Got a low first rating after only 3.5 months
I joined meta just a few months ago and didn’t get even one entire half.
I missed the TNTE date by 3 weeks so had to go through PSC which was excruciating.
My manager said I got a borderline Below Expectation (BE) due to the Eng Excellence axis. All other axes were either exceeds or meets.
It’s mainly because while I started some projects I didn’t finish all parts of it and the impact wasn’t materialized. But he said there isn’t anything to freak out about and rather he’s not quite worried about the eng excellence axis. He said my trajectory is good and that if we had psc in August I wouldn’t get the BE. He asked to rather focus on people axis as he doesn’t see a clear path towards meeting expectations there and it has fewer opportunities.
I asked what the implications are for this soft BE guidance, he said there’s none pretty much. No financial implications or any other changes. He’ll just be focused on brining up Eng excellence conversations in 1:1s every month.
How concerned should I be about this? Should I take his words and not worry too much or is there some reading between the lines that I need to be doing? Will he be talking to HR already about me?
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Discussion
(2 comments)- 34 months agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
I don't think you're at risk for a PIP. (See this section in the course: Am I At Risk For A PIP?):
- You're still relatively new at Meta, and your manager doesn't seem concerned about it.
- Most managers will flag to the skip level if they are concerned about the performance of any reports, or any potential PIP cases. Given that your manager did not express concern, I don't think HR would be involved yet. However, there might have been some conversation about your ramp up with the director.
It sounds like the two areas of concern are Eng Excellence and People.
- Engineering Excellence: Depth and scope of technical ability (i.e. connected to the code in some way)
- People: A track record of bringing people together and making them better
For eng excellence, my recommendation would be to up your diff count. Just write more (high-quality) code. It's hard to score low on this axis if you are far above the median diff count for your team.
For people, work with your manager on what that might look like. e.g. doing more interviews, being more involved in tech discussions, or something else.
- 1
4 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroAdding on to Rahul's point about diff count, diff review count (and depth) are important too. As an E5, it is expected that diff review count will be greater than diff count, even if you are new. As an E5, you should have fundamentals that allow you to provide salient feedback on any diff, even if it's outside of your domain: https://www.jointaro.com/course/grow-from-mid-level-to-senior-senior-l4-to-l5/code-review/
Reading this through, I don't think you should worry too much. The main thing to think about is how much you trust your manager. I have seen managers frankly lie to their reports about their underperformance either to make it easier to PIP them out (malicious intent) or ignore the problem (incompetence, afraid to confront the truth). But if you and your manager have good chemistry, they have high Pulse scores, and your teammates hold them in high regard, I don't think you have any cause to worry. Just keep on following the Taro advice to do great work.
