Why I Rejected a $360,000 Google Job Offer
Google's no longer the top-paying tech company. If others offer better pay, benefits, and career opportunities, is Google still the absolute choice over them?
Turning Down Google
Google? Prestige? Ultimate tech? Top salary!? 🤔 Well, I turned it down. 😎
Pirates, about two months have passed since I quit Microsoft. I know some of you are wondering what my next steps are. Oh, what am I holding? It's my Google offer. Wait, what, what's my total compensation? Watch until the end to find out! But I can tell you right now that I'm not going to Google. Not because Google turned me down, but because I turned Google down. Why? Before I explain, I'm P.K. I create software-engineering-related content for those who don't know me. Make sure to like and subscribe to find out more about me. Also, I just started Instagram, so follow me there as well.
Time to Leave Microsoft
Let me first start by sharing what happened at Microsoft. Why did I all of a sudden decide to leave? It all started when Microsoft announced the RTO - return to office - in early February. Was I ready for the announcement?. No. Combined with the unexciting work, lack of growth, poor leadership, and horrible on-call, as I previously shared here, they were terrible enough. And now, these guys were asking me to face that atrocity in person! That pulled the trigger.
Will I accept my fate and be miserable for the rest of my career or defy the inevitable and set sail into a new adventure? I chose the latter. I quickly looked into how many time-offs I had. And oh man, guess what? Combining all the paid time-offs carried over from last year and accrued this year, I had about 20 days of PTOs in my arsenal. So the next day, I called my manager, told him I was taking a few days off, and started leetcoding.
A month isn't usually enough to jump the ship since most people prepare for at least three months, but I didn't want to drag this, either. I mean, leetcoding isn't exactly fun, right? So I reluctantly grinded leetcode for two weeks and started the coding interviews. But I only sent my resume to a select few top tech companies, including Google, because I wasn't interested anywhere else. Google was actually kind enough to bypass the phone screen and invited me straight to their virtual onsite, but their generosity wasn't enough to win my heart.
The Google Offer
Why? Was their offer bad? Well, take a look and judge it yourself 😎
Base Salary: $172,000
Sign-on Bonus: $50,000
Equity (RSUs): $350,000 (33%, 33%, 22%, 12%)
Bonus Target: $25,800 (15% of base)
First-Year TC: $363,300 (base + sign-on + 1st-year equity + bonus)
Oh, if you don't know what equity or RSU means, check out this video.
That's right. Google offered me over $360k total comp on my first year, baby ✌️. But I turned them down. Why…? I had better offers.
Why I Turned Down Google
Hear me out. I have to admit. Google is my dream company; it still is. But one, they initially tried to lowball me (wtf). The recruiter even acknowledged that Google's no longer the top paying company anymore. They did match the numbers in the end, but only after I provided evidence of my competing offers and hurting my pride. Two, despite the match, the numbers in their offer were still the lowest among my competing ones. They tried to justify the compensation gap with their almighty skyrocketing stock price, which plunged 30% from its peak. Three, Google's team matching process is notorious for moving at the speed of a snail. I mean, Hey Google, I don't have all day here. Combine that with several unexciting teams I got matched with in Seattle. It was time for me to politely and respectfully say NO, to their offer.
So that's it, guys. That is it. I seriously said NO to Google, my dream company. Hey Google, if you are watching this, no hard feelings, man. I'm sure our paths will cross at some point. So I guess your question is, where am I heading? Which company won me over with an offer that's better than Google's?
A Small Request
Pirates, I'm sorry, but I honestly can't disclose it - at least not at the moment. To my surprise, people started recognizing me in public, and although I am very grateful, I honestly would like to avoid that kind of attention in my workplace. I can tell you that I'll be working in one of the tech giants and going into the office. Yes, I enjoyed my work-from-home days (sigh… 😞), but it's time I return to the office. Feel free to say hi when you see me in public or when there's no one else in the office; just don't do it online like in the middle of corporate zoom meetings 🙏 I'm not ready to become a full-time YouTuber yet.
That’s it, pirates, if you enjoyed how I turned down Google and their $360,000 offer, like and subscribe. Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram. Until next time, peace.
Find out how I prepare for LeetCode to get offers from companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon! 👉 Link
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