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Is it worth moving to Meta at my current stage? (L5 to E4)

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Mid-Level Software Engineer [SDE 2] at Amazona month ago

I recently received an offer to join an Ads team at Meta at E4 level. The comp was pretty much equal.

Here are some pros of my current team:

  • Work life balance is great
  • I've learned a lot and am still learning a decent amount
  • Manager is nice

Here are the two big problems I have with my team:

  • I see no path to L6. My org is very L6 heavy, and even more L5 heavy (i.e. no L4's to mentor). There are strong L5 engineers that should have been promoted long ago but are still here. They are always given the promotion level projects (despite still never being promoted).
  • The projects I'm working on feel extremely useless, and there is minimal real impact that product or engineers have on the business. (Few massive enterprise customers with deal terms driving business growth over product)
    • A lot of features we build are used by tens (yes tens) of users.
    • Some of our systems are interesting and high scale (we serve content), but are heavily guarded by a group of OG engineers that don't like to involve others.

The Ads team at Meta seems bland but impactful, they have concrete incremental revenue goals and are serving a large amount of ads customers. Don't know much else. The manager seems nice and mentioned that "oncall wasn't bad".

Here's a few additional twists to my situation:

  • I actually declined the Meta offer already in fear of losing my WLB, but every time I push a commit for a feature I know that at most 10-20 people will care about, I start to wonder if I should try to claw my way back towards another offer (I declined a few days ago)
  • I'm possibly going to need to leave the Bay Area in August 2025 (so my tenure if I switch may be ~1.5 years, probably not long enough for promotion)

I'm trying to think of what would put me in the best situation in 1.5 years when I move and begin another job search. Hopefully I'll land in a more senior role by then.

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Discussion

(7 comments)
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    AI/ML Eng @ Series C startup
    a month ago

    You can find WLB somewhere else

  • 0
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    Employee @ Robinhood
    a month ago
    • If you're optimizing for career growth and keeping your job when you move, the Meta offer would have been your best choice (assuming you'll still be near an office after moving)
    • If you're optimizing for WLB, I'd stick with Amazon.
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      Mid-Level Software Engineer [SDE 2] [OP]
      Amazon
      a month ago

      80% chance I would be moving somewhere without Meta offices. If I don’t keep it would the short tenure be bad?

      I’d be concerned that most of my next 1.5 years would be spent ramping up / building expertise

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      Employee @ Robinhood
      a month ago

      Short tenure's not an issue when it comes to finding another job, but you won't grow as much in a short tenure. Especially with RTO and geo-location, it'll also be hard to find a high-growth job if you're moving to somewhere that's not a major tech hub.

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    Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
    a month ago

    For the future, please negotiate your offer. Given the fact that you declined it, you were obviously willing to walk away - That is incredibly powerful. When you have nothing to lose, you can negotiate aggressively, and that confidence will show in how you communicate. Negotiating isn't just against competing offers, but against your current employment as well. Check out the negotiation course if you haven't already: The Insider's Guide To Negotiating Your Tech Salary And Compensation

    Mid-level to senior at Amazon is notoriously difficult, even with a good team. If you want to get to senior, Meta is definitely better, especially as it has the forcing function of up-or-out. Having an official senior title from a company at the level of FAANG does indeed open a lot of doors.

    However, WLB is extremely important and is a rare resource in the current economy, especially at Big Tech. At the end of the day, you'll need to make a call on what you want to prioritize. There's nothing wrong with staying as an Amazon L5 for a long time - It's a terminal level after all.

    • 0
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      Mid-Level Software Engineer [SDE 2] [OP]
      Amazon
      a month ago

      Thank you for the insight! You’re right about the leverage from being willing to walk away. After my initial decline of Meta’s “final offer” they continued to give me two more “final final” offers, but unfortunately still wouldn’t go further than matching my current comp.

      What do you think about the tenure part of this equation?

      When considering 4 years at Amazon vs. 2.5 at Amazon and 1.5 at Meta, will one lead to better long term outcomes than the other if none of those led to senior promotion? Or does it not really make that much of a difference?

    • 0
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      Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
      a month ago

      When considering 4 years at Amazon vs. 2.5 at Amazon and 1.5 at Meta, will one lead to better long term outcomes than the other if none of those led to senior promotion? Or does it not really make that much of a difference?

      All things considered equal (you are mid-level at both and have a decent team that teaches you stuff), it really is about the same. I think Meta has more prestige than Amazon, but that will be cancelled out by the 1.5 year stint (recruiters will have concerns about loyalty).

      The main thing that will really advance your prospects is getting an official FAANG senior title. That will open up a lot of doors. Companies can't get enough of engineers operating at that level.