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throwaway2016a

I can't find the source but I read somewhere that when Facebook makes you an offer they make it one level lower than where you are currently at as a matter of policy.

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Level comparison across companies is useless. People who were first-level managers at Microsoft didn't even have manager in their title (it was lead, but that's changed recently). Then at a second-level manager, you would get manager in your title. Most other companies will have manager in your title when you're first-level managers. The job was the same, the just called it different things. I've talked to many people who worked both at Amazon and Microsoft and we've learned how to calibrate to say what level at Microsoft = what level at Amazon, but it's not a clean split.

Also, some smaller tech companies will inflate titles to try to compete for talent. Like I met someone who's a VP of engineering, they have a total team size of 2. That's not the same as a VP at Facebook. If that guy got an offer for one level lower, that would be a huge step up.

Ben Horowitz's The Hard Thing About Hard Things talks about this. Zuckerberg contributes to the management chapter.

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