Should I switch my job or just wait to get promoted?
I am contemplating if it is a good idea to switch my job for promotion or stay at my current team, company. My primary motivation for switch is the job location (I plan on getting married by next year and just settling in a location for long term), career growth. Here are my reasons, pros, cons:
Staying at current job:
- I have worked for a year and I am now familiar with Amazon ways of doing things. I feel a bit more confident and that I am making progress as a software professional.
- Pros:
- I can gain depth in my project (domain knowledge), technologies as for switching to a mid-level role would require both these.
- Great team, and work environment
- Cons
- The promotions in my team to a SDE-2 takes 2-2.25 yrs with the team. It's been 1 yr in Dec, I have work exp 4 years in India, and I do not wish to stay at this level that long. However, I think it will be tough to get a promotion before this timeline.
- Looking at the new year roadmap and senior team members leaving the team for another team I feel, we are becoming a mature product and there might not be too many opportunities in my current team. I believe the exposure would have been better if I was in this team a few years ago.
- 5 days RTO, I am seriously thinking about moving out of Seattle and settling somewhere in bay area. I don't think I can deal with this weather for a very long time.
- Switching teams might not be a good idea as it will reset my promotion timeline.
Switching job:
- Not sure how good the market is right now for switch and if I am being too impatient in moving to the next role. I did have some gap in career due to my masters and I might be a bit rusty but I believe if I know my direction, I can just prepare for interviews and take it from there.
TIA
![Mid-Level Software Engineer [SDE 2] at Amazon company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Famazon_logo.jpg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Dff5f2302-08be-43bc-b7b1-d381ba508d99&w=48&q=75){kind=logo}
Discussion
(4 comments)- 14 days agoEntry-Level Software Engineer [SDE 1] at Amazon
Are you trying to go from SDE1 -> SDE2? If so, then I would recommend just finishing your promotion to SDE2. Every team at Amazon has scope for SDE1 -> SDE2 promo and it's not something that is affected too much by politics. You also have already been on the team for a year so you already have the context to make a more significant contribution.
Finally, becoming an SDE2 will make it easier to switch teams internally and even switch locations if you choose.
- 13 days agoSDE-1 (L4) [OP]Amazon
Adding to the question: I am on student visa which expires in July 2025. Still waiting for my h1-b to get approved.
- 0
4 days agoI just work here @ RobinhoodSince your marriage is 1 year away, I feel that's enough for 1-2 attempts at switching jobs. Given your years of experience and your current job at Amazon, you should be able to secure mid-level interviews.
But the honest question you want to ask yourself is: do you really want to live in the Bay Area? The weather's nicer and all, but housing here is quite expensive and it's like 80% sparse suburbs. If you don't like the bay area, it's going to be a potentially expensive reversal (time and money). I'd start with having a ranked list of what you're looking for and working backwards towards what that maps to location-wise.
- 03 days agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
My initial thought is to interview around and see if you can get a compelling offer in a better location for you, with strong comp and more growth opportunity for you.
Since you've been at Amazon for 1 year, and the avg promo takes 2-2.5 years, you still have a decent amount to wait. Given that you have years of experience in India, you may be able to get a mid-level role right now.
If you can balance your day job and interviewing, that seems like the right choice since you don't jeopardize your job at all. It's just a tax on your time that you have to balance.
However, since you're on a student visa, your options are more limited, right? So if you can't easily get more interviews, I'd stay put at Amazon.
