I work at Meta, and I have for 3 years now. I made it from new grad to a terminal level. For better or worse, I stayed on the same team the whole time.<p>I am not interested in building a career on a single team at a single company. I know I could get to the next level if I stay on my current team, but I am tired and need variety. I think it is time to move around, if not within FB then elsewhere.<p>I am not sure how to make a move that will allow me to continue to advance my career. I think I want to spend time at a company that is trying to grow and scale, but I’m concerned that will look or feel like a step down due to smaller scale or less recognizability of the company.<p>If you were in a similar situation / left big tech, where did you go? How did you decide whether or not it was the right career move?
Hello Metamate! I have worked at a pretty wide variety of employers (from government to manufacturing to startups) so I think I can say that the grass definitely isn't necessarily greener.<p>If you can find a small team that is working on something cool that may be fun but at least for me I've seen an absurd amount BS while working in consumer robotics. I had a ton of fun but I was extremely underpaid.<p>My recommendation is try to take your time and find a new team at Meta. A change of pace would probably help you out! If you've been a good performer then it shouldn't be hard. This would be much easier than interviewing and less career risk. There is lots of really interesting work in AR/VR which is pretty unique.<p>The good news is you have tons of options, and if you did nothing but stay at your current role you will do pretty great!
> but I’m concerned that will look or feel like a step down due to smaller scale or less recognizability of the company.<p>By who? In order to do what?<p>You are very close to being a new grad and like most new grad you are asking the wrong question.<p>You are mentioning wanting to build a career at more than one company but you don’t say what kind of career you actually want. There is no one size fit all correct steps to take on a career. As you work for a big tech company straight out of school I’m tempted to think you have mostly been going with the flow until now. Figure out what <i>you</i> actually want to do and the next step will naturally come from that.
I haven't left big tech, though I'm currently taking steps to switch careers into game dev, and will likely be looking for a smaller/indie team in that space. The way I see it is that it's not a "step down" if you end up happier. As long as you can afford to pay the bills and are happy, there's no such thing as a "step down" or "step up" -- those are just cultural judgments that don't matter.
If a smaller startup works for you, then go work there. Personally I don't factor in pay as the only metric for deciding where to work. I look for the nearest Waitrose closest to where I live, office perks, parental leave, etc