4 ms·

Does anyone else feel really put off on the idea of working at a big tech corporation by articles like this? If I wanted to play the career game, I would have s

by fyfy18 9y ago

Does anyone else feel really put off on the idea of working at a big tech corporation by articles like this? If I wanted to play the career game, I would have studyied something more business related and got a graduate job at somewhere like KPMG.

akhilcacharya 9y ago
Because working as an SWE in bigtech can pay 2-3x as much? Including signing a FB new grad can make up to ~$225k in their first year. There aren’t many industries where this is possible with a bachelors or less.
- mrep 9y ago
  Also, most SWE in big tech aren't working crazy hours like investment banking.
  - akhilcacharya 9y ago
    They really aren't. I have friends at bulge bracket banks that easily worked 12 hours a day and sometimes weekends. At Amazon I was hard pressed to find anybody work more than 10 in the office on crunch weeks.
- Arcten 9y ago
  Not that it detracts from your point, but the best offers I've seen for FB new grad are 115k salary, 270k/4 RSUs, and 100k signing, giving ~280k first year.
  - akhilcacharya 9y ago
    I mentioned $225k because that's the baseline from what I understand. Rockstars can get $100k signing and more RSUs. I'm very sad I'll never get that...
ummonk 9y ago
Software big 5 have much better pay and much better work-life balance than accounting big 5.
lclarkmichalek 9y ago
Honestly, having worked for startups for three years, joining FB was a breath of fresh air. I know my level, I know what is expected of me. When I say to my manager 'I want to get promoted' he says 'ok looks like you're on course' (or not). My compensation is no longer based on how much my manager likes me, it's based on my work and how I present it. Startups were a mess of failed products, misguided work, and managers who showed no interest in managing, let alone investing in the growth of their reports. Good management is awesome.
- ryanobjc 9y ago
  Exactly this. Also you get paid real cash money. And really proper healthcare. Which is handy if you want to have kids. I often see criticisms of bigtech as overpaying... or perhaps it is everyone else who is underpaying? Quit making the argument you should be underpaid! Not to mention that at the big companies (FAANG) you get to work with some really awesome smart people. And work on hard problems that matter with products people actually use. In the best case small startups are awesome. But there are many mediocre cases out there. Crazy crazy stuff. Every small startup I’ve been part of has had huge drama. Including extortion, sociopaths, bad senior hires, funding gone weird, and sheer embezzlement/misspending.
  - pm 9y ago
    ...extortion, sociopaths, bad senior hires, funding gone weird, and sheer embezzlement/misspending. I've been contracting at a startup for a year, and seen all this happen during my tenure. We've managed to strip most of the deadwood now, but I'm unsure whether it was done in time. It'll be a pity if the company folds, because they have some quite cool tech. Everytime I see something like this, I'm glad I chose the life of a contractor.
- sgift 9y ago
  > My compensation is no longer based on how much my manager likes me, it's based on my work and how I present it. "and how I present it" sounds suspiciously like 'how much my manager likes me' (or whoever you present it to). Seems more like "same thing, different name" to me than a real difference here.
draw_down 9y ago
Yeah, well... it sucks. You do it for the money. (If you’re really lucky and you’re on one of the good teams you get to enjoy your work and the money. But most don’t get that.)
audleman 9y ago
I worked in startups for 10 years, now I'm at my first big corporate gig. I'd say that it's not as bad as it sounds, as dramatic stories tend to find their way up the HN ranking. Working for big corp you have to pay the "corporate tax", which is this sort of inhuman set of corporate rules. As a free human being it feels really weird and offputting. What's really weird is the people who have been here for their entire careers and don't see that it's weird. Somebody described it like growing up in a dysfunctional family; it feels normal to you. Anyhow, you can also keep your humanity and look at the rules as a minor annoyance that doesn't have to get you down. You can also think about it as part of getting a much larger paycheck. Some of my co-workers are ready to throw that away to work on their passion, but I quite like it.

by fyfy18 9y ago

akhilcacharya 9y ago

Because working as an SWE in bigtech can pay 2-3x as much? Including signing a FB new grad can make up to ~$225k in their first year. There aren’t many industries where this is possible with a bachelors or less.

mrep 9y ago
Also, most SWE in big tech aren't working crazy hours like investment banking.
- akhilcacharya 9y ago
  They really aren't. I have friends at bulge bracket banks that easily worked 12 hours a day and sometimes weekends. At Amazon I was hard pressed to find anybody work more than 10 in the office on crunch weeks.
Arcten 9y ago
Not that it detracts from your point, but the best offers I've seen for FB new grad are 115k salary, 270k/4 RSUs, and 100k signing, giving ~280k first year.
- akhilcacharya 9y ago
  I mentioned $225k because that's the baseline from what I understand. Rockstars can get $100k signing and more RSUs. I'm very sad I'll never get that...

ummonk 9y ago

Software big 5 have much better pay and much better work-life balance than accounting big 5.

lclarkmichalek 9y ago

Honestly, having worked for startups for three years, joining FB was a breath of fresh air. I know my level, I know what is expected of me. When I say to my manager 'I want to get promoted' he says 'ok looks like you're on course' (or not). My compensation is no longer based on how much my manager likes me, it's based on my work and how I present it. Startups were a mess of failed products, misguided work, and managers who showed no interest in managing, let alone investing in the growth of their reports. Good management is awesome.

ryanobjc 9y ago
Exactly this. Also you get paid real cash money. And really proper healthcare. Which is handy if you want to have kids. I often see criticisms of bigtech as overpaying... or perhaps it is everyone else who is underpaying? Quit making the argument you should be underpaid! Not to mention that at the big companies (FAANG) you get to work with some really awesome smart people. And work on hard problems that matter with products people actually use. In the best case small startups are awesome. But there are many mediocre cases out there. Crazy crazy stuff. Every small startup I’ve been part of has had huge drama. Including extortion, sociopaths, bad senior hires, funding gone weird, and sheer embezzlement/misspending.
- pm 9y ago
  ...extortion, sociopaths, bad senior hires, funding gone weird, and sheer embezzlement/misspending. I've been contracting at a startup for a year, and seen all this happen during my tenure. We've managed to strip most of the deadwood now, but I'm unsure whether it was done in time. It'll be a pity if the company folds, because they have some quite cool tech. Everytime I see something like this, I'm glad I chose the life of a contractor.
sgift 9y ago
> My compensation is no longer based on how much my manager likes me, it's based on my work and how I present it. "and how I present it" sounds suspiciously like 'how much my manager likes me' (or whoever you present it to). Seems more like "same thing, different name" to me than a real difference here.

draw_down 9y ago

Yeah, well... it sucks. You do it for the money. (If you’re really lucky and you’re on one of the good teams you get to enjoy your work and the money. But most don’t get that.)

audleman 9y ago

I worked in startups for 10 years, now I'm at my first big corporate gig. I'd say that it's not as bad as it sounds, as dramatic stories tend to find their way up the HN ranking. Working for big corp you have to pay the "corporate tax", which is this sort of inhuman set of corporate rules. As a free human being it feels really weird and offputting. What's really weird is the people who have been here for their entire careers and don't see that it's weird. Somebody described it like growing up in a dysfunctional family; it feels normal to you. Anyhow, you can also keep your humanity and look at the rules as a minor annoyance that doesn't have to get you down. You can also think about it as part of getting a much larger paycheck. Some of my co-workers are ready to throw that away to work on their passion, but I quite like it.