How long does it take to promote from L5 to L6?
L5 to L6 promotion can be done in a year. L6 to L7.. much longer (3–5 years typically, but many/most Amazon employees never make L7). Do note that an L7 would be comparable to a senior director or vice president at companies like Oracle or IBM.
The time taken for promotions to L6 (Staff Software Engineer) and above start to skew towards longer timeframes, with most taking 2 to 4 years or more, but the expectations also ramp up quickly at each level. Can you apply at Google as a software engineer with job experience from a non-coding background?
As of Nov 5, 2023, the average hourly pay for an Amazon L6 in the United States is $42.93 an hour. While ZipRecruiter is seeing hourly wages as high as $81.49 and as low as $21.63, the majority of Amazon L6 wages currently range between $32.69 (25th percentile) to $47.12 (75th percentile) across the United States.
As of Oct 31, 2023, the average hourly pay for a Google L6 in the United States is $51.26 an hour. While ZipRecruiter is seeing hourly wages as high as $81.01 and as low as $24.04, the majority of Google L6 wages currently range between $39.18 (25th percentile) to $59.13 (75th percentile) across the United States.
To get promoted from L5 to L6, it can take anywhere from 2.5 years to 6 years or more. You have to consistently show that you're working on high-impact projects and performing at the senior level.
| Level Name | Total | Base |
|---|---|---|
| L3 (Entry Level) | $220K | $212K |
| L4 | $337K | $336K |
| L5 | $512K | $511K |
| L6 | $667K | $667K |
An L6 (staff) engineer is expected to lead a team of 6+ engineers in technical direction, and to represent the team in XFN collaboration. An L5 is expected to independently lead and own a project.
The L6 distinction refers to the first layer of staff that's considered senior and typically includes people with about a decade of experience.
As of Nov 2, 2023, the average annual pay for a L5 Amazon in the United States is $115,000 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $55.29 an hour.
An L6 is a Operations Manager, whom manages a team of L4/L5 Area Managers 2–4 usually. The L4 and L5 are the managers that oversee the floor operations and the Frontline associates. The L6 Ops is responsible for the L4/L5 performance and the overall productivity of the team/area to which you are assigned.
Is it easy to get promoted at Amazon?
Getting a promotion at Amazon isn't easy. Indeed, some say the process is brutal. And moving up may have more do to with your boss's ability to present your case than how well you actually perform your job.
Google Performance Bonus
For example, an L6 software engineer will be given a 20% target bonus. Here is the wording from a Google offer letter: "You are eligible to participate in the company discretionary bonus plan; your annual bonus target will be 20.0% of your base salary.
With 10+ years of expertise, level 6 software engineers at Google are in the top 10 percent of exceptionally qualified engineers who manage engineering teams and earn a salary of $ 2,32,219 yearly.
How much does a Google L5 Engineer make? As of Oct 25, 2023, the average hourly pay for a Google L5 Engineer in the United States is $38.46 an hour.
L5 to L6 promotion can be done in a year. L6 to L7.. much longer (3–5 years typically, but many/most Amazon employees never make L7).
The main difference between level 5 and level 6 at Amazon is the level of experience and responsibility. Level 5 is typically for engineers with 3-10 years of experience, while level 6 is for engineers with 8-10+ years of experience. Level 6 engineers are also expected to have more leadership and management experience.
As an engineer on the team, you will work with Product Managers, cross-functional engineering teams, and Revenue Finance to design and evolve architectures that can handle massive data and build highly configurable pipelines to support global workflows for complex financial functions.
Level 7 - Software Engineering Manager III
A software engineering manager at this level generally manages a team of 20 to 40 employees.
Netflix L7 Software Engineer Salary | $990K-$1.2M+ | Levels.
The estimated total pay for a Staff Software Engineer L6 at Google is $375,025 per year. This number represents the median, which is the midpoint of the ranges from our proprietary Total Pay Estimate model and based on salaries collected from our users. The estimated base pay is $206,299 per year.
How long does it take to become an L5 engineer?
6-9 years of experience in the industry. Internally at Google, this is the level at which the majority of engineers are.
L5 is senior engineer, and the lowest level at which there are any engineering managers. L6 is staff engineer. Only about 15% of Google engineers are at this level or higher, and it is expected that most engineers will never reach Staff. The most common managers of software engineers are L6.
Technical Leads begin at level L5. At levels L5 and L6, tech leads can transition into the IC role seamlessly (T5/T6) and vice-versa. Each level builds on the criteria from the preceding level. A L7 must also meet all the criteria for a L6.
How much does a Google L6 make in Brooklyn, New York? As of Oct 20, 2023, the average hourly pay for a Google L6 in Brooklyn is $50.35 an hour.
The average salary for a Staff Software Engineer L6 is $198,523 per year in California, which is 46% lower than the average Google salary of $370,283 per year for this job. What is the salary trajectory of a Staff Software Engineer L6?
SDE II (L5): This is also a software engineer role, but more senior generally ranging from three to ten years of industry experience.
The estimated total pay for a L6 Operations Manager at Amazon is $177,087 per year. This number represents the median, which is the midpoint of the ranges from our proprietary Total Pay Estimate model and based on salaries collected from our users. The estimated base pay is $118,681 per year.
The estimated total pay for a Communications Manager L5 at Meta is $186,323 per year.
Base salary is $125K, 30 RSUs, $25K year 1 bonus, $20K year two.
The main difference between level 5 and level 6 at Amazon is the level of experience and responsibility. Level 5 is typically for engineers with 3-10 years of experience, while level 6 is for engineers with 8-10+ years of experience. Level 6 engineers are also expected to have more leadership and management experience.
How long does it take to get promoted from L6 to L7 at Amazon?
If you really have the workex worthy for an L7 role then you should not settle down for L6. Because again it would take a minimum of 3–4 years minimum for you to get promoted as L7.
Your merit increases will be a percentage of your base salary at Amazon, making it even more important to negotiate your base salary before you start the role. Because of this and because it's usually just a yearly adjustment to keep up with inflation, we don't include it in our total compensation calculation.
A fulfillment or transportation employee who starts with us today will see a 13% increase in pay over the next three years—likely more, including our annual wage investments,” John Felton, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, said.
Fewer than 2% of applicants get hired at Amazon.
If you're wondering how to get a job at Amazon, the key is preparation. Know what you want to do, know which program you want to be a part of, know Amazon's 14 leadership principles, and know what Amazon is looking for in a candidate early on.
Engineers at level 5 are typically senior staff engineers or advanced staff engineers. People working in these jobs usually have a minimum of 7 or 8 years of experience in their respective field.
SDE II (L5): This is also a software engineer role, but more senior generally ranging from three to ten years of industry experience.
How promotions work is a committee of higher-level engineers (eg L7s consider promotions to L6) and will have 10-15 packets to assess. These will get stack ranked by the committee. If you're above the line you'll get promoted. If you're not, you won't.
Finally, we can summarise the following things about a Senior Software Engineer (L5) at Google: 6-9 years of experience in the industry. Internally at Google, this is the level at which the majority of engineers are.
Engineers at level 5 are typically senior staff engineers or advanced staff engineers. People working in these jobs usually have a minimum of 7 or 8 years of experience in their respective field.
The time taken for promotions to L6 (Staff Software Engineer) and above start to skew towards longer timeframes, with most taking 2 to 4 years or more, but the expectations also ramp up quickly at each level.
How much does Amazon pay senior L5?
How much does a L5 Amazon make? As of Nov 5, 2023, the average annual pay for a L5 Amazon in the United States is $115,000 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $55.29 an hour. This is the equivalent of $2,211/week or $9,583/month.
The main difference between level 5 and level 6 at Amazon is the level of experience and responsibility. Level 5 is typically for engineers with 3-10 years of experience, while level 6 is for engineers with 8-10+ years of experience. Level 6 engineers are also expected to have more leadership and management experience.
| Level Name | Total | Base |
|---|---|---|
| L4 | $71K | $62K |
| L5 | $137K | $112K |
| L6 | $194K | $150K |
| L7 | $292K | $170K |
L6 at Google is Staff Engineer level - this not just an “engineer” - its a big deal to get promoted to L6, you wil rarely get hired into that level. It might take years for you to jump from L5 to L6 at Google.
