Surviving at Amazon vs Meta as Mid Level software engineer
I am a software engineer with 3 years experience at a fintech company and I am on H1B visa with 33 months left. I recently got offers from Amazon L5 and Meta E4.
I am debating between two positions because I know Meta has an up or out policy. If I can’t get promoted after 33 months I will run out of my H1B time to switch job. With Amazon I can stay at L5 and potentially relocate to another company (supposed I dont get PIP). I see myself as a hard worker but I am not as fast at coding as others.
I like the work at Meta better but I am worried I can't survive there reading many comments that Meta moves much faster than Amazon.
I have the following questions and would greatly appreciate any guidance:
With Meta
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How are the ratings Meet most, Meet all, Exceed Expectations decided at Meta ? Are they evaluated based on the 4 axes (Impact, Direction, Engineering Excellence and People)?
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If I complete all projects within the timeframe I agree to , do I get MM, MA or EE ?
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How does one get Meet Most ?
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Does the obsession with “impact” and “metrics” at Meta lead to people competing for sexy projects only and avoid things that are harder to measure like Engineering Excellence (refactoring codebase) ?
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For work that falls under the Engineering Excellence category, what are some tips to justify or measure their impact ?
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Is it better to give conservative estimate for the projects I work on to meet the deadline so I can get Meet All ? Or doing this will put me at risk of not delivering enough work in each half ?
With Amazon,
- How does one get PIPed ? Not completing as many tickets as others ? Not finishing the project they promise to deliver ?
My other concerns are
- Green card: Meta labor market test failed 99%. Amazon paused PERM for the last 2 years so no data to compare but they said they will start PERM process (maybe batch PWD) for me 4/2025
I know it is not an offer evaluation platform but I would greatly appreciate any suggestions to guide my decision making process. Thank you
![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
(7 comments)- 43 months agoSDE @ Amazon - www.anamazonsde.com
I can help answering the Amazon part. First of all, as you mentioned you are a hard worker, that means you should not fear getting PIPed, as mostly hard workers are safe from that.
On the other hands, one of the main reasons to get PIPed, apart from not working of course, is lack of good communications and bad relations with the team members. I have witnessed these traits cause many people to go into Focus, then end up being PIPed.
At the end, I wouldn't worry if I were you, I feel like in Amazon you will be pretty safe, as also L5 is a terminal level. Good luck!
- 03 months agoMid levelTaro Community
Thank you so much ! I read that Amazon has PIP quota though ? All the teams I talked to managers said someone was PIP on their team. Is it fair to say that even if you work hard and your teammates work harder/deliver more you can still be PIPed there I wonder ?
- 23 months agoSDE @ Amazon - www.anamazonsde.com
Yes, it's said that people can get PIPed as well to fill the quota. It's also said that they do their best to ensure only really low performing people get it.
However, again, I think this should not prevent you from getting there, you are leaving a lot of benefits on the table out of fear of something that happens to a few people with very specific conditions.
- 33 months agoMid levelTaro Community
thank you so much ! i dont know who you are but I really appreciate it. I wish you a long and happy life !
- 2
3 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroTaro is totally a great place to share offers! Anyways, it's a bit tricky as I can't see the numbers but I think you should take Meta. Here's why:
- Meta generally pays more than Amazon, both initially and long-term (promotions and raises are way less stingy at Meta vs. Amazon)
- 33 months is a long time, and you have Taro on your side. Literally one of the core inspirations of me making Taro was how hard the Meta E4 -> E5 promotion was. I struggled hard with it and then mentored a bunch of E4s to get to E5 in 12/18 months after as I didn't want anybody else to go through the same pain I did
- You mention that you like the work at Meta better
For E4 -> E5, go through this: Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer: L4 To L5
- 03 months agoMid levelTaro Community
Thanks so much Alex ! i am going through your course. I am so glad I found this community. I just finished team match with Meta so I dont have the numbers yet. I will definitely come back and share here once I learn more.
- 23 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
To learn how stack ranking and PIPs work at Meta, check this out: "How does Stack Ranking work (at FAANG) and how can I be proactive at a base level?"
For the first 12 months of an E4's tenure, the main ways they can get managed out (PIP/fired directly) are usually:
- Poor code velocity (duh, this is table-stakes even for E3)
- Not independent enough (too much hand-holding, E4s can't be doing this anymore)
- Poor code quality
- Bad communication (E4 should have good instincts around communicating clear project updates and doing simple alignment across team members)
After 12 months, it's more likely that E4s get managed out for not making sufficient progress fast enough to E5 (there is yellow zone, red zone). This really ramps up around 24 months. Take the mid-level to senior course to learn more about what a good "E4.5" should look like.
