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Hi Amazonians, I'm looking for a switch to a PBC, especially Amazon. Could you guys please refer me for SDE-1 position in India location?
Skills: NodeJS, Angular, Django, MongoDB, MySQL, AWS, Distributed Systems etc.
YOE: 2.5 years
Location: India (preferred cities: Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad)
Amazon Amazon India
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Unpopular opinion, but something I wish people had told me earlier: take the money.
Why?
1/ It forces you to “lock in” the level of income you’ve just reached, so your mindset shifts to focusing on not going backward.
2/ The money you make now saves you so much time compared to another, lower offer. For example, it would take 4 more months to earn that amount in another job.
3/ No one offers you more money than you deserve. You earned it. Enjoy it.
4/ You’re responsible for your work. Do the best job you can. The rest will follow. But doing your best while earning as much as possible? That’s a great start for the future.
Hey as CD at 2 agncies Leo and McCann l will tell you…you will produce better work at the smaller agencies and be happier in the long run.
Avoid FCB / any IPG agencies right now. You would most likely end up laid off when they merge this year.
Yes FCB alum here. I’d avoid especially with the merger. Definitely take the money, better choice imo is to do work that you enjoy and make an impact at a smaller agency than end up a tiny cog in a huge unrelenting corporate machine!
For context, I’ve been lucky to have been at top agencies up till now. So even FCB would probably be seen as “a step down” in others’ eyes.
B
CD1 nailed it. Work is for money, that’s it. You can do great work anywhere, that is up to you. You would turn down 2x salary because of a brand name agency? No way, non sensical.
In this economy, focus on higher pay.
I die for sure. Best advice I’ve gotten is it’s better to be a big fish in a small pond vs a small fish in a big pond. Many more opportunities when VPs and above actually see your work and your not just a number.
Worst piece of advice. It’s an invitation to mediocrity. King for a day, fool for a lifetime.
I've done both, indie all the way!
I’ve worked in most type of shops, and I’d definitely lean toward an indie in the current market, especially one confident enough to pay very well. The holding company contraction seems like it’s only going to get worse, even for the non-creative sides of the business.
Take the agency that will allow you to work in a vertical you are interested in. Your future self will thank you
Take the higher pay, and embrace the experience you’d get at a smaller, independent shop. You have so much career time left to find yourself at “top agency” again. Plus, agencies rise and fall into prominence.
Go where you think you can do the better work. As a junior that’s money.
Take the pay — big agencies are really only a sliver of what they used to be.
You’re 26. Follow the money.
Money talks
❤️
Thousand times B
The pay difference is more than double? That’s odd—either you are getting low balled or the higher pay is needed to keep you at a known toxic/dysfunctional place where retention has been a challenge—where you’d absolutely run screaming if it weren’t for the pay (NOT worth the pay!).
Agree—get in touch with people actually working at the indie place, to gauge culture, trust in leadership, how people are treated. Something seems off.
Going in knowing, prepared, will help your mindset while there and dealing with the BS.
It’s a stepping stone, you’ll inevitably learn a ton. Good luck!
BTW, how did you connect with the ex employees?
Go in-house and corporate. Get your bag through real bonuses and incentives alongside clients and pursue your creative passion projects outside of your FT gig.
That would be great but no good opportunities for that in my lap rn.
Go to work for a cd that will help you grow. The agency doesn’t really matter. Trust me. They’re all the same.
As a creative, if you want to further your career, I would consider the opportunity for you creatively (so long as you can afford to do so, sometimes we need a baseline to pay the bills). That said, the value of the creative growth will be important longer term, as the work you do, growth you get as a creative can carry you into opportunities far beyond right now.
Why would you ever not work at the smaller place? I understand that FCB is more prestigious, and their gym memberships and 401K matching are probably better. Those are not things to be sniffed at.
BUT at smaller place you will (probably) learn more, and have more a chance to make an impact.
At the smaller place you MIGHT learn more, if your bosses are as talented and if your clients have as much budget.
But if you have a CD who hasn’t worked somewhere good themselves or if you have only clients no one’s heard of or the tiny below the line piece of the bigger client’s business… how much will you learn and what work will you make?
That’s not to say definitely pick the big place, or even that every account at a big agency is a good opportunity, but it isn’t a black and white easy decision