Related Posts
Negotiating an offer with Amazon Canada. I'm based in Hong Kong (bank,director,12y). My base 1.08m HKD which translates to 180k CAD/140k USD. To count for tax diff (here: 15%, Canada: 40%), +40% to break even. I'm expecting +20% raise which can come from RSU. So: 180 * 1.4 = 252k CAD for base and 50k CAD for RSU. From glassdoor, this seems to be off the chart so what am I missing? If not for this then what role should I look for FAANG in US or Canada for this range? Amazon
If I have 21 RSUs vesting may 21 but another job offer (not from a FAANG but from a Series D SaaS), could I ask new company to “buy out” my RSUs? They want me to start May 1 so I can go on a company trip end of May. What are options people have tried? I don’t want to stay at Amazon until May 23 because will miss the trip with my new company and not have any time off in between jobs (I’m burnout). Amazon
Additional Posts
Post for likes! 😤
Post without company
Ah now it did.
Post for comments
Testing a new post at 12:06PT 5.12
So when do spg points expire?
New to Fishbowl?
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Obvious bias here, but I think it depends a lot on the role and your goals. I’m in legal supporting some high priority AWS products (don’t want to dox myself too much) and IDK that there’s a better place to gain experience with anti-trust law, data privacy, and open source software legal issues. Careers are long and I’m closer to the beginning of mine than the end and I don’t think there’s anywhere else I’d rather be right now than AWS legal.
Not so much an hierarchy - just some differences! (For SWEs) Google - diverse age, work life balance, a significant portion of eng have PhDs, little pressure/deadlines, focus on innovation and 10x, lack of focus on product quality, amazing tools and eng culture. Facebook - move fast break things, work a lot, innovate but think about $$, lots of ACM kids, nice recruiters Apple - eng are not to be trusted, tools lacking, but the product and culture rock Netflix - no bureaucracy, focus Amazon - work work work, horrible recruiters (unless they are AI, in which case it's pretty impressive). Idk, somehow never heard a single good thing to write about. But the results are somehow obviously amazing. Just my take based on anecdotal evidence from myself and my friends who are working in these companies.
Google > Meta / Apple / Netflix >> Amazon
Roads aren’t closed but in law they’re certainly more difficult to access. Some legal firms won’t hire you but they have enough qualified candidates from their target legal programs and top law firms are hiring grads often with no real previous experience. Prestige in tech matters a lot less than most consultants or former consultants seem to think. I work with plenty of ex FAANG and Ivy league MBA and undergrads and some are capable while others are not. It helps you get in the door but at L7, L8 and above, you are going to have to demonstrate previous success. Two of my best developers didn’t graduate college and most developers have bounced around FAANG, Uber, Convoy, Microsoft, etc.
Rising Star
Meta usually pays the best and people see Amazon as the distance 5th place
Netflix literally runs on AWS, but somehow they are "better" than Amazon? Amazon does almost everything those other FAANG companies do. Many of them are just narrowly focused. Purely anecdotal here, but I know of some crappy SDEs here that went to Google, and managed to thrive. I'm really interested to know where the magical scorecard is that you're using to rate the prestige of these companies.
Google 1 - Having worked at 2 of the 3 (Google and Amazon) and gotten an offer from 1 (Meta), 2 & 3 are no longer true for L7+. Don’t know about L6 and below as I don’t have personal data points there. Google actually tends to low ball the most among FAANG nowadays. The 5% equity in first year doesn’t mean TC is 80% of what it states in one’s offer letter so financially it shouldn’t matter. If one really likes AMZN stock that much, one can use the 95% cash TC of first year to buy stock on their own.
Oh boy, now we're going to have Blind's "prestige" discussions all over again.
Pro
I’d say they are similar, once you are in it doesn’t matter too much. It’s more about what role you do. I would say Google seems to be top choice for a lot of people. That doesn’t mean they pay the best tho.
Right now it’s Google and FB
I agree that they’re doing SOME of the most cutting edge work, but I’d be careful with how broad of a brush you use. Until recently, I was a patent attorney representing Facebook, NVidia, Microsoft, Adobe, and others. Each are doing some pretty incredible work, but in different technology areas. Honestly, the patents I wrote for NVidia were probably the most novel and interesting out of that bunch.
Not currently a major player
Why is Google seen as the most desirable? Do they usually have better work/life balance?
Google uses to be a pretty chill place - great pay, great perks and no compulsion to work unless you wanted to. But those days are gone now. Statistically speaking, last 2 years approx 50% of those interviewing in my loops were Googlers. One problem with the above setup is, it works great if you want to stay at Google but if you stay too long and just cruise, you end up with stagnant skills and not much to show for in terms of achievements which is bad if you want to interview elsewhere.
Internally we generally consider it Google > Meta (most people only go here for pay tho) > Netflix/Apple >>>> Amazon
A3: I’m sure you never do. If only folks listened…
How do people feel Uber stacks up ?
I feel that Uber is a touch below FAANG in SWE and PM job families. Non-tech roles aren’t that sought after anymore. Also, I’d disagree with OP. Uber is definitely a major player in tech.
They are all great. But from someone who has been a leader at Google, Facebook, Salesforce, and Tableau, this is how I'd rank them in terms of value to your resume: 1. Google 2. Amazon 3. Netflix 4. Facebook 5. Apple. I'd also add Microsoft and Salesforce to the mix, and actually put both of them above Apple. If you want to hear why, I'm always happy to chat. You can find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanjstein/