Career Advice - Software Engineer

About me:
Company: AWS
Level: L5 - SDE2
YOE: 5.5 ( All Amazon. Joined directly after grad. I even did my internship here which is on top of 5.5 :P )
H1B Worker: Yes
2020 TC: 254K

I have been fairly okay at Amazon. My current TC is max of my band and my current manager is asking me to start my L6 paperwork in Q3 2020. However, I am not much interested in the work that my team is doing from past 6-7 months. The roadmap planning also seems really poor from my interests perspective.

Initially I tried interviewing outside around March. I was aiming mid-tier good companies and few notable startups in Seattle. I wanted a small company in general. I had 5 offers and the best offer was from a Seattle unicorn. I accepted it. Its paperwork is currently in progress. However, given the economic condition, I am thinking I will stay at AWS. I want a job more than TC at this point. Plus I need H1B.

Now that I am thinking of staying, I am thinking I should switch teams. However, this will at least push my L6 by 1 year or more. But, even if I get promoted I would be at the lower band of L6 which is max 20K more than my current TC. And then next year when things stabilize on this planet, I can move out of Amazon.

So I have 3 options. What would you advice.

P.S: Please comment if you know any good teams in AWS Database org.

Thanks

#aws #amazon #career #softwareengineer