Hi everyone, I’m currently interning at a top-tier company (think small size, FAANG-level in terms of engineering prestige) and fortunate to have offers from multiple top companies. I’m trying to decide between two software engineering roles: Meta (Menlo Park) and Tesla (Autopilot team, Palo Alto). Just to clarify, this is a software engineering position on the Tesla Autopilot team, not a machine learning or research role. Meta Tons of publicly available data points. Top-of-market pay. Opportunity to work with some of the smartest engineers around. Fast promotions and clear growth opportunities. Amazing perks: free food, fancy office spaces. Overall, a safe and reliable choice where I know what to expect. Tesla Autopilot This is where I’m a bit confused. There isn’t much information available online about Tesla’s engineering roles, likely because their teams are smaller. Surprisingly, their New Grad compensation is an outlier, double that of Meta, which already pays very well. However, I have no idea how compensation at Tesla evolves over time (e.g., after promotions) compared to Meta. My Dilemma With Meta, I feel confident about what I’m getting into, as there’s a wealth of information online. I can reasonably predict my total compensation (TC) over the next 1, 2, or 5 years. On the other hand, Tesla’s Autopilot team is appealing, especially with the high starting pay, but I’m uncertain about their pay scale for higher-level roles or how career progression looks at Tesla. The perks at Meta like free food, a fancy office, and great benefits are definitely tempting, but Tesla’s compensation makes it hard to ignore. Does anyone have insights into Tesla’s Autopilot team or their long-term compensation structure for software engineers? Any advice or data points would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Wow, I was not aware SWE roles at Tesla could pay so much 🤩 First thing you should do is double check there are no shenanigans with the offer: Are the responsibilities accurate?** Make sure they don't have crazy expectations of you, and confirm what level you're coming in at. What is the cost basis for their equity package?** Meta's RSU grant is easy to understand, but I'm not sure about Tesla. Some companies do this trick where they say If Tesla triples in value, then here's how much the equity is worth Is there a massive signing bonus?** This is not a shenanigan, but still something to keep in mind. If the pay is double, I'd honestly have a hard time turning that down, especially since Tesla is an equally recognizable name as Meta. Since this is your first job, you can always leave after a year or two. Another consideration would be around who else you know going to each company. Your peer group will matter a lot for your network and future jobs.

Meta or Tesla Autopilot (SWE - New Grad)

Software Engineering Intern at Taro Communitya month ago

Tesla Autopilot

This is where I’m a bit confused. There isn’t much information available online about Tesla’s engineering roles, likely because their teams are smaller.
Surprisingly, their New Grad compensation is an outlier, double that of Meta, which already pays very well.
However, I have no idea how compensation at Tesla evolves over time (e.g., after promotions) compared to Meta.

My Dilemma

With Meta, I feel confident about what I’m getting into, as there’s a wealth of information online. I can reasonably predict my total compensation (TC) over the next 1, 2, or 5 years. On the other hand, Tesla’s Autopilot team is appealing, especially with the high starting pay, but I’m uncertain about their pay scale for higher-level roles or how career progression looks at Tesla.

The perks at Meta like free food, a fancy office, and great benefits are definitely tempting, but Tesla’s compensation makes it hard to ignore.

Does anyone have insights into Tesla’s Autopilot team or their long-term compensation structure for software engineers? Any advice or data points would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

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55 Comments

Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns 3 of top 4 social networks in the world: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. More than 3.5 billion people use at least one of the company's core products every month.

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Discussion

(5 comments)

2
Rahul Pandey
•Tech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
a month ago
Wow, I was not aware SWE roles at Tesla could pay so much 🤩 First thing you should do is double check there are no shenanigans with the offer:

Are the responsibilities accurate? Make sure they don't have crazy expectations of you, and confirm what level you're coming in at.

What is the cost basis for their equity package? Meta's RSU grant is easy to understand, but I'm not sure about Tesla. Some companies do this trick where they say "If Tesla triples in value, then here's how much the equity is worth"

Is there a massive signing bonus? This is not a shenanigan, but still something to keep in mind.

If the pay is double, I'd honestly have a hard time turning that down, especially since Tesla is an equally recognizable name as Meta. Since this is your first job, you can always leave after a year or two.

Another consideration would be around who else you know going to each company. Your peer group will matter a lot for your network and future jobs.
- 0
  Thoughtful Tarodactyl
  •Taro Community
  a month ago
  I have heard anecdotes of similar TC for the autopilot team so im not totally surprised
- 0
  Thoughtful Tarodactyl
  •Taro Community
  a month ago
  Here is a blind thread about the same: https://www.teamblind.com/post/Tesla-Autopilot-ExperienceWLB-zJopapYj
0
Alex Chiou
•Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
a month ago
Wait, Meta E3 pays around $200k. This means that your Tesla autopilot offer is around $400k TC?!? That's insane.

Honestly, this is hard. When it comes to culture, Meta is a far superior company:

No extreme Elon burnout/whip-cracking culture

World class promotion culture (arguably the best in Silicon Valley)

Isn't stingy with perks (the food is incredible given that it's "free")

Won't try to violate WARN act and deny severance if you're laid off

Better engineering infrastructure overall (Tesla autopilot is kind of a mess IMHO and has killed several people)

An extra $200k is a lot of money though, and as a new grad in particular who probably has low living costs (I'm going to assume you're not married with kids), you can take the excess money and invest it, leveraging the power of compounding.

If you liked the hiring manager at Tesla, I'm actually learning towards Tesla. A $200k gap is just too big to pass up.

Also, make sure to negotiate the Meta offer up. Maybe you can tack on an extra $50k or some massive one-time signing bonus (maybe both?). I think if the gap was down to $100k, Meta seems better. Tesla's stock seems overvalued given the election boost while Meta has a pretty reasonable P/E for a high-growth tech company.
- 1
  Thoughtful Tarodactyl
  •Taro Community
  a month ago
  Another pro of tesla would be that you'll be working with really really smart engineers. I know meta already hires top 1%, but if tesla is offering 2x TC then I would assume that team is top 0.1%
  
  Finally another point of consideration is that the work at tesla is likely low level C++ stuff which might niche you into that work (tho OP would have no issues getting offers elsewhere im sure) compared to something like java development at meta (idk what they use there)