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I’m an L6 SDM at Amazon but a Meta recruiter sent me an M2 sdm job description. I have all the XP I need from previous job experience but does Meta keep your same level as Amazon? Meaning if I am an L6 at Amazon am I automatically interviewing at M1 or can I jump to an M2?Amazon Facebook (Meta)
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Anyone in FAANG cyber willing to refer?
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I spent time at both D and BAH. While I was at D, a fair number of my colleagues were ex-BAH and had either been stuck in staff aug roles (entire swathes of BAH are 100% staff aug) or stuck at the lower part of pay bands in cheap admin pyramids, hence making the jump.
On the flip side, when I went to BAH several years later after a private sector stint, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Way better WLB, I wasn't in a staff aug portion of the firm, I was paid fairly well (higher than I'd have been if I'd stayed at D that whole time), good benefits, and I enjoyed my colleagues and clients more so than at D. I had a few ex-D colleagues, but yeah, more people go BAH>D than vice versa.
The employee experience at BAH is far more variable than at D. While WLB will generally be significantly better at BAH across the board, comp and the type of work have hugely more variability at BAH than at D.
You could conceivably have an associate making $80 working on a project with another associate making $150+, or have an associate making $80 working on a project with a senior consultant making $90.
If you manage to get a role that isn't staff aug and doesn't pay at the lower end of the pay band, it can really be a great place.
Subject Expert
Great points, though staff aug isn't necessarily all bad. You can embed yourself within really fascinating clients (think Space Force) and bring a skillset they lack + leverage the Booz network to solve their business pain. Pay is definitely a big problem though.
Booz Allen is the best place to start and end your career. The biggest gripe most people have is they start at Booz Allen then hit early mid level and need to leave to get that big pay bump. So if you can negotiate coming in a sizable starting point you could be very happy here. Work life balance is way better. Benefits I assume are generally comparable.
That said I started here in 2010 making $55K and now I am at over $150K 10 years later in a non DC type market. That is an average of $10K per year increase. So it can be done it just requires networking, contract jumping, and good leadership.
Maybe other BAH can chime in but BAH don’t give out bonuses anything below Senior Associate level UNLESS you’re in cyber and for that I can’t attest either so maybe someone in cyber can piggyback on this. Benefits are I think standard across all the big firms. WLB is amazing in my opinion, if you have really good management team, they seriously harp on WLB. PTO is standard I think too, it rolls over to a cap and you can always sell your PTO during benefits enrollment.
Just like comp and type of work, BD expectations vary depending on your admin chain.
I was a LA while at BAH and my only BD expectations were to help organically grow the account, with no $ amount assigned. The SAs on the account were responsible for driving the identification of said opportunities, but BD for all of us was pretty limited and *no one* at the LA or SA levels on the account had a specific $ sales target. Far more emphasis was placed on client and team leadership than BD.
On the other hand, I've got friends in other parts of BAH who have BD expectations down to the A level. One particular friend in a different area at BAH was an A while I was an LA and had a $1M BD target at the time. She just made SA last year and I believe her sales target is now $5-6M.
Each admin pyramid really is like its own fiefdom, with the VPs and Ps having pretty wide latitude for setting their own standards for comp, WLB, BD, and so on.
BAH -> D is a lot more popular path than D->BAH tbh. I'd honestly work a bit more at D and get promoted or a raise. Booz has areas of excellance and areas of butts in seats
I disagree with your first statement. There’s a large flux of come and go between both companies.
Training money has to be paid back if you leave, they don’t just give it away. Also, PTO is subpar at junior levels (I.e the one you’re applying to), no sick time, and no company holidays outside of federal ones. WLB is great for the most part, I will agree on that. Promotions are very team dependent since there is no up-or-out at the firm. People who want to move up have to jump through hoops even if their end of year evals show that they are top performers.
I'm in the process of leaving BAH but have LOVED my time at the company. This varies team to team but the career growth and support I've received has been phenomenal and the WLB has been great. Like others have said, the mid level can be frustrating because of generally lower pay compared to competitors. That being said, I got my first clearance through BAH and have been upgraded during my time – without my clearance I wouldn't have the job opportunities I have now.
PTO is 15 days/3 weeks as a Consultant/Senior Consultant and goes up to 20 days/4 weeks at the Associate level. During COVID, the company has also been very good about WFH arrangements. Back in March they had committed to no layoffs until July. To date, I have heard of / seen very few layoffs.
I'm ultimately leaving for a pay bump at another company but have liked my time at BAH enough to plan on coming back when the time is right 🤷🏼♀️
No bonuses but everything else is amazing
Benefits is outstanding for BAH. 6% 401k match with immediate vesting, $0 premium for high deductible health plan for employee, training money every year.
Try to negotiate for the top of the band. Talk about missing out of bonus and your established network etc.
The 401K match vests immediately but only at the end of the year (i.e. they match 6% for the year as long as you're employed 31 Dec)
Lolll why would anyone else DM you for a question that you are asking, Your Highness? 😂😂
Umm because they might not be open to posting publicly... your ignorance 😊