Amazon L7 vs Google L6

Apple
ocean1234

Go to company page Apple

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Amazon
ocean1234
Oct 23, 2021 37 Comments

When I used to work at AWS, L7 was big f**king deal. As an L4/5 I was impressed by every L7 Principal I worked with.

Fast forward to now, I see posts on blind claiming Amazon L7 maps to Google L6 which baffles me. Is that true or just Blind’s preference for Google?

Are there cases of Google L6 moving to Amazon L7? And more importantly, when Amazon L7 moves to Google, do they get Google L6 or Google L7 ?

UPDATE: For folks talking about difference in starting levels (Amazon L4 vs Google L3), note that L8 is director at both Amazon and Google. So the levels do converge as you move up

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TOP 37 Comments
  • Stripe
    zKHC61

    Go to company page Stripe

    zKHC61
    Less scope for the same pay.
    Oct 23, 2021 8
  • Amazon
    My Way

    Go to company page Amazon

    My Way
    A low end Amazon L7 (say internal promo who just started) maps to Google L6

    High end L7 is Google L7
    Oct 23, 2021 5
    • Apple
      ocean1234

      Go to company page Apple

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      Amazon
      ocean1234
      OP
      But the senior L7 or a junior L7 is indistinguishable outside Amazon imho
      Oct 23, 2021
    • Amazon
      lollllzz

      Go to company page Amazon

      lollllzz
      Not 100% true. Tenure at level makes a difference. New hires are hired to the middle or higher portion of the level (you can question how good it is) so it gives also an idea about the comp a new external hire has.
      Nov 3, 2021
  • Google starts at L3 for SDE1. Amazon starts at L4 for SDE1. So L6 at google is same as L7 at Amazon.
    Oct 23, 2021 2
    • Amazon
      My Way

      Go to company page Amazon

      My Way
      while true for L4-L6, not so true for L7 and above
      Oct 23, 2021
    • Amazon
      lollllzz

      Go to company page Amazon

      lollllzz
      L6 at Amazon is a huge range and it’s a very big step to get promoted to L7. I like Google’s L6 which is a step where you are actually acting half like an Amazon PE and half like an Amazon Senior scope and activities wise.
      Nov 3, 2021
  • Amazon
    lAxz82

    Go to company page Amazon

    lAxz82
    The numbers aren't aligned. Google entry level is L3, Amazon entry level is L4.
    Oct 23, 2021 2
    • Apple
      ocean1234

      Go to company page Apple

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      Amazon
      ocean1234
      OP
      While is true, the scope of every level as you go up can change.

      I’d expect an Amazon L6 to map to Google L5.. but Principal used to be huge deal during my time. Is that still the case at Amazon?
      Oct 23, 2021
    • Amazon
      kOid67

      Go to company page Amazon

      kOid67
      Google you can do L3 - L5 with EE SE SE at end of each 2 year cycle, thus lots of new grad if not most hit L5 in 4 years.
      Amazon L6 is way more difficult, very few people can go from L4 - L6 within 5 years.

      Principal is still a huge thing in Amazon, even it is not like it was in 2017 (when they made it a tiny bit easier) but it is still very difficult, from ratio perspective Amazon L6:L7 is about 14:1.

      Consider L4:L6 ratio is about 7:1 or 8:1, and a “healthy” org should have roughly same L5s as L4s, on average an L7 engineer at Amazon advises an org with about 100 L4s 100L5s and 10 L6s. In contrast, one of my college friends led a 4 person team project and got to L6 at Google.
      Oct 23, 2021
  • New
    gboyst

    New

    gboyst
    Worked at Amazon and Google. Average Amazon employee doesn't even come close to the caliber of an average Google employee. There are really smart people at both though.
    Oct 28, 2021 3
    • Amazon
      lollllzz

      Go to company page Amazon

      lollllzz
      Amazon PE is top 1% and Google L6 is top 5%. It tells you about the quality of engineering at these companies and many very senior engineers Google has. Different games and different challenges. Worked at both, enjoyed both for different reasons. On the other hand higher level Amazon L7 is preparing you to become a Google L8 more than Google L7 does. Just a personal opinion.
      Nov 3, 2021
    • Apple
      A G A N

      Go to company page Apple

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      Amazon
      A G A N
      5% Google L6 seems not right. Every other comment on blind comes from a L6 🤷‍♂️
      Nov 3, 2021