I'm a staff data scientist at FAANG. 7 years post-PhD with 4 years in tech, feeling really happy I didn't go the academia route. Though admittedly a lot of this is due to getting lucky with joining tech at the right time and having crazy stock growth.
Next year I'll hit a stock cliff and comp will drop by around 200k, but then it should be fairly stable after that.
Congrats!! How’s your WLB as a remote Data Scientist? Pretty sure we work at the same place based on a certain benefit listed haha. Also curious were you grandfathered into remote or were able to get it approved?
Edit: also interesting, is your pay adjusted for Dallas? That base seems surprisingly higher than I’d expect for the location
I've been remote since I joined, definitely harder these days...but I have seen a few new approvals lately for senior roles.
WLB is pretty good but there are definitely busy months here and there. Before this I was in consulting working insane hours, tech is infinitely better.
Dallas has a 90% multiplier on the base pay relative to SF/NYC.
Only base pay? That means stocks get better value in LCOL
Yep, I think my initial stock package may have been lower for location but annual refreshers are constant across the US. So LCOL plus no state income tax is definitely optimal for earnings.
Thats Meta?
Damn! Plano area data scientist. Hook a brother up! I am Sr level around 130k salary. Am I being underpaid?
I'd say yes, probably underpaid. But also the real money is in tech and not more traditional companies. Amazon is probably the only place with a physical DFW presence that pays very well for DS roles.
Remote roles are hard to come by these days, but worth the effort to search for.
Any advice for someone who just joined G as a research data scientist on how to maximize comp within big tech? At around 275k now and really want to make the most of it.
Best advice I have is good executive communication is crucial. Being able to package insights for a very senior, product/business audience and give clear product recommendations is the best path to high ratings and promos.
I’m in technology in the finance industry, and this is the number one piece of advice I give to people. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, how many qualifications you have, if you can’t present and communicate well to an executive audience, you will hit a ceiling.
Underrated advice. A lot of smart, hard working people won’t maximize their pay if they can’t do this well.
Keep paying those taxes though! It’s gonna help me with my EBT! Thanks for the support
That is a wild thing to say. 🤣🤣😭😭😭
Lmfaoooo why bro? Bro is def paying a lot of taxes
Weird thing to say considering you’re based in India my friend
He is not wrong though. He speaks for all us EBT gang.
India doesn’t take American welfare benefits 🤡
What was your first step towards this path? Data analyst?
Most people have some type of math/stats/physics degree. And yeah, a lot of people do a few years as an analyst at banks/consulting firms before jumping to big tech.
Did you do a masters program after your undergrad? I am a current Stats BS student and curious to explore my options post undergraduate
No, most of the time people go straight into PhD programs out of undergrad rather than do a separate masters.
But if you don't want to be a professor, then a masters program at a top school is probably the better path to industry. Or better yet, just get internships during undergrad and skip grad school all together...masters is best if your undergrad program isn't sufficiently brand name to get you interviews at the places you want to be.
I am at UCSB, so unfortunately I don’t think the name has that much of a pull, hence contemplating PhD or MS programs. I have some QA experience at faang, but feels hard to shoehorn it into DS
MS programs are pricey though, but I see your point
Congrats, I know I went into the wrong field. 😫 sounds like all your hard work is paying off.
Bro I thought 75k and was about to write how bad that was for your quali + exp. Good job op! I am proud of you
Do you have a PhD in data science?
Economics
What edit entry positions called? Data analyst?
Congrats!
I am in PhD for Biostats.
I am wondering about the interview...
Should i brush up on statistical concepts or coding?
what should I mainly focus on for the interview?
Interview is 4 parts, basic stats, behavioral, product sense case study, and SQL
For me, I never did SQL before the interview so mostly focused on learning that. Otherwise there are materials available for the product case studies for each FAANG company that are worth a look.
Thank you!
Damn! This is legit awesome! Congrats
Woah dude good for you! Can you explain a bit about what a data scientist does in order to command that kind of salary? Like…obviously you are working with and manipulating/sorting data but I’m curious what actually happens in a job like that. Thanks for sharing!
I do a few things:
1) Experimentation and Measurement - Develop methods/metrics to measure how well things work. Typically this utilizes some type of A/B testing. I have deep statistics experience that helps measure things that aren't easy to see.
2) Forecasting and Product Roadmapping - I help the engineers figure out what the best projects to work on are.
3) Product Trend Research - I look at how people are using our products in real time and make recommendations on how to change things to help drive better business outcomes.
My value comes from a mix of stats knowledge, data visualization, clear communication, and product intuition.
Any advice on how to polish these skills? I moved from data analyst to data science. Been with FAANG for 4 years and moving internally.
We need to print trillions of more dollars to level the playing field, a hamburger will cost $100 but its necessary.
Are you into product DS? Most FAANG are into that correct? I’m a Non FAANG DS. How do I get into FAANG?
Yes, I'm on the product side. It varies a lot by companies...some places are more ML focused and others are more SQL+experiments+consulting (which is mine)
I don't have any secret FAANG formula, I applied on the website and the recruiter called me. So I guess just apply and try to highlight how your experience fits the job description.
Interesting! I’ve interviewed for L7 roles at multiple firms and no luck. Most of them ended up being rejections. But yeah, will try my luck again.
I'm a L6...L7 roles are Senior Staff or Senior Manager, that is extremely hard to do as an external hire anywhere because it's almost entirely about internal politics.
Unless you are the head of analytics at a mid-tier company I can't see you coming in as an L7.
Yeah makes sense. I’m a Principal at Non FAANG equivalent to a head of DS here but yes L7 was hard to get into. Recruiters said it was a hard decision to reject me but it is what it is. Are you into causal inference??
Do the occasional IV or Diff-in-Diff, but 95% of the time I'm just doing experiments because no one trusts anything else. Though a lot of them are fairly exotic designs since that's my specialty.
Nice. Im into marketing DS and we run marketing mix models using Bayesian ML, incrementality tests etc - I’ve setup scalable ML practices here on my team. it is different from product DS and A/B experimentation but we do a lot of Diff in Diff analyses for marketing incrementality tests. Never done an IV analysis though. Do you also write research or exploratory papers on the side? If yes, count me in 😃
There is a research DS org that is more academic and sometimes publishes white papers, but that's mostly people who are ex-professors. I don't publish externally anymore, but during my PhD I did publish econometrics work.
And once in a while I get do some structural estimation, but that's more common at some other companies.
In terms of exploratory work, there is definitely time and incentive to dig through the data on your product and form a narrative to push a particular product direction. So in that sense, I do exploratory work still...but it's typically not super technically complex, because my end goal is writing something that VPs can understand and action on.
Yeah, gotcha. Typical DS work lol. But it gets boring after sometime so I was looking for writing externally to build my research profile as I’m bored writing internal business docs.
Hi OP, can you provide some context on these exotic designs? I want to learn more. Is there any book you would recommend?
As a DS, are you concerned about AI taking over your career field??
Not really. The hardest parts of my job are knowing the right questions to ask and having super specific product context to be able to interpret the results.
I think AI will just make me much more efficient and get rid of the grunt work.
were u hired as ic4 or 5? ic4 to ic6 in 4 years is impressive. Life@ exposed the company lol
I came in as an IC5, made IC6 after 2 years, and should hit 7 soon.
Do you ever regret going for IC6? Do you think the pay bump was worth it with the increased expectations and increased layoff risk? I’m assuming so, since you said you can hit 7 soon
Honestly, life has been way more chill at 6. If anything, I feel more secure and less busy as an IC6 DS.
I'm widely recognized as the expert in my space and have less direct responsibility for product outcomes. I assume this varies a lot by org.
Who do you think has responsibility for the product outcomes now? Is it the PM?
Would you ever transition to M track?
Product teams and the PM chain. I'm in an ecosystems role so not directly attached to a specific product team anymore and more acting as an advisor to product group leads on what areas to invest in.
That’s interesting. As a 5 were you attached to a specific product team which made you feel like you had more responsibility for that product succeeding based off your direction?
Yes, more a function of a team change than level. I used to be attached to a specific product and I was responsible for making sure the team worked on the right things and shipped impact.
But a year after getting to 6, I moved to a different org that kind of abstracted the responsibility away. Now I'm mostly responsible for making sure all the junior DS-es can run their teams and that the org leads are making good choices.
♾️
Chat can I please delete myself
This is a google payslip - workday
Such confidence yet completely wrong
Wrong, Google does not have Life@
What do I do to get a job like this :( 26M that had a rough up bringing. AS in Computer Science, working retail
with a PhD and passing interview to get into one of the best companies, apparently.
Guess its time for me to go in debt for a PhD huh… maybe my day trading can get me the capital for a PhD
You get paid to do a PhD. You don’t need to go into debt. Your day trading will also fail
do you do OE?
No, one job is plenty thanks.
at that salary sure
Congrats Meta 😎, enjoying life at choice ?
Do you have pubs? I also was in an Econ PhD.. but I dropped out and joined FAANG due to several reasons. I feel bad about not having proper research to point to, just many years of failed projects 😅
Yeah, I have two top fields. An AEJ and a TE, I had a tenure track offer, but not at a school I wanted to be at.
What is your academic background? I saw you mentioned communication being an important aspect of your job, but apart from that are there any technical skills or topics you are well versed in that helped your career?
I’m a data scientist as well pretty early in my career. I make about 250-300k and didn’t realize that you could get comp that high doing more “traditional” product data science. I guess that might be one of the benefits of big tech. I’ve been contacted by some of the recruiters but have heard mixed things about how interesting the work as a product data scientist can be and the interview process at least for meta sounds like a pain in the ass. Apart from the nice comp do you generally like your work?
That’s amazing man! Keep going
Mind sharing what your PHD is in?
Currently, I'm a senior product analyst, next promotion will be data architect (we don't have ds titles right now).
I've thought about more education, I only have a bachelors. Does it make a huge difference in opportunities?
I've done really well with just work experience and learning on the job. Curious, if more formal education would expedite progress.
My PhD is in economics and then I worked in litigation consulting for a few years. The combination of those things definitely set me up for success in big tech, but it's not the only (or easiest/best) path.
In my opinion, the hardest part of getting into top companies that pay top of market is getting the interview. One path to that is going to really fancy schools with good job placement programs, so masters programs are a good way to get access to that route if you didn't go to a top undergrad. A PhD is definitely not worth the time investment if your goal is not academia.
But I think experience at smaller companies doing similar work is also a perfectly viable path to try to jump to larger companies.
Thanks I appreciate it. My undergrad is in econ. I like the idea of higher education for learning, but the trade off is tough (time and money).
I have a lot of freedom to extend my scope here which helps me get diverse experience. Downside to smaller company is the lack of alternative experts. So I am the expert and a lot is what I figure out and research on my own and it's iterative learning.
How do I become a data scientist I have nursing background. Hubby is a data analyst
Are these vested RSU? Or awarded RSU?
Vested
Congratulations on achieving success in life!