I got offers from Meta, several top hedge funds (Citadel, Millennium, etc.), Series E unicorn and a series C robotics startup and I want opinions on who to move forward with. From a SWE’s perspective, Meta wins, but 10 years down the line, I don’t see myself as a SWE. I see myself doing (1) a startup, (2) going into VC or working in (3) product management or a more business-focused role. For the first 3-4 years of my career I want to get engineering training, position myself to do interesting and impactful work, networking with a talented team and building the skills that’ll set me up for the 3 career paths that I’ve discussed. I’ve listed companies in order of preference : Series E Unicorn Company is customer-focused (engineers always talk to customers) and engineers wear many hats. These are skills for building startups. Getting startup experience is great for going into VC. I’m working on one of their core products, so there’s a lot of chances for growth. High performers become PMs in 2-3 years 30-40% ex-FAANG and lots of MIT, Berkeley and Stanford alum Meta Meta trains you to become a great SWE, and you need to be a great builder for startups Meta doesn’t seem to prep me for the VC world, but the brand name alone will help get your feet in the door I have the optionality to climb the corporate ladder to do product management Hedge funds Hedge funds don’t really train you to be a great SWE or a great VC, but the brand definitely helps I work really close to PnL for a division that is undergoing hypergrowth, so lots of interesting things to be done Can also break into management relatively quickly Series C robotics startup I’m a SWE and the place that makes the money are the robotics engineers, so not really positioned to make a huge change Unicorn > Meta/HF > robotics startup I want to join the unicorn since it aligns well with what I want to do in the future, but the brand of Meta is really hard to pass on (only brands I have is MS from T5 CS and BS from T10 CS). On one hand I have a long career down the line, and this is one of many decisions I'll make, and if the unicorn doesn't work out, then it's not a big deal. On the other hand, I feel like if I don't choose prestige and the unicorn fails, I'd have a much harder time in life. It's like messing up an RPG build. I’m curious what people’s thoughts are and what things I’m not considering?

Holy smokes, congrats on the offers! Seems like you crushed it. I'm biased, but I personally recommend Meta as it looks like this is for your first full-time job? On top of all the standard benefits of working at Big Tech and getting the name brand on your resume, Meta has some unique benefits among FAANG: It's the most startup-ey among them and moves quite fast It gives engineers a huge amount of autonomy, especially when it comes to product direction. It's the main company with a formal product hybrid Staff Engineer archetype It's a great place to find cofounders as it's huge, has good talent, and the most startup-ey vibe among Big Tech That being said, there are many unicorns I would personally recommend over Meta. If you don't mind sharing, I can give a more detailed opinion.

New Grad evaluation offer - Should a new grad take risks early on?

Software Engineering Intern at Taro Community24 days ago

Interviewing

Meta

Software Engineering Intern

Team Selection

I got offers from Meta, several top hedge funds (Citadel, Millennium, etc.), Series E unicorn and a series C robotics startup and I want opinions on who to move forward with.

From a SWE’s perspective, Meta wins, but 10 years down the line, I don’t see myself as a SWE. I see myself doing (1) a startup, (2) going into VC or working in (3) product management or a more business-focused role. For the first 3-4 years of my career I want to get engineering training, position myself to do interesting and impactful work, networking with a talented team and building the skills that’ll set me up for the 3 career paths that I’ve discussed. I’ve listed companies in order of preference :

Series E Unicorn
1. Company is customer-focused (engineers always talk to customers) and engineers wear many hats. These are skills for building startups.
2. Getting startup experience is great for going into VC.
3. I’m working on one of their core products, so there’s a lot of chances for growth. High performers become PMs in 2-3 years
4. 30-40% ex-FAANG and lots of MIT, Berkeley and Stanford alum
Meta
1. Meta trains you to become a great SWE, and you need to be a great builder for startups
2. Meta doesn’t seem to prep me for the VC world, but the brand name alone will help get your feet in the door
3. I have the optionality to climb the corporate ladder to do product management
Hedge funds
1. Hedge funds don’t really train you to be a great SWE or a great VC, but the brand definitely helps
2. I work really close to PnL for a division that is undergoing hypergrowth, so lots of interesting things to be done
3. Can also break into management relatively quickly
Series C robotics startup
1. I’m a SWE and the place that makes the money are the robotics engineers, so not really positioned to make a huge change

Unicorn > Meta/HF > robotics startup

I want to join the unicorn since it aligns well with what I want to do in the future, but the brand of Meta is really hard to pass on (only brands I have is MS from T5 CS and BS from T10 CS). On one hand I have a long career down the line, and this is one of many decisions I'll make, and if the unicorn doesn't work out, then it's not a big deal. On the other hand, I feel like if I don't choose prestige and the unicorn fails, I'd have a much harder time in life. It's like messing up an RPG build.

I’m curious what people’s thoughts are and what things I’m not considering?

102102 Views

44 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.

Meta294 questions

Other Great Discussions

What’s the most effective way to switch domains in tech?

Is sprint planning and agile not a thing at Meta?

How can I become more independent and better at unblocking myself with tricky technical issues?

Is it worth transitioning to become a Machine Learning Engineer?

How does Meta's culture differ from that of other Big Tech companies?

Discussion

(4 comments)

2
Alex Chiou
•Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
23 days ago
Holy smokes, congrats on the offers! Seems like you crushed it.

I'm biased, but I personally recommend Meta as it looks like this is for your first full-time job? On top of all the standard benefits of working at Big Tech and getting the name brand on your resume, Meta has some unique benefits among FAANG:

It's the most "startup-ey" among them and moves quite fast

It gives engineers a huge amount of autonomy, especially when it comes to product direction. It's the main company with a formal product hybrid Staff Engineer archetype

It's a great place to find cofounders as it's huge, has good talent, and the most "startup-ey" vibe among Big Tech

That being said, there are many unicorns I would personally recommend over Meta. If you don't mind sharing, I can give a more detailed opinion.
- 0
  Software Engineering Intern
  •Taro Community
  22 days ago
  The startup is Applied Intuition. I was the OP for this post here. I’ve been thinking about the skills that I want to acquire and I think this is a preliminary list:
  
  Leadership
  
  Sales
  
  Converting customer needs into actual engineering requirements and executing on them (scoping large problems/features)
  
  Become a good engineer (navigating through large codebases, developing features from scratch, improving code velocity, developing tech that scales, etc.)
  
  I definitely think Meta will train me to be a leader and become a good engineer. What really appeals to me about Applied is that engineers work closely with customers, ranging from identifying pain points from customers all the way to demo calls and doing more sales-y type work. I think the opportunity to directly talk to customers and go from a feature request/idea to an actual product early on is pretty rare for engineers.
  
  I also think Applied is growing pretty fast and there’s lots of interesting opportunities for big scope. The founder was the COO of YC and made a successful exit to Google (although his startup got acquired early), so I think he’ll be able to lead the company into something great. I talked to at least 10 engineers there and all of them have talked amount getting significant ownership of a vertical of their respective products. All of these reasons are why I’m a big fan of joining.
- 2
  Alex Chiou
  •Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
  22 days ago
  Got it - That makes a lot of sense to me.
  
  What I will say is that the ownership and learning at a top startup (like Applied Intuition) will almost always be superior to what you can find at FAANG. When you are deciding between a unicorn and FAANG, the main benefit of FAANG is the name brand. Meta in particular complicates things as I do think it's the most prestigious among FAANG as its youngest member (i.e. highest reputation for talent).
  
  Going to Applied Intuition seems like a good choice, and it's not a 1-way door. You seem like a smart person who could get into Meta again if Applied didn't work out for whatever reason.
  
  Good luck!
- 1
  Thoughtful Tarodactyl
  •Taro Community
  22 days ago
  I agree with Alex in that a huge pro of meta is the name brand, but you seem smart enough that getting interviews is not at all a problem for you and you already have enough prestige with other brands it looks like so joining a unicorn wont be bad at all. Plus applied intuition is in the AI/ADAS/AV space so would be really fun to get in the AI wave!
  
  FWIW applied intuition is a pretty good brand in the AI space. I've been applying there myself for a couple years now 😅