Trying to get a promotion? (Leave or stay for potential promotion?)
I’ve recently been applying to various jobs, just in case of an unexpected layoff (golden parachute). Lately, I’ve been motivated to upskill as a developer. I’ve now reached the two-year mark at my company. After the reorg, I have a new manager, team, and director, and I really like this team. My performance over the past six months has been better than it was with my old team. Recently, Google reached out to me for an interview, but I haven’t really studied data structures and algorithms (DSA) due to work. My performance hasn’t been great, and now I also have a phone interview with Meta.
On the plus side, my company's stock has surged, and we’ve received bonuses, raises, and promotions. In my last 1-on-1 meeting with my manager, he told me I should be more independent and that my performance is great (hinting at a promotion)—fingers crossed. My family and friends are encouraging me to interview with both Meta and Google, but I don’t really want to leave my current company.
![Entry-Level Software Engineer [L3] at Google company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fgoogle.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D780356ef-3efc-4728-9eb4-d909b75bb4a6&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
![Entry-Level Software Engineer [L3] at Google company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fgoogle_logo.png%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Dded981a0-71c9-42a4-a03e-a2299a0a11b8&w=48&q=75){kind=logo}
Discussion
(3 comments)- 13 months agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
Is this your first job after graduation? Early in career, job hopping makes sense:
- You can broaden your network, which will be valuable later
- You force yourself to learn a different tech stack and systems, which will give you valuable perspective as you become more senior
- You can almost always get a pay bump (and perhaps even a promo)
The other dimension is how credible/well-known your current company is. If you're already in a tier 1 tech co, there's less value. If you're in a slower-moving, older company, I think you should absolutely explore externally. Especially in your case since you've been at your current company for 2 years.
Finally, consider the time cost of interviewing. It sounds like you're already getting inbound interest from Meta + Google, so the main time investment on your end will be around interview prep. Given this, it makes sense to do the interview.
There's a similar question with different context that Alex and I replied to here: Should I actively look for jobs or focus on promotion?
- 13 months agoEntry-Level Software Engineer [OP]Taro Community
Thank you for your time to response, older company trying regain there glory days to get back to the tier 1 tech company. So growth is expecting to increase by 2026 and this is public information. It's 3rd biggest software company. Will click this link you: Should I actively look for jobs or focus on promotion?!
- 1
3 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroLooks like things are going great for you, congratulations! A lot of companies are being super stingy right now when it comes to bonuses, raises, and promotions, even with surging stock price, so I'm glad those gains are being distributed to you and other employees. Meta/Google interviews certainly don't hurt either 😉
Honestly, I think you can try to have it all. Continue doing what you're doing to lock in that promotion - I recommend taking the productivity course to get more from your time and following the advice in the promotion course about disambiguating the delta. Promotions are generally valuable (especially at big publicly traded tech companies) as they add buffer to prevent you from being downleveled too much (which Google in particular is notorious for). On top of that, carve out some time on the side to tackle the Meta/Google interviews.
I'm working on the DSA course literally right now, but in the meantime, I recommend these:
