What’s it like working at a large tech company?
I’ve been working at startups or building my own startups and I’m just trying to get a realistic picture of if the grass is really greener. Is job security at a larger company real? What’s the pace like, I understand it depends on the team, but is it long hours and as crazy as a startup? Is there really that big of a salary difference (funded startups these days have pretty competitive offers). Is there really a lot of process that get in your way? Are your peers generally competitive or supportive? Thank you HN community for your thoughts and experiences
17 comments
I can't speak to the actual work yet as I haven't started, but I just accepted an offer as a senior / staff level engineer at one of the smaller public tech companies (think Dropbox, Lyft, Pinterest, Snap, etc) after 10+ years of being self-employed. I had two startups offer me $170k plus some (probably worthless) options. When the offer I ultimately accepted came in, I had several more startup interviews lined up and likely could have gotten closer to $180k - 200k from the startups.
Now, $200k isn't bad. But the offer I accepted from the public tech company is for $420k the first year, and will likely go up from there, especially if the stock does well. It's not crazy to think I could be making $600k - 800k within a few years. And to be honest, I think it's on the low end for the big tech companies at my level. And it doesn't come with some crazy grind as far as I can tell. People seem to actually work 40 hours, the PTO policy is flexible and people take 20-25 days a year off, people work from home when they need to, the benefits are solid, etc.
After this experience and seeing the huge disparity in pay, I would never go work at some random startup unless I was founder level or deeply, deeply believed in their mission.
Check out https://levels.fyi ...from everything I've seen, it's pretty accurate. The numbers there for my company and level were almost $70k lower than what I ultimately accepted.
Now, $200k isn't bad. But the offer I accepted from the public tech company is for $420k the first year, and will likely go up from there, especially if the stock does well. It's not crazy to think I could be making $600k - 800k within a few years. And to be honest, I think it's on the low end for the big tech companies at my level. And it doesn't come with some crazy grind as far as I can tell. People seem to actually work 40 hours, the PTO policy is flexible and people take 20-25 days a year off, people work from home when they need to, the benefits are solid, etc.
After this experience and seeing the huge disparity in pay, I would never go work at some random startup unless I was founder level or deeply, deeply believed in their mission.
Check out https://levels.fyi ...from everything I've seen, it's pretty accurate. The numbers there for my company and level were almost $70k lower than what I ultimately accepted.
That is a lot of money.
But it is not unreasonable, as you have to think of how much the large publicly traded tech companies pay for talent which is in the same level as a startup founder.
Also that work life balance seems decent. Are you worried that you will find enough of a challenge at the position?
But it is not unreasonable, as you have to think of how much the large publicly traded tech companies pay for talent which is in the same level as a startup founder.
Also that work life balance seems decent. Are you worried that you will find enough of a challenge at the position?
I'm not really worried. I'm both bored with self-employment and a little burned out. I think this will be a different kind of challenge but I also want a bit of a rest tbh. I'm also interested in transitioning to engineering management, which would be a whole new world for me.
Yeah these startups are a scam, the founders walk away with a fortune on a successful exit and the employees who toiled away for years get basically nothing. I've seen cases of founders getting 25 - 50 Million each and the earliest employees get a few hundred k.
Thanks for this response!
Follow up:
How long have you been working there?
Is it a manager position or engineering?
Follow up:
How long have you been working there?
Is it a manager position or engineering?
I just signed offer, haven't started yet, but I've looked at people's responses on places like Blind and Reddit about work-life balance there and I asked multiple people in my interview loop about it. Sounds like 10a to 6p is pretty standard, people work from home when they need to, and the average (flexible) PTO per year for engineering is 20-25 days per year. My start date actually got pushed back because it sounds like no one is in the office most of the next two weeks.
It's an IC role, roughly equivalent to the upper band of L5 / E5 at Google or FB (though they might pay better).
It's an IC role, roughly equivalent to the upper band of L5 / E5 at Google or FB (though they might pay better).
$420k.
Holy.
Fucking.
Shit.
Here in Italy, to get that money, you need to be the CEO of a huge company.
Holy.
Fucking.
Shit.
Here in Italy, to get that money, you need to be the CEO of a huge company.
I know, it's insane. It seems like the only other clearly defined paths to that kind of money in your 30s are medicine, law, consulting, finance, etc., and all of them come with pretty significant downsides in terms of required education and/or work-life balance. The idea that I could never go to college (I did, but not for software) and somehow wind up getting paid a half million dollars a year working 40 hours a week in jeans and a t-shirt writing code?
I feel so fucking lucky.
I feel so fucking lucky.
What was ypour path to get to that? I knew software paid well, but not that well
Got my undergrad at a no-name state school in international business and worked for about a year as a jr product mgr at a tech company in SF, but I've been programming since I was 12 or so, and I left that job to freelance. Did that for over a decade, mostly focused on iOS dev. I've done a few apps for larger companies that you'd recognize, but most of my work is for early stage startups that no longer exist. Still, I guess iOS is in enough demand that it was enough to open doors at these companies, and from there it's a matter of passing the interviews. I've been really successful as a freelancer, so the non-technical parts of the interview process were really easy, just like selling yourself to potential clients, basically.
Your story is certainly inspiring. Few follow up questions:
How did you do on the technical interviews?
Can you give us examples of “sell yourself” as a potential client?
Any interesting interview tips?
I’ve been freelancing/self-employed/raised money etc... about 8+ years and I’m debating if it’s worth it to apply to larger tech companies. They tend to have a higher barrier to entry with the tech interviews so I probably need to brush up, any tips there? I’ve been managing a small team and looking to do the same so not sure how much to study for the tech interviews.
Appreciate your responses so far! It’s been very insightful
How did you do on the technical interviews?
Can you give us examples of “sell yourself” as a potential client?
Any interesting interview tips?
I’ve been freelancing/self-employed/raised money etc... about 8+ years and I’m debating if it’s worth it to apply to larger tech companies. They tend to have a higher barrier to entry with the tech interviews so I probably need to brush up, any tips there? I’ve been managing a small team and looking to do the same so not sure how much to study for the tech interviews.
Appreciate your responses so far! It’s been very insightful
> Is job security at a larger company real?
It varies greatly from company to company. At Google (where I work) yes. At Facebook no.
> What’s the pace like
I often work less than 40 hours a week and nobody even mentions it, but if I work more they tell me to work less.
> Is there really a lot of process that get in your way?
This depends entirely on what you want to do. Do you want to redesign GMail? Do you want to rewrite the codebase in Haskell? Do you want to move your data storage to mongo db? Then yes, there will be a lot of process in your way. Risky things like user facing changes and introducing new unsanctioned technologies will force you to go through a lot of bureaucracy.
But on the other hand if you just want to build and improve infrastructure using company sanctioned tools then there isn't that much process at all, just get a code reviewer and you are done. I haven't been blocked by process for years, I just decide I want to implement a feature, I write the code and send it and the feature is in an hour later.
> Are your peers generally competitive or supportive?
Peers evaluate each other so you don't see much toxic competition. However most of your peers will be relatively ambitious people so they will strive to look better than you, so you could say that they are competitive even though in this competition supporting peers looks good.
It varies greatly from company to company. At Google (where I work) yes. At Facebook no.
> What’s the pace like
I often work less than 40 hours a week and nobody even mentions it, but if I work more they tell me to work less.
> Is there really a lot of process that get in your way?
This depends entirely on what you want to do. Do you want to redesign GMail? Do you want to rewrite the codebase in Haskell? Do you want to move your data storage to mongo db? Then yes, there will be a lot of process in your way. Risky things like user facing changes and introducing new unsanctioned technologies will force you to go through a lot of bureaucracy.
But on the other hand if you just want to build and improve infrastructure using company sanctioned tools then there isn't that much process at all, just get a code reviewer and you are done. I haven't been blocked by process for years, I just decide I want to implement a feature, I write the code and send it and the feature is in an hour later.
> Are your peers generally competitive or supportive?
Peers evaluate each other so you don't see much toxic competition. However most of your peers will be relatively ambitious people so they will strive to look better than you, so you could say that they are competitive even though in this competition supporting peers looks good.
Thanks for a real insight into this, this all sounds wonderful and all, can I ask what you would honestly miss if you were working at a smaller company or a high growth startup?
Why are there people working at large tech companies looking to leave their positions? Is it because it’s so boring? Is it because they’re not getting promoted fast enough? Do they not like the people they’re working with? Can you transfer to another team easily?
Why are there people working at large tech companies looking to leave their positions? Is it because it’s so boring? Is it because they’re not getting promoted fast enough? Do they not like the people they’re working with? Can you transfer to another team easily?
Is the grass greener? Yes and no.
Startups and big tech are two very different environments. The environment that is best for you depends on many things. Suffice to say, it’s best to understand your goals and motivations for the next 5 to 10 years.
You can learn a lot at either big tech or a startip if you surround yourself with the right people. Big tech has more people, which means your chances of finding excellent mentors is higher, but the risk of having toxic people around you is also high.
Compensation is usually good at big tech, after the stock vesting starts to kick in ( Which can take a couple years). If you look at the base salary that isn’t stock based, then it’s not that different from a startup. However, this is also something that is highly depemdemt on what you are doing and who you are working for.
Is the grass greener? I think we are biased humans who are always looking for something better. It’s human nature. So yes, the grass is probably greener on the other side. But how’s the grass where you are currently standing?
Startups and big tech are two very different environments. The environment that is best for you depends on many things. Suffice to say, it’s best to understand your goals and motivations for the next 5 to 10 years.
You can learn a lot at either big tech or a startip if you surround yourself with the right people. Big tech has more people, which means your chances of finding excellent mentors is higher, but the risk of having toxic people around you is also high.
Compensation is usually good at big tech, after the stock vesting starts to kick in ( Which can take a couple years). If you look at the base salary that isn’t stock based, then it’s not that different from a startup. However, this is also something that is highly depemdemt on what you are doing and who you are working for.
Is the grass greener? I think we are biased humans who are always looking for something better. It’s human nature. So yes, the grass is probably greener on the other side. But how’s the grass where you are currently standing?
Thanks for this, I think I have to do a bit of soul searching and figure out what I want to do for the next 5-10 years and have that figured out more clearly.
As for mentors, working at startups I’ve had some pretty good success finding mentors who were essentially advisors and at larger companies or retired seasoned vets for the therapy, professional growth, and debugging strategies/technical problems. I think that would be the same because you’d have to make an effort to get something out of that mentorship - I don’t believe mentorship is bought or falls into your lap, it usually happens because of good chemistry (being in both sides of this).
As for stock compensation, from my understanding it’s usually options? Where the company has to grow correct? If it stays flat, it’s basically nothing? (Please correct next if I’m wrong, I’m a bit oblivious to this). Also from tax perspective it also eats into this? Just want the post tax perspective and assess the risk/rewards. Understandably, startups the stock is 99.9% worthless.
As for mentors, working at startups I’ve had some pretty good success finding mentors who were essentially advisors and at larger companies or retired seasoned vets for the therapy, professional growth, and debugging strategies/technical problems. I think that would be the same because you’d have to make an effort to get something out of that mentorship - I don’t believe mentorship is bought or falls into your lap, it usually happens because of good chemistry (being in both sides of this).
As for stock compensation, from my understanding it’s usually options? Where the company has to grow correct? If it stays flat, it’s basically nothing? (Please correct next if I’m wrong, I’m a bit oblivious to this). Also from tax perspective it also eats into this? Just want the post tax perspective and assess the risk/rewards. Understandably, startups the stock is 99.9% worthless.
Startups are very difficult but if the business idea is good then you can earn a lot of money and grow your business. You just have to do the right thing first by registering your business under the startup company registration https://www.taxolawgy.com/startup-registration/. You can know more from the link.