with you due to the paper money. That's why I didn't include Instacart. But Brex offers up to 90% cash if you want. So for that reason it should count assuming the WLB/culture is decent (haven't heard any complaints thus far). Average Apple TC if you look at levels.fyi is way too low to qualify for tier 1. Seems the only people at Apple with high TC benefited a lot from stock growth which of course is not something you can count on happening indefinitely.
Well, good for Brex offering that. TC can't be the only thing define the tier though and no complaint doesnt mean all good. For Apple you need to zoom out their graph, they are not going anywhere and they keep pushing limits in terms of engineering with new products.
I think one more factor is growth potential.
One of the reasons I'm not sure Google should count. Promos seem far too slow their on average.
I was actually thinking about company growth, but personal growth matters as well, obviously.
LinkedIn for sure
Damn, you're right. Added.
LinkedIn has good initial TC in the beginning, but they don't do refreshers that well at all. TC from the likes of Google would probably surpass LinkedIn after a few years.
I'd say Block (Square/Cash App) is tier 1 at senior level. That is, Square L5 (equivalent to Google L4) and L6 (equivalent to Google L5) pay pretty competitively (if you perform well in the interview) and have reasonable WLB. Wondering why Netflix is here if you're concerned about stability. They don't pip, but they certainly seem quick to fire. Seems stressful to me.
Netflix has no firing quota as far as I know. And from employees I talked to, they give you warnings and a chance to improve before they fire you, it's not instant. It seems Netflix will only generally fire you if they think you're doing a poor job and not improving which is not any different from any other place. Also have a very generous severance package I heard. Square seems to go from L3-L6 just like other places. So I'm not sure why you think Square L5 is equal to Google L4. Unless your argument is the bar is very low at Square and you can far more easily crack L5? Square pay looking at levels does not look top tier anymore. Unless they drastically raised pay recently. I see for instance mid level/L4 gets 250K which is decent for sure, not bad. But the top tier places will give those same candidates 350K+.
Square L3 is new grad / entry level. Square L4 is junior. At Google, those are both L3. Also, Square's career ladder is public. An L5 is a solid IC. An L6 is a team leader, which is a more appropriate mapping for Google L5. As for pay, my tier 2 L6 offer was $430k. Tier 1 would have been $475k.
I think putting hedge funds/prop shops in this is a bit of a mistake as they're all in a league of their own. I think all of us would be happy to sacrifice some WLB to go make double or triple as much at Citadel, Jane Street, HRT, etc.
Tech companies have caught up a bit now and hedge funds don't offer 2X-3X TC anymore. More like 1.5X at best. And keep in mind that's usually for the top tier candidates (they don't have clearly defined bands like tech). Who knows what the average candidates are getting. Like yeah a super top candidate might get 600K-700K from HRT. But will the average candidate get that? I don't think so. And the same candidate might get the same or very close from the other places I listed. But overall I agree they are generally the best options and I would not object to putting them in tier zero. However, not all of them. Only ones I know for sure pay insane TC are HRT and PDT, not sure about Citadel or Jane.
+1 I'm getting tech offers that are higher than my current Jane Street TC, 650+. Tech seems very competitive right now.
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Why Uber and why do disagree with blind company review system since uber is only 3.7
Never heard of anyone recently complaining about WLB/culture at Uber and their pay is the best in the industry as far as I know. Saw recent senior offers that were 700K+. Not sure if due to front-loading though. Only bad thing I know about Uber is potential for layoffs but that can be said about most companies, anything can happen. And it's not like engineers are constantly layed off, it's mostly other divisions from what I know.
Nice I agree I was jw