Job levels is a precisely crafted system that identifies the degrees of authority in an organization and assists software engineers in charting a career path at a firm. It is a crucial building element for a great recruiting strategy.
Managers and human resource teams should establish defined job hierarchies or levels early on to maintain consistency in the internal mobility process and to avoid difficulties with pay parity and career advancement.
As with any other sector, technology has a rigorous job leveling system that is used to specify the scope of tasks for a job level as well as the corresponding wage range.
According to a Levels.fyi 2020 analysis, Lyft and Stripe are among the highest-paying organizations for entry-level software developers. Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Netflix, on the other hand, are among the highest-paying businesses for senior and principal-level software engineers.
So, what are the criteria for ranking SWEs in IT firms? Let's start with Google's approach to structure — we'll go over:
What Exactly Are Job Levels?
How Do Google Determine Software Engineer Levels?
Leveling Factors at Google Software Engineer Career Ladder at Google Software Engineering Manager Career Ladder at Google
What Exactly Are Job Levels?
Job levels or job grades represent your seniority, experience, or scope of responsibility. They also indicate the wage range that has been allocated to you. The higher the level, the more responsibility, autonomy, accountability, pay grade, and independence a software engineer is allocated.
Structured organizations are better positioned to establish pay ranges, allocate duties, and evaluate effect. They reflect organizational levels of responsibility and aid in the development of a fair remuneration system with constant possibilities for advancement. Job levels enable firms to expedite their recruiting procedures and make strategic decisions about promotions, retention, and even firing of corporate employees.
Other Advantages of Structured Job Levels
Aside from the benefits outlined above, there are numerous further advantages of leveling jobs:
Organizations may use levels to define clear objectives and matching expectations, duties, and qualifications for a job function.
Job levels make identifying talent shortages in teams simpler.
They aid in the facilitation of suitable career development options for applicants selected at higher levels.
It aids in the clarification of career routes and pay for applicants.
Because job duties and expectations are established, they enable firms to make consistent pay range selections.
When pay ranges are defined clearly, companies may increase pay equality.
Job levels improve responsibility in an organization, allowing employers to differentiate between under-leveled and under-performing individuals.
While many businesses categorize job responsibilities as entry-level, mid-level, and senior-level, Google has its own organizational structure that, while job names vary, is similar to job categories at other tech corporations.
How Do Google Determine Software Engineer Levels?
The organizational structure of Google is based on maximizing innovation. According to a new poll, Google ranks fourth among organizations with the most satisfied workers.
Employees in the firm are classified according to their job function. There are, for example, distinct sales, engineering, design, management, and product-based groups, as well as distinct groups for staff working on Pixel devices and Google software. There is also a significant degree of flatness in Google's organizational structure, which allows for a continuous flow of information and ideas across various levels of management.
There are two crucial criteria that define your employment position and seniority: the ladder and level.
The primary distinction between software engineers and software engineering managers is time allocation. This effectively implies that, although SWEs have management duties, unlike software engineering managers who spend 80 percent of their time managing, SWEs are required to provide technical work at least 50 percent of the time.
Because performance assessments are based on the expectations connected with your ladder, if time allocation to relevant job responsibilities is seen to be lacking, your capacity to scale up suffers. As a result, Google has implemented "lagging promotions," in which it examines your work for six months before promoting you to the next level.
Factors Considered for Google Leveling
Google's leveling procedure is extensive and rigorous, much like their interview process; leveling judgments are quantitative and exceedingly careful to minimize prejudice. Google's employment levels are determined by three key variables.
Previous Projects and Experience
Graduates with no industry experience who have a Ph.D. or an MS/BA degree are given L4 and L3, which are both Google entry-level software engineer jobs.
There are no hard and fast rules for leveling people with industry expertise, and the choice is based mostly on interview performance and experience quality.
Nonetheless, more years of experience do not correlate with higher job levels. In fact, it is seen as more of a deciding element than a rule-out factor. For example, if you have 8+ years of experience but your interview performance falls short of expectations, you are more likely to be rejected than employed at a lesser level. This is known as "trajectory," and it seems that Google mainly relies on it when awarding ranks.
Another thing to keep in mind about experience is that past job titles do not influence your status at Google. For example, you may have been a Director at your previous employer, but your experience and skill set may have mapped you to a Level 4/Level 5 at Google.
Interview Results
During a Google software engineer interview, interviewers evaluate your performance based on a set of criteria that includes general cognitive ability, role-related knowledge, leadership skills, and Googleyness (cultural fit). Google's recruiting committee awards you a Google software engineer level based on this feedback form and the final recommendations made by interviewers, which defines the scope of your duties and the income range you will fall into.
The major requirements for an L3/L4 are coding abilities and ability in designing algorithms, but for an L5, role-related competence, system design knowledge, and communication skills are important criteria. The influence of your talents and expertise managing very complicated projects and circumstances is assessed at higher levels. It is uncommon for L6+ software engineers to be fresh employees, regardless of previous experience or expertise.
Sets of abilities
Google looks for applicants that are inventive and clever, with a focus on excellence. Their leveling method assesses the effect a candidate with a diverse skill set may have while contributing technically to the business. They are looking for bright people who are eager to learn new skills and adapt proactively to the global market. Google evaluates a candidate's Googley-ness and problem-solving talents in addition to role-related competency or technical ability.
As a result, whether you are given a senior software engineer Google level or an entry-level position, how well you perform in your interview and the quality of expertise you bring to a job managing projects of great complexity and scope contribute determine your particular job level.
Google's Software Engineer Career Path
Here's an overview of Google's software engineer job path:
Software engineer I (Level 2)
A SWE-I is a recent college graduate software engineer or an intern earning a four-year bachelor's degree in an engineering school.
Software Engineer II (Level 3)
An entry-level software engineer at Google is a Level 3 coding engineer with a bachelor's degree in a computer-related subject. A Master's degree is also usual for a SWE-II. They are, nonetheless, allocated an entry-level job since they have 0 to 1 year of industry experience. They receive a basic income of $130,041 per year on average.
Software Engineer III (Level 4)
Google expects Level 4 software engineers to have 2 to 4 years of experience or a Ph.D. The annual basic wage for a SWE-III is $155,820.
Senior Software Engineer (Level 5)
Google senior software engineer is the equivalent of software engineering Manager I. A level 5 software developer has more autonomy and responsibility. They are given complicated jobs that need close attention to detail and the evidence of effect. A senior software engineer is anticipated to have six to 10 years of expertise. They make an annual base pay of $185,239 on average.
Staff Software Engineer (Level 7)
With 10+ years of expertise in the area, software engineers begin to migrate into leadership positions. They are among the top 10% of extremely skilled engineers and often determine the success of a project.
A level 6 software engineer is regarded the equal of a software engineering manager II, and performance reviews are thorough at this level. Staff software engineers often supervise engineering teams at this stage and make $228,436 per year.
Senior Staff Software Engineer (Level 7)
Senior staff software engineers often perform the duties of a Level 6 software engineer and are considered senior managers. Even if they have 10+ years of experience, their job position comes with more expectations and obligations (similar to L6). L6 SWEs are elevated to L7 because to increased engagement and evidence of effect.
Google senior staff software engineers make an average of $261,769 per year.
Principal Software Engineer (Level 8)
Level 8 engineers are critical in developing technical strategies for large-scale goods or infrastructure while supervising vast engineering teams. Level 8 and higher software engineers are difficult to find since they have already assumed administrative and leadership roles. As SWEs begin to migrate into corporate governance, Level 8 is linked with quite high salary.
Level 8 software engineers receive a yearly salary of $269,243.
Distinguished Software Engineer (Level 9)
L9 SWEs, like L8, are uncommon and highly valued. Nonetheless, their major role is to develop successful technological initiatives that have a substantial technical impact.
Fellow at Google (Level 10)
Vice Presidents, the L10 equivalent of the software engineering management ladder, often lead a few thousand engineers in generating technical contributions. It is a prestigious post intended for the world's top software engineering specialists, who often hold it for the rest of their lives.
Senior Fellow at Google (Level 11)
Senior Vice Presidents are the L11 management equivalent of Google Senior Fellows. Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat are Google's first and only Level 11 Senior Fellows.
Google's Software Engineering Manager Career Path
Google software engineering managers make a basic pay of $221,461 per year on average. Depending on the employment level, region, and experience, the typical basic compensation varies from $49,532 to $309,796 each year.
Software Engineering Manager III (Level 5)
When a software professional has a few years of experience managing small teams of 5 to 10 engineers, they may climb the software engineering management ladder to level 5.
Software Engineering Manager III (Level 6)
Manager II is in charge of a team of up to 20 engineers and lower-level managers and must have 10 years of experience.
Software Engineering Manager III (Level 7)
A software engineer manager III is known as the manager of managers, and the team size varies from 20 to 40 personnel.
Director (Level 8)
Google software engineer supervisors advance to executive positions with much better remuneration and corporate governance. Directors mostly oversee managers, and team sizes vary from 40 to a few hundred, with an annual base compensation of $315,564.
Senior Director (Level 9)
At Google, Level 9 is essentially a hidden job, with official statements about the promotion made exclusively within the corporation. Except for the fact that L9 directors oversee somewhat bigger teams, there aren't many variations between job duties at levels 8 and 9.
Vice President II (Level 10)
Vice Presidents at Google often oversee a few hundred to thousand personnel. They are reporting to directors.
Vice President II (Level 11)
Vice President II, like Senior Directors, is an internally recognized position. Its primary purpose is to bridge the gap between a VP and an SVP.
Software engineer supervisors at Google may be fresh recruits up to level 8. Employees inside the organization are promoted to level 8; fresh recruits for these levels are uncommon.