Hired above my level and am stressed and scared
Posted by OppositeBug2126@reddit | ExperiencedDevs | View on Reddit | 175 comments
I was recently hired at FAANG for an L6 role. I didn’t know the level when I got the recruiter email or when I was applying. i only found out when I got an offer and my jaw was on the floor. before this I was mid level (technically lowest level senior at a very well known non-FAANG tech company (L5))
I feel there’s been some mistake but tbh I got laid off for non performance reasons from that role and this was basically my only offer 🫣
has this happened to anyone before? how did you manage? did you get pip’d? how can I avoid that?
thanks!
denverdave23@reddit
Study the career ladder. It's what you'll be judged on.
When you get started, you'll be assigned a mentor. Sometimes multiple mentors. Ask them what you're really judged on. There are things unstated in the career ladders.
Ask your manager how long you have to come up to speed. It should be about a year. If it's under 6 months, ask why so quick, they might have misunderstood the question.
Then, only after you know what you're actually expected to do and when, decide if you're up to the task. If you're still freaking out, DM me
samedhi@reddit
Wait, you were assigned a mentor at Google? That isn't my experience.
denverdave23@reddit
Yeah. It was common in my org (payments platform). Mine wasn't a great mentor, but still she was a good person to ask questions of.
samedhi@reddit
Damn, the more I talk to others, the more I realize how many mistakes I made while working for them. :|
Your advice about basically just focusing on the career ladder is spot on, that was one of the core things I failed to internalize at Google.
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
Currently reading the staff engineers path book - wondering how relevant it still is in the age of AI
casastorta@reddit
That book (if it is the one I think of) is truly great. But as the other commenter told you already - you need to first and foremost read career ladder or career matrix document from the company. That is what you will be judged and compared against, not some random book no matter how good the book is.
slowd@reddit
Keep a mental checklist of things on that career ladder doc, and which things you can do or spin to fit it. Let it guide which projects you’re signing up for and recognize when “hey I just did a cross org impact” and write it down on your personal brag doc. Think about the business value of the things you do. You probably have intuitive knowledge of what should or should not be a priority, but being able to articulate that in a document is the next level skill. Don’t waste your work hours, they should all be going to something that reflects well at performance review time. If there is work that isn’t going to help your goals, try to delegate it.
denverdave23@reddit
Read your company's actual career ladder and role expectations. Those will be put in a way that applies regardless of ai. "Deliver key components across multiple teams" sort of thing
disasteruss@reddit
You already got past the hardest part: getting the job. They obviously didn’t think you would be out of your depth. Just put in the work to fill in any gaps as you noticed them and you’ll be fine. They almost certainly expect a learning curve as you onboard.
Local_Recording_2654@reddit
Getting hired at L6 at meta (op is 100% meta let’s be real) is not the hardest part. Those roles are notoriously hire to fire, op is in for a world of stress followed by a nice severance package
hershey678@reddit
Is it? I’m at Meta rn and I’ve heard of hire to fire generally, but never specifically for L6.
Also OP your first half is safe, you can’t be fired.
termd@reddit
One of my friends has been E6 for a while and says it's a brutal level to be hired into. You have no influence and you can't really make anyone do anything but you're expected to immediately make an impact across teams without the tribal knowledge or relationships that build up over the years.
ddcrx@reddit
Yeah that sounds awful. How did your friend deal with the role? Any advice for OP succeed in such a role?
termd@reddit
He got hired as E5 and is a great dev. He grew into E6 and gets the director bonus thing most years.
My friend's advice to us was join as E5 because E6 sucks. It isn't like a normal company where you have some time to acclimate and grow into the job, or at least not the teams that he's on/interacts with. You need to be delivering after a few weeks and other people aren't going to help you because if you fail, they survive.
The culture sounds horrible but in good years for the stock he's around a million a year and has been around long enough that his job is relatively easy because he can get stuff done. Works for him but it sounds so toxic that my job at amazon sounds pleasant.
AngryTexasNative@reddit
This sounds like the Amazon L6 experience. I’m much happier at a FAANG adjacent company where I can make almost as much without the stress.
termd@reddit
I am an l6 at amazon, it's less bad than meta because all the l5s will want to work with you so that they can get promo feedback so you can get some things done. It's just the l6s and l7s have no real use for you. That's not to say that l6 is fun and games all the time, just seems a little less terrible than meta. At amazon we also hit people over the head with the "you're blocking our svp goal, help us or you get to be called out on the status email that goes up to doug" so even if people want to ignore you, you can often make them cooperate to some extent.
If you're making 400-500 at a stress free company, send me a job link you're ever hiring.
ddcrx@reddit
Let me guess: Netflix?
termd@reddit
My friend is at meta, I know nothing about Netflix other than standard rumors
ddcrx@reddit
Thanks for the confirmation
Whitchorence@reddit
man what, the friend is at meta and he's at amazon, where is netflix coming into it
ddcrx@reddit
Chill, my dude. He answered in a thread about meta, but he didn’t specifically say his friend was there, only that he’s an E6. And we’re talking about FAANG in general, so it’s valid to ask for clarification.
Whitchorence@reddit
I think it would be bizarre to reply to a post about Meta saying "my friend is E6" and not actually be talking about Meta.
ddcrx@reddit
Nah, what’s bizarre is having such a strong reaction to a question not even meant for you.
Unfair-Sleep-3022@reddit
Well... yes? That's what being hired as a Staff engineer means
Local_Recording_2654@reddit
You probably don’t have a lot of insight into staff level politics with 3YOE. Although it is meta, so maybe you’re L7.
hershey678@reddit
This is a lot of sass considering I respectfully pushed back a little bit and that you instantly stalked my comment history while keeping your’s anonymous.
kevin9er@reddit
I agree. He’s being rough for no reason. Also no evidence he knows anything about Meta internals.
kevin9er@reddit
When I was at Meta I did th Jedi Interviews, which means I decided on leveling for candidates. Over 300+ candidates only recommended E6 about 5 times and only 1 passed.
ParadiceSC2@reddit
How so? What's so difficult about it?
kevin9er@reddit
That was 8 years ago. It’s possible there’s grade inflation since then if asking why E6 is so selective isn’t clear to you. It used to basically never happen.
Careful_Ad_9077@reddit
Yup , as long as op did not lie during the process, this is also on the company for not assessing the level correctly ( one company I worked for, would err on the lower level side, but put you on fast track, as managers we would notify the person about that).
B-Con@reddit
Pragmatically, it doesn't matter who's fault it is. If OP comes up short, they're the one who will suffer.
Agree with the skip parent. Just throw yourself into it, learn, and fake it till you make it.
Whitchorence@reddit
That's true but usually FAANG downlevels pretty aggressively.
Klutzy_Insurance_295@reddit
i had something like this when i jumped from startup to big tech. imposter syndrome was real
Unlucky-Space8089@reddit
mid-level to l6 is a pretty big jump
hishikyo@reddit
If they hire you, they think you can do it. If you didn't lie, you'll be fine. I personally know how the impostor syndrome feels. That probably will not get out so easily, but you can made it pal. Cheers.
MountaintopCoder@reddit
I got an E5 offer with about 2.5 YoE at a non-tech company. I was incredibly anxious about it for the first few months, especially because the E4s on my team have more time at Meta than I have as a SWE. For reference I've been here for about 11 months.
I didn't feel truly confident as an E5 until about a month ago. There was a lot of uncertainty with my project and a lot of chaos with this AI transition. I was able to navigate both, and I felt like it was pretty easy.
When I onboarded, they reminded us that everyone who got an offer is supposed to be here. You can even logic your way there if you think about the hiring process. In order to actually get to where you are, you needed to:
There were probably 10+ people in the company who all had to agree that you would be a good fit for this role. I'm an interviewer, and it will negatively impact my career if I mistakenly give good feedback for a bad candidate. It will negatively impact the careers of the senior leaders if they mistakenly choose to hire you at the L6 level. It could actually end your hiring manager's career if he hires a lead engineer who can't do the job.
All that to say they probably didn't make the wrong choice. Even if they did make a mistake, pocket as much of that $600k+ compensation that you're getting and enjoy the good life while you can.
Your manager is your best friend, because their career depends on your performance. They are there to help you. Find a couple of L6 and L7 mentors who have been around for a while.
Legitimate-School-59@reddit
How do you feel about the new Spyware on the laptops?
MountaintopCoder@reddit
The optimistic side of me hopes they use it to build automations around testing and dogfooding. Like upload a PR and then a video from an actual browser session is attached. Or if a dogfooding document had similar videos attached.
The cynical side of me thinks that it may be used to classify our behavior that will be used as another proxy metric for productivity. I'm not terribly concerned about that, because impact is everything.
Complex-Magazine6690@reddit
You know what you need to do. Don't worry about getting PIP'd. If you did your best and still get PIP'd, then you just roll with the punches and start looking for the next thing. You really have no other option - it's either turn down the offer now and find something else, or accept it and try to adapt to this role and you either succeed (yay) or you starting finding something else.
WildWinkWeb@reddit
THEY offered YOU the job. Unless you’re a fucking narcisist, having some imposter syndrome is comletely normal.
lawnobsessed@reddit
This feels like a setup, watch your back.
Minute_Grocery_100@reddit
Wing it. No one knows. Everyone is just going with it, as it comes.
aedile@reddit
To the people who systematically went through and down voted me message received. Yall have fun. Ill stick to other subs. Way to make someone new to the sub feel welcome!
RTiKh@reddit
Congrats on scoring that offer! I suggest you figure out what was the reason for underperforming in your previous position and try not to do the same thing now. If you got this far, something must be right.
How did you prepare? Is it still leetcode heavy? I‘ve heard they try to include AI coding into the interviews.
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
I think first thing is reading comprehension - wasn’t let go for performance reasons. Everyone on my team got yeeted basically in a massive layoff.
I interviewed at a few FAANGs and the one I got an offer from did not have an AI assisted coding round. And the question was kinda traditional DSA with a twist
RTiKh@reddit
ohhh. *facepalm*
right, so it shouldn't be that surprising that you got the job. keep at it!
nomiinomii@reddit
AI exists as ane equalizer.
Use that to improve your output up to L6 level
jasmine_tea_@reddit
This, OP. Use AI to help you. Just do your best.
PlasmaFarmer@reddit
Fake it till you make it! (A.k.a learn it on the job)
TonyAtReddit1@reddit
I cringe everytime I hear "FAANG" or "non-FAANG" or "FAANG+" like this is any helpful distinction around the quality of a company's engineers or really any sane way of grouping/categorizing companies.
illustrious_feijoa@reddit
It is a helpful distinction for understanding leveling, which is specifically related to OP's question. OP never implied that FAANG has anything to do with engineering quality.
TonyAtReddit1@reddit
It's not a helpful distinction for leveling because these companies dont use the same leveling system
illustrious_feijoa@reddit
L6 scope (OP's level) is pretty similar for at least 4/5 FAANG companies (can't speak for Apple--I don't know any senior+ engineers there).
Fair_Local_588@reddit
Relates to pay not necessarily skill
TonyAtReddit1@reddit
It's equally useless for pay because none of these companies use the same pay scale
Fair_Local_588@reddit
Why would you expect separate companies use the same pay scale? They just pay better than most low-mid level companies. It’s an old acronym anyways.
TonyAtReddit1@reddit
Why would YOU expect them to use the same pay scale. YOU'RE using it as a group.
My whole point is its a meaningless acronym used by bad engineers because these companies have nothing in common
Lmfao
No shit. It doesn't even reflect the actual names of the companies anymore. Given one is now "meta". So stop using this brain dead acronym
Fair_Local_588@reddit
Dude it is not that serious. Whatever aggression you have, figure it out on your own
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
Only mentioning it because people will be familiar with expectations - from my experience with friends at these companies it’s very process driven and call super calibrated for promo and hiring etc
Anyway - maybe I will regret not taking the startup role. I loved the people but the pay was a pay cut from last role and this felt like such an opportunity to make an impact. But now I’m scared I messed up and made wrong call
dipstickchojin@reddit
Word. It's just another company, end of the day
Empty_Honey5322@reddit
Put extra effort and gain the skills for that level All the best
dual__88@reddit
Depends on the gap between his skill and his required skill, it may not be something he can grind in a month or two.
Empty_Honey5322@reddit
Learning curve has drastically reduced these days. If she is not hired on DEI quota, she can do it .
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
I think that goes without saying haha. I’m already studying the area the team works in for the next month before I start
odumann@reddit
Keep applying OP and jump ship if you feel the signs
Iggyhopper@reddit
I'm also seconding this.
You got two outcomes:
First option is you excel at this role. Congratulations!
Second outcome is you are definitely falling further and further behind as time goes on. Make work friends and learn as much as you can in this time. You might make it long enough where you can put it on your resume and explain it away as "work culture differences".
Some managers would rather have somebody willing to learn than hire a deadbeat just wanting to cruise. You may luck out in this area.
Best,
elkazz@reddit
Third option is that you sit in the middle of the bell curve and do fine.
BigLaddyDongLegs@reddit
Usually under performance is a sign of a problem with managemant or company structure or culture. 99% of people out there want to do well. The only reason they won't is if managers have no time to help them in areas they struggle with, or the company/team is just a disorganised mess.
FAANG companies should have most of that shit figured out. Just leave your ego at them door and be a sponge. You'll be fine..
tcpWalker@reddit
L6 also means cross-team. Read the staff engineer's path and think about small ways you build your relationships at work and communicate well across teams. Think about the best versions of that you've seen and think how you can take lessons from it. You're not an imposter but you did interview well, so think about what you learned from interviewing and how to apply it.
When in doubt, think about what would an adult do and do that. This tends to work for almost any situation no matter how old you are.
GuyWithLag@reddit
This! L6 is not just IC work - you're expected to at minimum mentor, preferably lead some discussions right off the bat.
Truer words have not been spoken.
birchskin@reddit
Fake it until you make it is real my friend, just portray confidence while not being afraid to not answer things right away so you have time to research. Master the art of, "good question, I'll have to get back you on that, just want to make sure I'm taking everything into account". You passed the interview so you're probably in the right place.
And congrats, hopefully that was also a big jump in pay for you!
PaulTR88@reddit
I'm envious. Politics make promo such a pain in the ass. I'm 7 years at Google and still L5 with my last promo saying I should do more stuff that isn't a part of my area (e.g. they want vibe coding for robots, which isn't really a thing). Definitely use the extra level to your advantage.
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
As someone who understands the bar at the company - how can I not get PIP’d in 6 months? I’m burnt out from interviewing and don’t want to do it again
throwaway_0x90@reddit
Unless you physically dropkick somebody you're not getting PIP'ed in 6 months. But it could happen after 12 months.
LookAtThisFnGuy@reddit
💯
Darkseid_Omega@reddit
The biggest thing at that level, especially at FAANG, is just optics and being able to justify your pay check. Learn to love numbers and document your impact on the things you work on and the projects you influence.
It’s probably more work than you wanted on your plate, but that’s what the money is for. Good luck.
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
Crazy 🙈 I def feel like it’s more than I wanted. I was gonna be thrilled with L4.
Charming-Kiwi-8506@reddit
I did many years in FAANG, it’s mainly optics. Be seen, be heard and stay close to your manager.
benjackal@reddit
Documenting your work and influence on projects in a brag doc is stellar advice 👌
adfrog@reddit
Get the promo doc for your company, turn the L6 bar into a checklist, and start checking boxes. Expect to work 60+ hours a week and beware of burnout.
potatolicious@reddit
Short of doing something egregiously wrong you're not going to get PIP'ed in 6 months. You're likely not going to have to actually get evaluated until the next full perf cycle, which gives you some time.
That said, the "L6" leveling suggests you're at Google, or maybe Meta (though they would call it E6). A few things to consider:
If Google, they have quite a good mentorship program. Find a good L7+ mentor and be honest about your worries and get their advice on how to succeed. This person is not in your org, will not be evaluating you, and though the quality of their advice may vary they're at least not in a position where their interests are in conflict with yours. This is much less the case at Meta, which does have a mentorship program but because of how they do PSC (and the utter decimation of the workforce they've gone through) the quality of mentorship is much less even.
Get a feel for your boss and whether or not you can have a more transparent relationship with them. If they're trustworthy, be open about your concerns. They've already hired you, and they are incentivized to help you succeed. In any case, regularly check in with them (like, every 2-3 1:1s) on where they see you progressing and what's going well and where you can improve.
A lot of your long-term success depends on the quality of management (you don't have a lot of control over that) and mentorship (you have more control over this).
And if you're not at Google but are instead at Meta... good luck. Your first 6 months are safe but nothing about that place is stable and probably won't be in the foreseeable future.
oVtcovOgwUP0j5sMQx2F@reddit
it's hard to get on pip in the first year, unless it's really, really mismatched.
keep open communication with your manager on performance and expectations. as long as you're putting in and showing very active interest in growth, you can make it to your first vest with at least an LE rating.
very, very rarely you can connect with hr and then your manager on a miscalibrated hiring loop, but don't count on that.
Life-Principle-3771@reddit
Not true the first year is the easiest to get the pip at higher levels. They want to determine if you were mislabeled very quickly, there won't be a grace period.
Iz4e@reddit
Nowadays I don’t think that’s true anymore
oVtcovOgwUP0j5sMQx2F@reddit
yeah tbf was wondering, left faang a few years ago
badgtastic@reddit
I’m a eng at a FAANG company, and I onboard L6s and L7s.
You won’t get PIPed in 6 months as long as you try, communicate with your manager, and have reasonable L5 level technical skills. Just focus on the work, and you’ll be fine.
activematrix99@reddit
Quit and work somewhere else, easiest way to get levelled up.
PaulTR88@reddit
Yeah I'm using their AI resources right now to update my resume. If anyone knows any roles for developer relations in robotics, hit me up. I currently run Google DeepMind's program.
Whole-West-3815@reddit
Today I saw a post on linkedin for google London where a guy moved from L3 to L6 in less than 4 years and I was like is it really possible 😳
yubario@reddit
Yes. Some people are really are that good at being engineers and get promotions easily. It's very rare, but not unheard of.
ziksy9@reddit
I was at Google for 10 years. L5. All I ever got was excuses when it was promo cycle. It was always something. My manager quit because of it.
high_throughput@reddit
Living this right now lmao. I started wearing long sleeved shirts and talking about business impact and building relationships. I'm hoping I can fake it for at least a year
Legitimate-School-59@reddit
What's with the long sleeve shirts? Is there a joke I'm unaware of?
high_throughput@reddit
Just dressing business casual instead of the swag T-shirts and corp merch worn by hobos and FAANG engineers
nonFungibleHuman@reddit
This is a good strategy, not joking.
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
Gonna start wearing long sleeves too 😭
CircusTentMaker@reddit
Some years back I was L6 (Senior SDE) at Amazon before changing companies, where I was upleveled to L6 (unofficially referred to as Staff SWE) at a mid-large company who changed its leveling system not too long before I joined, so basically no one, not me, the recruiter, or even the HM, really understood the expectations for that role. I came in and was treated like what in my mind was an L7 or L8. I just did what I was capable of and probably wasn't meeting the manager's expectations but whatever. I did end up bouncing out before the first year was up since the team's responsibilities were very different from what the HM sold me during team matching (and it had a brutal OnCall rotation every 3 god damn weeks). Moved over to Google as L6 after and that was way more appropriate for my experience.
Mundane-Charge-1900@reddit
Read this book https://staffeng.com/book/
You need to go into this job with the right mindset or you’ll fail out quickly.
iliketurtles69_boner@reddit
Worst that happens is you get laid off and a decent payout. Honestly you’re over the hardest part now though, I wouldn’t worry. Just accept that you might have a bit of adjusting to do but that’ll all be at the start when you’ll get given more room to make mistakes.
lifeinprod@reddit
Plan to invest time figuring out how decisions are made, the job and personality of the other L6s, and what kind of work your manager expects you to do. Not to "play politics" but to understand what your job for the next year+ is.
Some L6s are expected to run teams, others drive an initiative as a super-IC with another manager or team TL delegating work. You probably have to drive an initiative but is there a Product Manager involved? If not you're clarifying all the requirements (you should be questioning/clarifying many requirements and constraints anyway). If there's no program manager who's doing that: you, the product manager, or an eng manager?
Also, I'm an L6 manager at a FAANG and our internal LLMs have recently become incredible at answering questions about internal tools, code, architecture, and processes. We don't go straight from vibe code to production but you can quickly get examples coded up, have the LLM sanity check your own replies to code reviews and design docs, etc, with company and org-specific questions.
I've been at the company for 10+ years but every day I ask LLMs "naive" questions that I previously wouldn't be willing to interrupt others for. It's not just out of embarrassment to ask a human, because having a good answer and saying I used tools to research it gives credibility, as we're all constantly being urged to keep up with the tools and use them.
reboog711@reddit
Take the job! Fake it until you make it!
dc0899@reddit
don't be scared. try. opportunity always feels like a mistake.
apoleonastool@reddit
This is perfect. Every job hop that I did, I could do the work without any problems. There was never anything challenging about the new role. The salary was higher, the responsibility might be too, but no challenge. You are in a perfect spot. Learn, study, prepare and everything will be fine. It's an opportunity not many get. Good luck!
MisterHyman@reddit
One day at a time plus AI
AaronBonBarron@reddit
If they hired you for that level, they're satisfied you're competent to be at that level even if you don't believe it yourself.
JustPlainRude@reddit
Don't worry about the level. Talk to your new boss about what they expect from you and go from there.
W3dn3sd4y@reddit
FAANG L6 here (Google).
You didn’t get lucky. The interview process is pretty rigorous. You can get lucky in one round of interviews but not four. You earned this, even if you don’t think you did.
Lean into the leadership aspects of the job. Use your “ramp-up honeymoon” to learn the various aspects of what make your new role different from your old ones, and focus on those things.
You can do this!
throwaway_0x90@reddit
Hmm, FAANGs are usually very clear about what you're interviewing for.
Right off the bat on your first contact with an intervewer on-site it should have began with:
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
No they didn’t do that. They said something like “so you know you’re hear for XYZ round?”
None of my FAANG and non FAANG interviews mentioned level during the interview itself
throwaway_0x90@reddit
very interesting 😮
yipeedodaday@reddit
Nobody has all the skills for the next level at the start. Not everyone makes the next level. You have been hired by someone who believes you’re ready for the level. Your job is to prove them right. Rinse and repeat for the rest of your career.
AspieCurmudgeon@reddit
The key difference as you work at higher levels is that no one will tell you what to do, and if you dont figure out how to do something valuable, convince people to do it, and then prove it was valuable, then... expect to be PIPed.
What does it take to succeed?
The euphemism is "managing up".
The reality is relentless, machiavellian, never ending self promotion at the limits of what your personal ethics and personality can tolerate.
Specifically get in writing what exactly the expectations of the role are, and anything else, no matter how actually valuable, you have to cut out in favor of things that can go in your brag list.
If you are part of a team where you have actual authority to manage, thats great, keep the team productive and you're halfway there.
If you're an "architect" or something nebulous where you are supposed to somehow set technical direction while no one is actually requireed to listen to you, then, well.... good luck.
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
Yeah … finding something valuable is hard. You have to convince other people juice is worth the squeeze.
ambitechstrous@reddit
You’re complaining about being in a position most people wish they could be in. If you managed to score L6 in this economy, I’m sure you deserved it.
What makes you so worried? What’s your YOE?
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
I’m incredibly truly grateful. I think it goes without saying. I’m not trying to spark envy in people at all. If anything I may be the prime example of how broken hiring is. Other companies with lower bars and leveling didn’t want me - wish I knew why.
I have like 6 YOE - 3 at startup, 3 at medium tech company (think like Stripe or Databricks)
Yourdataisunclean@reddit
Give it a shot and see how you do. Personally I would see this as my opportunity to make it work by upskilling as much as needed. Even if they end up dumping you'll have all those new skills and knowledge and no one reasonable will blink if you tell them you got laid off from big tech.
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
I am gonna try my hardest definitely 🫡 I feel so lucky and grateful for the opportunity and want to give this my all, but at the same time some skills take time to develop and I am scared lol
LaundryOnMyAbs@reddit
Depends on the fanng, if it’s meta, I give you 8 months
i_am_exception@reddit
How do you accidentally get an L6 at a FAANG? lol. Regardless, It's their decision and if they are trusting in you to do the job, they must've saw something. Just quickly work to gain said skills. Even if you end up getting laid off, there are ways to gracefully move on. Not every job is built for everyone. Don't stress it.
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
Well no one told me the level. Then the interviews I got lucky. I applied to lower level places I would have been more than happy at and they rejected me. Just goes to show hiring is broken 😞
thisismyfavoritename@reddit
you can't get lucky for 5 rounds of interviews of different types. Maybe you can get lucky for one round or two, not five
i_am_exception@reddit
I won't say so. Yeah, it could be broken. However, >5 people got together and justified their decision to hire you as an L6. I think you have what it takes to do the job. Was luck involved? 100%. Are you not up for the challenge? don't think so. Just give it your best shot. Best of luck.
Delicious_Bell9758@reddit
Damn are you me? Also in nyc and am exactly in the same boat word for word
bryrb@reddit
I know someone who was L6 who asked to go down to L5, it can happen but you really need leadership to like you. He kept the same salary too. People-Ops were like let's fire this person and the Director intervened and said no. This is highly team dependent though, I would keep trying to work at L6 and if they PIP you that L6 role should carry you into a better more suitable role next time.
Early_Rooster7579@reddit
no one knows what theyre doing
Vamosity-Cosmic@reddit
Lock in
ninetofivedev@reddit
I'm just going to call it out. OP is larping.
Nobody gets hired above their level into L6 accidentally. It's unheard of.
it_happened_lol@reddit
I spent 6 months grinding to get placed into a job where I make 300k - 500k. Oopsie doopsie what do I do now!?
vanfourello@reddit
haha nice flex, congrats! dont be stressed too much, in faang like companies it is always possible to have mentor/coach, also have 1:1 with manager and your skip on the expectations. setup short and long term goals with them and you are good. only work that and dont overthink, i believe in you!
Straight-Present328@reddit
i had a similar jump and felt overwhelmed too. focus on learning fast, it helps
avbrodie@reddit
“Hello waiter my steak is too juicy and my lobster too buttery”
Annual_Negotiation44@reddit
I thought the labor market was terrible and no one was hiring
Colt2205@reddit
First, congratulations considering we're in a pretty bad economic state!
Second, good luck and grow fast. Necessity of picking up the skills needed is better than passively attempting to gain them by osmosis, which usually doesn't work.
CW-Eight@reddit
You lucked out. Rise to the occasion. Triple down, make them happy they hired you.
SansSariph@reddit
Leadership and communication skills, especially cross-discipline and understanding how to understand what individuals in different levels and organizations are looking for in communication. Tailoring for your audience. Managing up, influence without authority, network building to figure out how to get things done in domains you don't have control over.
Self-awareness, empathy, emotional intelligence, understanding how you think and what strengths that offers and where it gets in your way - and applying that perspective to others. Systems thinking.
Intentionally work on these.
Basically everything people groan at and call "soft skills" are really just "how to work effectively with other humans, regulate your emotions, be aware of your blind spots, exercise your best judgment, and lead a diverse team towards common goals" skills and they're all critically important as you get more scope and influence. And they take practice! And they all actually help you write software better, too.
DollarsInCents@reddit
Have an exit strategy in case you are truly in over your head.
This happened to me and I actually tried to object to it before accepting the offer but they talked me into it. I survived 4 yrs with good reviews until they started tightening the belt company wide then suddenly they started penalizing me for being in the same role too long.
apartment-seeker@reddit
no, you are literally the only person to whom this has ever happened
m1nkeh@reddit
Maaaate, fake it till you make it!!
Congrats.
adhd6345@reddit
… how do you stumble into staff faang without staff skills?
dizekat@reddit
You ain't gonna get PIPd. I worked with all sorts of completely non self aware zero impostor syndrome impostors, they never got PIPd.
failsafe-author@reddit
I got hired “above my level” (principle engineer) at my current job. I thought it was, anyway, but my manager believed in me, and it turns out, I did the work well and have been widely/publicly recognized for my good work.
Just do the work- you might surprise yourself.
Appropriate_Coat2772@reddit
maybe find a mentor in your team
src_varukinn@reddit
Congrats, now stay focused and fake it till you make it! Remember to use a tools at your disposal, for a principal they expect you to reason your solution.
GlobalCurry@reddit
Make sure you watch for signs of burn out and address them early.
eufemiapiccio77@reddit
Imagine thinking like this. Work harder I guess.
PlanOdd3177@reddit
Agreed. Loser mentality
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
Like what? Like I know my level and got lucky during interviews ? It happens.
creaturefeature16@reddit
Think of it this way: the fact you were able to make it through the interviews demonstrates you already are a better fit than the rest of the candidates. Lean into it and enjoy the compliment.
wotamRobin@reddit
Above senior, the most important skills are all communication. Find all the people that care about what your team does, learn what they want and how their goals relate to each other, and then try to make them happy. Failing that, try to make the most influential of them happy.
Being humble and publicly appreciating everyone, especially those underneath you, is a sure fire way to get off on the right foot.
StriderKeni@reddit
Could this be some kind of impostor syndrome?
I mean, if you passed the interview for the role, and they hired you without mentioning anything about a performance improvement plan or similar. Then go for it. You earned.
Ok-Cut-3699@reddit
you got this!
bbaallrufjaorb@reddit
fake it til you make it. me an a lot of my colleagues have been in this situation. embrace it and push hard! you’ll make it. interview is arguably the hardest part so you’ve already got great momentum
arsenal11385@reddit
Tie everything directly to the job description. Talk to your manager about what goals to set to ensure you’re on the same page. When expectations are aligned between you and them, it’ll be clear if you can reach those goals or will need to prepare to be laid off.
AndyKJMehta@reddit
Can you tell us more about your interview and experience at this FAANG?
AndyKJMehta@reddit
You have AI at your fingertips. Fake it or Make it just became much more easier towards make it. You already passed the interview hurdle. Don’t stop now!
Effective_Ad_2797@reddit
You may have been hired to be fired, this is a common practice at many tech companies that use stack based ranking to perf eval their employees and then fire the bottom performers.
To protect the core team and top performers, the HM has to hire people to then fire them.
Granted you could avoid it with stellar performance or at least make it more difficult.
This practice is the way at rainforest company.
zicher@reddit
Check out this book: https://www.amazon.com/First-90-Days-Strategies-Expanded/dp/1422188612
xonxoff@reddit
They must have thought enough of you to hire you, I guess, do your job? No need to stress now, wait until you get your feet there and see where it takes you.
Unlucky-Space8089@reddit
take a deep breath, focus on learning the ropes first
Warm-Teaching470@reddit
i had a similar situation, felt overwhelming at first but got the hang of it
IranianAlan@reddit
Wow, FAANG really has people hook, line, and sinker. There are plenty of technical roles outside the obvious prestige brands paying extremely well, often in sectors most people barely look at: life sciences, biotech, bioresearch, regulated data platforms, scientific infrastructure, and specialist industrial software.
A lot of engineers are still chasing the logo while ignoring companies with harder problems, better leverage, and compensation that can be multiples higher working on way cooler problems than how to just fuck with people on Social Media apps and bill more for Cloud. She's still not going to sleep with you btw
hacknrk@reddit
bro calm down. they asked for onboarding advice not tech industry critique
tmclaugh@reddit
You may actually be better than what your last job thought you were.
My performance decreases in lower performing orgs and increases in higher performing orgs. One place I worked I had to spend two or three days paired with somebody and finish with a demo to a PM for work than in a previous higher performing org I would have casually done on a Friday while looking for some low hanging bugs to crush. I was starting to be managed out when I left. In current role, due to corporate restructuring and a brand new leadership team my role has taken a dramatic leap backwards in expectations. My work is starting to suffer as a result.
If you make it only one year then use what you learned and don’t worry because a lot of people will only make it a year and you didn’t even expect to be there. If you make it two years then readjust your expectations for next job higher than you might of. Same with every year after that.
ButchDeanCA@reddit
Sounds like some imposter syndrome hitting hard there. You can do it.
burned05@reddit
Fake it til you make it baby! But for real, as long as you’re good at learning, you’ll be able to pick up most jobs that require a similar skill set in a rather short amount of time. And most jobs give you that amount of time anyways.
CombinationNearby308@reddit
How was your system design and coding rounds?
If this is Amazon, they hire for Leadership Principles with the expectation that they can pip you if you don't fit there. Certainly you have some quality that they desire.
FAANG can be overwhelming, but don't let that affect your confidence. Don't try to prove anything to anyone. Observe and absorb. Spend most of your time figuring out who matters most and what exactly they want. Talk a lot to people in your role and find similar ones like you.
OppositeBug2126@reddit (OP)
I will say it’s not Amazon
System design and coding both felt very smooth as the questions I was asked are systems I have helped build before. Coding got incredibly lucky - it was a simple graph problem
CombinationNearby308@reddit
Then I'll say you are selling yourself short. Luck might be a factor, but convincing multiple people only shows you know what you were talking about.
Freak out a little, but enjoy the pay bump and have fun learning.
UpstairsRegion@reddit
The imposter syndrome is real. I'm starting a new role soon going from mid to staff and I'm nervous too.
They obviously liked you in the interview, and they should know how to judge competency in the interview within FAANG.
They want you to succeed. As much as you don't want to go job hunting again, they also don't want to go through hiring again.
I think I generally agree with the advice here, ask your lead and mentor what you should be focusing on.
I think the biggest thing that staff level has is scope of impact and scope of decisions. Deciding what to do, and organizing across multiple teams. You probably have a good sense of how to make these calls already, just never had to prove it to yourself that you did.
DrSlugger@reddit
You've got impostor syndrome brotha. Just work and it'll be fine.
Lasthuman@reddit
Youre going to have to get caught up to speed asap. expect to feel like you’re drinking from a fire house. Also expect to essentially be a TL for the team. The interview was not the hardest part, but just work hard and survive the first year
PseudoCalamari@reddit
"Fuck it we ball"
You can do it, this is your chance to advance at an accelerated rate.
stigansky@reddit
If you’re hired as an L6 at Amazon, buckle up and get ready for the grind.
almarcTheSun@reddit
You'll learn, it's fine. If you're already an experience engineer, learning that little bit more should be a non-issue before they even notice you're underperforming.
You got the job, that's what matters. Whether it's a mistake or not is their problem, you're here for the money.