Leveling Impact and Trends
Understanding how reviews are run can help you prepare for interviews and set expectations appropriately. In this article, I want to address some impacts and trends in PM leveling over the last few months. (Think PM vs Sr. PM offer.)
Emerging Trends
Big Tech companies are notorious for under-leveling PMs. (L4 rather than L5, or Sr. PM vs Principal PM, IC vs Manager, etc.) Since Google changed its interview format, the difference between what the interview panel and the hiring committee determine has been wildly off. I have seen L8's go to bat for someone to get an L6 to have the hiring committee say L5 only. In the last 7 days, I know of 5 candidates who passed the interview loop only to be down-leveled by the hiring committee despite recommendations from the hiring team.
Following the theme of this series, let’s revisit why this matters. When you get that tough feedback, take it as a gift. Imagine the difference between what everyone else said and what this exacting partner said equals the difference between the hiring team and the hiring committee described above. Or the voice of that one person on the interview panel who could take you out of the running.
Experience as a Factor
For a lot of big companies, your experience doesn't matter for the core of the interview, but the final call on leveling could be largely determined by your years of experience.
And don't forget the anchoring bias. If the first person to speak up or the first bit of feedback the hiring committee reads/hears is negative, you have a more brutal fight to get where you want. But that anchoring bias also works to your advantage if you blew someone away.
Why this matters for mock interview feedback
This is another reason all feedback is good feedback. 85% of your interviewers might say pass, but the 15% who say “no go” will have a more significant impact. If you know your mock interviewer is picky, if you think they were bias, assume they are some of the toughest graders out there, and you can learn from them. Interviews are not easy. The competition is stiff. The game isn’t always fair.
Other articles in this series include: