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Salary is a big factor for sure, but given an already good pay for technical talent why not to take a small pay cut and join a mission-driven startup, where you can be aligned in values and have an impact and growth?
If you're getting good money, and your management is relatively sane, and you like the people you work with, think twice before you leave. I've been around enough to know that you can easily wind up in a much worse situation.
At startups you generally deal with less smarter colleagues, spending months putting out fires that stem from hacky code designs, and dealing with many absent bosses who are just there for passive income.
Many startups try to look mission driven, but what drives most of them is just growth. The more growth oriented ones might be dishonest. If you think Facebook is unethical, watch what happens to a startup running on 3 months runway, trying to raise a new round. You also have to deal with pivots, often by bosses who literally don't know the meaning of the word and just bounce aimlessly between different things.
I'm not at FAANG and I don't earn anywhere near FAANG money. I know the above is really jaded and skeptical view of things. But I suspect more than a few people feel what I feel after a few years in the workforce.
Define "small paycut." Mid level engineers at FB and its ilk are pulling in 400k+ including RSUs and bonus. You'd be hard pressed to get even a very senior position at a small startup that pays even half that in real cash.
Honestly? The job search + interview process is way too painful. I feel like I'm a good problem solver, I've made really good impact at the jobs I've been at but landing jobs is difficult for me. I tend to stick around til the job is more painful than interviewing.
Did you do any research on the companies beforehand or had a set of criteria to ensure that the job won't turn out painful next time?
"Bored" != "hate". If you're getting good money, and your management is relatively sane, and you like the people you work with, think twice before you leave. I've been around enough to know that you can easily wind up in a much worse situation.
Do you feel lucky?
"Bored" != "hate". If you're getting good money, and your management is relatively sane, and you like the people you work with, think twice before you leave. I've been around enough to know that you can easily wind up in a much worse situation.
You haven't lived until you've had a psychopath as a boss and for whatever reason they've decided they don't like you. Do you feel lucky?
Either way, you're in for a bad time.