Team matching
I am curious if you proceed to the team matching stage after clearing HC & you have a call with the manager.
Overall questions:
- Is it like an interview? Do you have prepare for it?
- What is the manager evaluating here?
- If a company only has one team for team matching & you don't like it, can you just wait for more time?
More specific situation:
- On levels.fyi, their Staff matches with other company's senior level. But it seems money-wise their staff-level is more. I am not sure how to match up levels here.
- Also wanted to ask, when do you negotiate the offer here before or after the team match?
- They seem to have only one team available right now. I am not fan of that work. But she said their maybe more one team in August. Does waiting for longer time hurt my chances?
Discussion
(13 comments)- 22 months agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
If a company only has one team for team matching & you don't like it, can you just wait for more time?
This is risky and depends on how much you care about this company + what your other options are. As I mentioned in this discussion about Meta team match, I strongly recommend accepting the first team match if possible.
Most good companies will allow high-performing employees to switch between teams, but the hardest part is to get full-time employment in the company. The risk with waiting for other teams is that (1) they may not materialize or (2) the market conditions may change and the company may freeze hiring.
- 0a month agoMid-Level Software Engineer [OP]Taro Community
"I strongly recommend accepting the first team match if possible"
Do you mean after you do the interview with manager? Or if there is only team for team match just accept that one?
"The risk with waiting foe other teams"
I didn't think of this before. But I see your point. This is risky, I asked about the future openings to make a better decision but she hasn't gotten back to me yet. - 0a month agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
Do you mean after you do the interview with manager? Or if there is only team for team match just accept that one?
The typical flow for team matching looks like this:
- You talk to the manager of a team that has a good match
- If the manager likes you, the recruiter/company will inform you.
- If you agree, the company will extend you an offer
You should absolutely do the talk/interview with the manager. There's no reason to turn that down, even if you think the team is a bad fit.
My broader point is you should get to step 3 as quickly as possible. Worry about the team less and land the full-time employment ASAP.
- 22 months agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
Also wanted to ask, when do you negotiate the offer here before or after the team match?
Wait until after the team match. Negotiation should happen only when you've gotten a commitment from the company they want to hire you (see the explainer in my negotiation course: Negotiation Starts Now).
If you negotiate aggressively during team match, I see very little upside, but a lot of downside in that you don't get matched.
- 0a month agoMid-Level Software Engineer [OP]Taro Community
For me, one of the key very important preference/negotiation is location. The manager is based in location X. But I have strong preference of location Y. I am not sure if he is open to location Y. The recruiter initially said they are very open to location Y but it depends on the manager.
I wanted to not waste a team match interview & asked her beforehand if the manager is open to location Y. Not sure if that's too aggressive since she hasn't responded since 2 days.
Alternatively, I could take up the interview with the manager & ask him on the interview. But I feel like I would waste the interview. Or maybe if the interview goes well, he maybe open.
Curious how do you think about it?
- 1
2 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroIs it like an interview? Do you have prepare for it?
Team match is usually a behavioral interview effectively (but not as intense as a standard one during the onsite), and it can get quite competitive. Google in particular is notorious for having a pool of candidates who have passed hiring committee that is way larger than the number of open roles. Many candidates who passed the interview for Google actually just drop out of contention as they're stuck in team match for 3+ months (this happened to my little brother).
So yeah, you should prepare for these rounds. Understand the hiring manager and their team, and take the time to craft a compelling narrative about why you would be a good fit: Master The Behavioral Interview As A Software Engineer
- 0
2 months agoThoughtful TarodactylTaro CommunityDo you know if its hard to switch teams internally at google?
- 02 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
Do you know if its hard to switch teams internally at google?
Switching teams now in any company is just weird due to the economic climate, but I'm sure it'll be easier at Google compared to almost any other company in the industry. Historically, Meta and Google have had the best internal mobility cultures in all of Silicon Valley.
It also gets easier if you meet the following criteria:
- Have been on your team for a while (2+ years)
- Are a high performer
- Are L5+ (senior or above)
- 12 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
If a company only has one team for team matching & you don't like it, can you just wait for more time?
You can, but you're taking a risk of staying in team matching hell, which I imagine is more likely given the current economy (too many good candidates, not enough jobs). If a team is semi-decent, I recommend joining. More thoughts here: "How to navigate through team matching with Meta?"
- 02 months agoMid-Level Software Engineer [OP]Taro Community
In my case, right now I am not in a hurry since I am waiting for an visa approval. So earliest I could move is in 2 months.
For current economy, is it same for MLEs as well or just SWEs ? This is an MLE role.
I am curious how does the offer negotiation work here? I could be in the team-matching for 1 to 1.5 months & get another offer to better negotiate in the end no? - 02 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
For current economy, is it same for MLEs as well or just SWEs ? This is an MLE role.
I am curious how does the offer negotiation work here? I could be in the team-matching for 1 to 1.5 months & get another offer to better negotiate in the end no?I'm unsure. I would spin this out into separate questions on the forum personally to get more signal.
- 12 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
On levels.fyi, their Staff matches with other company's senior level. But it seems money-wise their staff-level is more. I am not sure how to match up levels here.
Money is the main measuring stick I use as it's universal. At most companies, their Staff level makes around the same as Meta's mid-level (E4). Levels are just strings next to your name at the end of the day, so I don't think it's worth your time and mental energy trying to "match up" levels.
Here's another good thread about this: "How should I think about levels when it comes to evaluating jobs and in my career overall?"
- 02 months agoMid-Level Software Engineer [OP]Taro Community
Thanks so much for sharing this! All this info is really helpful!
Related Course
Other Great Discussions
![Mid-Level Software Engineer [SDE 2] at Amazon company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Famazon_logo.jpg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Dff5f2302-08be-43bc-b7b1-d381ba508d99&w=96&q=75){kind=logo}
