> What I will say is that from what I hear this sort of under-leveling is pretty normal and just how it is. Maybe it’s better now, I don’t know.
I was offered a position with G after I left a previous employer. I also felt that I was underleveled and expressed this, then declined the offer.
This earned me a call from the SVP I would have been reporting to. The general philosophy they related to me was that G likes to see people perform _at Google_ and that leveling up is very easy, so if you're good, being underleveled isn't a problem because it will correct itself.
"If it's so easy and you're impressed with my track record and believe it qualifies me for the role, as you said before, you should be convinced I'm at the level you mentioned." They hemmed and hawed and bit and said they would see what they could do. Eight (!) months later, long after I'd already accepted another role and told them about it, they got back to me with the higher level.
I can't tell whether they're high on their own supply or they're trying to get people to accept lower comp. The fact they took 8mo to get back to suggests the former to me.
As an SVP, why would you take time out of your day to try and convince a candidate to join the company only to low ball them? Makes no sense.
The whole "we'll level you up quickly if you perform" is almost always bullshit. It usually takes at least 1yr no matter what.
And the fact that the “level up quickly” promise is verbal, means they aren’t bound to anything. Get them to put it in writing if it’s important to you _before_ you sign an offer letter.
Generally you're ramping up for 3-6mo and then most companies want to see that you're performing at the expected level for at least 6mo. That's 9-12mo bare minimum.
If you were downleveled and they promised you staff+ then they are probably going to be more stringent and there are also more factors out of your control (E.g. your team, org, manager, etc) so good luck getting "quickly" promoted.
I was offered a position with G after I left a previous employer. I also felt that I was underleveled and expressed this, then declined the offer.
This earned me a call from the SVP I would have been reporting to. The general philosophy they related to me was that G likes to see people perform _at Google_ and that leveling up is very easy, so if you're good, being underleveled isn't a problem because it will correct itself.
"If it's so easy and you're impressed with my track record and believe it qualifies me for the role, as you said before, you should be convinced I'm at the level you mentioned." They hemmed and hawed and bit and said they would see what they could do. Eight (!) months later, long after I'd already accepted another role and told them about it, they got back to me with the higher level.