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Long term: move to Bay Area HCOL now, work there for a few years, move back to a LCOL city later, don’t take a pay cut. Get HCOL salary in LCOL city. That’s what I did. Now you know all my secrets.
Omg any advice on how you did it?
It was definitely a long road here - had really been recruiting for just under a year now and multiple failed interviews across a number of companies. I think it was largely a little luck and a lot of learning from trial and error in my previous interviews where it wasn’t a positive outcome that helped me craft my story.
One failed set of interviews in particular that helped with my prep approach at least was my loop at Amazon. It did force me to think through all of my set of experiences and try to align them to potential questions I may get. Ever since that I continued to iterate and refine my story which I think has helped in my later interviews.
Great job! I think you hit the nail on the head on compensation.
Despite that, I’d take Apple. I’m personally not a huge FAANG person (largely overrated), but a product role is better than a program role. Apple’s brand plus the product manager title will elevate your exit opportunities in a few years.
That being said, if you’re passionate about the video game industry, then Sony is a great place. I was in a similar situation as you (big tech vs. video game industry) and I chose the latter.
I would go for Apple. It will lead to better ops. You could get pigeon holed at PlayStation. If you really want PlayStation look up Christian Bordeau.
Op. I think apple would be better unless you want to be program manager.
Also did you have product experience at Deloitte?
OP - very similar situation to me at present. What did you do to prep / close the knowledge gap? Any books, websites etc you could recommend?
Subject Expert
What’s your total comp offer for the two roles?
Subject Expert
That would be a deciding factor then I guess. Cupertino COL is likely substantially higher than SD.