Interviewed with HBO max SDE role a couple weeks ago. YoE: 5 years current TC: ~290k Interview Job title: senior staff engineer Before the interview, I already told the recruiter that my expectation is around 320k (10~15% raise on my cur tc)and they said at best they can do around that. I believe I did quite well in both tech screen and on-site 4 rounds, which includes coding and design and some behavior questions. A few days after interview, the recruiter told me that all the feedback are positive and they were working with the team to give me an offer. And also asked me again on what is my expectation on TC. I told them the same number. They did not say no nor negotiate with me right away. But told me they will discuss with the team and get back to me in a day or two. On the next day, the recruiter called me again and told me that good news is they decided to give me an offer, but bad news is they won’t move forward, which seems really weird to me. I asked why and he just said they can only offer a very low number, which is about 200k. But based on the conversation I had with him, this seems more like an excuse, not a real reason. How is that possible 200k for a senior role? Overall, I feel really disappointed about it. I will never interview this company again. #swe #engineering #software
Sounds standard for a non tech company.
Really?
How are they hiring senior staff level at 5yoe? That should have been a red flag to you that they inflate titles.
5yoe for senior level is possible and some of my friends are.
Senior staff? Thats like the 5th level at most companies. I suppose its possible if someone is truly gifted but i dont know how they would have enough practical experience to justify that title with only 5 years. So much of being a senior staff is knowing what not to do, and that largely comes with the experience of trying mutiple architectural approaches. It takes a long time to see those approaches play out.
Senior staff is actually principal level. Your yoe will not make the cut. Their comp is around 600k. There is probably some miscommunication. Check the other posts, a recent staff 2 engineer offer was over 340k. It was like 210k base + 150k sign on over 4years and other stuff.
They said they recently changed the title. So I am not sure how they name it, but I am quite sure it should be just senior level in most tech companies.
Check other posts. I actually don’t even know our new title and comp yet. But in the private channel, ppl said it’s a bump.
we recently changed titles so you probably was interviewing for the "old" Sr. Staff, equivalent to Amazon's L6. For that level TC is right around $320. I suspect they decided to give you a lower level, which has love TC range...
Yeah, you should be right. The old Sr Staff and 320k is also the number they said they can do.
That is l6 or l7, the new title is principal sde. I think that guy got a L5 offer and it’s 340k. I am jealous
Yes HBO doesn't have RSUs. And they suck as a company. That's why I went to a place with RSUs
Based on your discussion, I am assuming you decided to decline the offer? I, too, recently had an interview with HBO. I discuss the change in their levels here: https://www.teamblind.com/post/Microsoft-or-HBO-3ZmPPEUt
hbo is salary only. also heard they laid off a bunch of senior eng a couple months ago.
They said they also give stocks now
Minimal layoffs in Seattle/Engineering, and definitely not focused in senior eng. (Maybe a dozen-ish total) Mostly junior/mid level under-performers and some management senior leadership didn’t like. And we are switching to new comp structure including stock right now.