As a new grad going into FAANG, can someone explain stack ranking please
Last in, first out.
Lifo ! When they hire someone new wouldn't that mean the team (and HM) has seen something good on candidate. So how come the candidate gets kicked out first on stack ranking
Politics and quotas^ hired to fire
You’re ranked against your peers. Can create a toxic political environment when managers are required to give bad evaluations to a certain percentage of the team. Microsoft was infamous for this before they changed their policy. I know fb does it, but I don’t know details. Might not be as extreme as msft used to be. Amazon probably does it. They are known for pipping people.
Amazon does do it though not as bad as their FC folk. For pickers they actually stack rank every week and fire the bottom 5%.
Msft still does it a bit. It's not called stack ranking anymore.
Your company is not your family. They are a professional sports team that recruits, develops and cuts players. You need to compete to keep your place on the roster
Unless your company is your family. Walmart for example.
This mentality is what leads to toxic team environments where teammates don't help each other
How is this different from a bell curve ?
Top of curve gets bonus. Bottom gets ax
That's what happens in the bell curve too
Every company has limited budget and must distribute it fairly to the employees. Ergo stack ranking is done in some form at every company. The ones that say they don’t are lying. Now whether to pip bottom x% is up to the employer and I personally don’t believe that’s the best option.
“Fairly” — the biggest qualifier
As previous comments said, manager has to decide who stays and who goes. The advice to survive is don't be a prick. Make friends who will give you good reviews. Actually help people instead of undermining them. Nobody likes a brilliant jerk. The first people I've seen get the PIP are those who work alone and fail. The next are those who work alone and nobody likes.
Um. You can only speak for companies you’ve worked for. Stank ranking implementations vary.
True. There's the more cynical side of avoiding teams with cliques because the manager will pick off those who aren't part of the group. There was a rumor that years ago at MS,, one manager based the rank off a video game score because he didn't have a better metric. I wonder if anyone here could confirm.
every company does it to some extent or another. some are just more formal about it
It’s like the “grading curve” colleges use . If you are at the bottom, instead of low grades you get fired . Makes sure only fittest remain in the rat race
What if everyone does well on the test ? Does everyone pass ? Asking in context of Amazon.
No. Performers are managed out regularly. That's why it's so fucked up. It's very biased. Useless too
Which are the companies that don’t do it?
Government
Theres got to be more
Rank employees from #1 to n. Bottom x% = pip
Exactly. What is x in amazon and FB?