High Expectations

Expectations at Big Tech companies are extremely high and that pressure really shapes the engineer experience. Here are the core points from the lesson:

• Big Tech roles pay top-of-market compensation, and in return companies expect top-tier productivity, output, and code quality
• Many engineers coming from non–Big Tech backgrounds experience culture shock due to stricter standards, faster pace, and more rigorous release processes
• Performance reviews are a major source of stress, heavily peer-comparative, and central to promotions and job security
• Past eras of “rest and vest” are largely gone; in today’s leaner, more competitive tech environment, expectations - especially for newer and more junior engineers - are higher than ever