Reasons to not go for a company that gives you a higher level?

New
RfbS61

New

RfbS61
Mar 6, 2020 11 Comments

What does leveling mean aside from TC? What are other factors to consider among L5 Twitter, L4 Google, L4 LinkedIn offers?

Job responsibilities? Time to the next level (L5->L6 vs L4->L5)?

I guess my question stem from the fact that companies low-ball/ down-level engineers after interviews all the time, so if I pick a L5 offer at Twitter but ends up becoming L4 at another company a couple years later when I interview, don't I end up wasting more time than getting the L4 offer from e.g. Google, which is known to low-ball people, and climb up the ladder there?

Thanks.

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TOP 11 Comments
  • Stripe
    Tnkj17

    Go to company page Stripe

    Tnkj17
    Forget about ladders. You want the highest TC at the lowest level. Lower level = lower chance of failing. Note that level and WLB are orthogonal.
    Mar 6, 2020 6
  • Oracle
    abzsy

    Go to company page Oracle

    abzsy
    Life is not all about rising up the Google ladder maybe google downlevels you to L4 again dont join them again.
    Mar 6, 2020 2
    • New
      RfbS61

      New

      RfbS61
      OP
      I'm not trying to climb Google or any specific company's ladder, what I'm trying to make sense of is, assuming there's a spectrum of company leveling benchmarks going from stricter (easier to low-ball) to more lenient (gives you same or higher level), does it make sense to go for a company with a stricter scale with 1 level lower or easier scale with 1 level higher, assuming they have similar WLB and type of project
      Mar 6, 2020
    • Oracle
      abzsy

      Go to company page Oracle

      abzsy
      Thats a very interesting question I dont think there is a simple answer in that case. A lot of things matter in what you want for eg Twitter and Linkedin allow you to lead teams much early which is great if you want to be an EM as you will have experience beinng a manager faster but for being a great IC i would still think G/Fb is the best as people implictly trust their engineers even lower level to have better fundamentals, again not sure but thats my opinion ajd I may be a bit bieased since I work at G
      Mar 6, 2020
  • Apple
    rc777

    Go to company page Apple

    rc777
    It really depends on the company and the level.
    Apple has quite wide ICT4 band, so it doesn’t matter as much as in Google, where it would be either L4 or L5.

    Google has a lot of policies around levels so it’s important. Googlers, correct me if I’m wrong, but:
    1. L5 participate in picking OKRs while L4 are not
    2. The algorithm decides your refreshers and base raise depending on performance rating, current TC and average TC for the level. And at the bottom of the band raises are higher than at the top (with the same rating).
    Mar 6, 2020 0