Spotify Offer Evaluation
Received an offer today from Spotify. Currently 2.5 years of data science experience with 8 years total professional. They want to hire me for an associate data scientist position. Location is in Boston. Base: 108k Equity: 84.5k over 4 years TC: 129 This is definitely on the low end of things right? Granted my first 2 couple of years as a data scientist has been less than ideal on getting the experience I need (been more like analyst with great python skills). Am I being lowballed? I'm currently in the final stages of a Solutions architect role at databricks in Atlanta, and know that the hiring manager is gunning for a much higher base pay. This might turn into an exploding offer so wanted to get your thoughts on it.
associate data scientist, boston, sounds about right
Seems low even for Boston. Geez and here I thought defense paid poorly.
When did you do the onsite?
It was done last Wednesday, and got a call on Friday that I'd be getting an offer, which came today.
Nice, congrats. I did one last Thursday and still waiting for feedback
what was the on-site like?
Go for Databricks if you can. You'll play with the best tool available for data science.
That’s about right for associate DS With promo to regular you’d probably be around 125-135 Then promo to Senior would be 150-160 Spotify won’t pay you a ton. But you’ll have good vacation, good experience, free healthcare, and it has good WLB Ask yourself what you want your next job to be. I’d focus on that more than a couple tens of thousand in TC but that’s my two cents
You'll likely get higher base at Databricks but less stock (but the stock may be worth as much if not more after 3 years). SA work will be a lot more different though, very fast paced. Dealing with customers of varying skill and patience levels. You might not get to do that much Data Science if that's what you really want, because you'll be jumping from account to account. You'll get to see and learn a lot of industries though
How do you like being at DB? I'm worried the talks about the talks of WLB. Is it worth the sacrifice?
I've gotten this question through DMs a lot. I'll try to summarize it here: - There is a lot of work to do. I don't think you'll ever find yourself wondering what to do next - COVID and WFH has blurred the lines between home and office, therefore some people have started finding themselves working longer hours - Your comp won't increase by 10x if you do 10x the work (unless you have a lot of stock I guess) - my view: Ultimately it is up to you to find that WL balance I make my impact, finish my projects on time and then take 3-6 weeks (total) of vacation throughout the year. If you know how to manage your time effectively and work smart, you'll thrive. If not, you'll feel overwhelmed
Op, how did the data bricks SA interview go? Please share ur exp
It's not until Monday so I will post after it's done :). I will say that I've been spending all weekend preparing for it though.
Interview completed a few hours ago. It's a damn gauntlet for the overall process. The final interview was overall good, but I had to definitely study and understand the platform and give a demo. The hiring bar is very high there, so here's to hoping that I get an offer.
Thanks Op, good luck!
What were your interview rounds at spotify?
I did a phone screen, technical interview involving python, sql and a/b testing, and culture fit interview, then a final interview consisting of 4 hours of meeting with product, research, the hiring manager then giving my presentation
I think you cracked a good deal of interview. Moving to data bricks can provide you good depth of ML engineering side. But if you want to pursue data scientist (tag) all your life, having Spotify on resume will be really helpful. It looks more data scientist job than MLE @spotify.
Are you sure the equity amount quoted is per year and not for 4 years?
4 year vesting schedule yeah. Incentive mix options
Uh, then TC is more like 129