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Internship in SF led to a fulltime job offer – should I drop out and take it?

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Internship in SF led to a fulltime job offer – should I drop out and take it?

#1

Post by colinarms »

Hi, I'm going into my second half of my third year of computer engineering at a top university in Canada, and I'm currently on co-op at a well funded tech startup in SF (~50 people, raised 100+ million). I recently received a fulltime offer with a 105k salary and competitive amount of equity.

Here are my reasons for considering dropping out and taking it:

1) I don't like my program - a lot of the circuits/embedded systems will not be applicable to my career post-graduation. I tried transferring to Software Engineering but it was full

2) The salary and equity is competitive. I truly believe this company has a good chance at succeeding, so the equity could be worth something

3) I'd probably just work here post-graduation either way, so I'm not sure if going to school for 2 years then coming back here would be a good idea, when I could just stay here right now. (and, I probably wouldn't even be getting equity in 2 years considering the company is growing exponentially right now)

4) This company is very well known by recruiters in the Valley, and the people working here are all extremely brilliant, so this is a fantastic opportunity (both for my resume and for the skills I'd gain)

Thoughts, opinions? I've heard that I could easily get accepted back to UW a couple years down the line if I decide to go back? Also, how important are degrees really for top companies including Google and Facebook?

I have a meeting with our immigration lawyer tomorrow, but I was told that I could get a TN visa no problem (through a loophole - there is another person who was exactly in my position who' currently on a TN, so I know this does happen), then after a year get an H1 and eventually a greencard. Gonna clarify this with our lawyer.

Re: Internship in SF led to a fulltime job offer – should I drop out and take it?

#2

Post by jcfrei »

If you are certain that you can go back to uni anytime and finish your degree then I don't really see why you shouldn't go for the job. Degrees matter if you don't have a lot of experience (something like less than 5 years) in the industry you are trying to work for. degrees might look like they don't matter much at the moment (because software engineers are in high demand) - but that can change quickly.

Re: Internship in SF led to a fulltime job offer – should I drop out and take it?

#3

Post by setpatchaddress »

jcfrei wrote: post #2

If you are certain that you can go back to uni anytime and finish your degree then I don't really see why you shouldn't go for the job. Degrees matter if you don't have a lot of experience (something like less than 5 years) in the industry you are trying to work for. degrees might look like they don't matter much at the moment (because software engineers are in high demand) - but that can change quickly.

Completely agreed. I would add that 105k seems high as a starting salary for a software engineer at a sustainable startup, so either you have unique capabilities, or the startup is super well-funded, or the startup is burning cash at an unsustainable rate. It might be interesting to discover what the story is (diplomatically!) before you commit.

Re: Internship in SF led to a fulltime job offer – should I drop out and take it?

#4

Post by audleman »

I would take the job, but find out exactly how long you can postpone your schooling and return in good standing.

What I learned in college wasn't really relevant to what I do as a professional. Will you miss out on the theoretical underpinnings without finishing your degree? Meh. I'd say yes if you were building hardware (where the physical properties of what you're building are well understood and define the project), but software is changing and evolving all the time. The only way to know how to do it right is to be a part of what's happening right now.

I don't personally know about what avenues are closed without a degree (e.x. large companies). I suspect tech has some of the lowest requirements for a pedigree if you've got a proven track record.

A word of caution: A friend went back to finish his degree some time after he dropped out, and found out he had just barely missed the deadline. All of his credits were now expired and he would have had to start over as a freshman. Just make sure that doesn't happen.

Re: Internship in SF led to a fulltime job offer – should I drop out and take it?

#5

Post by _pius »

You'll never be in college at college age again. Meanwhile, you'll have your whole life to work in the Valley. Unless this job is really something amazing, stay in school.

Of course if you find yourself violently recoiling at that argument, that'll tell you something too.

Re: Internship in SF led to a fulltime job offer – should I drop out and take it?

#6

Post by eshvk »

1. I think you are being underpaid if you are going to live in SF and get paid 105K for a company that is both well funded, and very well known. Unless your equity is very very significant.

2. Companies don't disappear in two years; if they do, you don't want to join that company. There is no hurry for you to join the company now. In fact, you could intern every year and continue to build relationships in the valley and come back.

3. Degrees aren't that important for top companies.

4. You need to talk to the immigration lawyer. I don't think you can apply for an H1B without at least a Bachelors degree. The TN visa does not let you apply for a Green Card directly.

Re: Internship in SF led to a fulltime job offer – should I drop out and take it?

#7

Post by casparov »

If you don't have plans to pursue a career in the academia, then I think you should take the job. You can also discuss it with any university rep to find out until when you could possibly go back to where you stopped should you wish to finish your degree in the future.

Re: Internship in SF led to a fulltime job offer – should I drop out and take it?

#8

Post by onedev »

I'm going to venture a guess and say this company is GitHub.

Not a bad gig, and honestly if I were you, I'd take it. A degree really isn't that important anyway (for the goals you have, which I assume is to become a great engineer and build top notch products)

Re: Internship in SF led to a fulltime job offer – should I drop out and take it?

#9

Post by axoltl »

eshvk wrote: post #6

1. I think you are being underpaid if you are going to live in SF and get paid 105K for a company that is both well funded, and very well known. Unless your equity is very very significant. 2. Companies don't disappear in two years; if they do, you don't want to join that company. There is no hurry for you to join the company now. In fact, you could intern every year and continue to build relationships in the valley…

$105k is a livable wage in San Francisco, but expect about half of that paycheck to disappear into rent and about a quarter or a third going towards food and whatnot. On the other hand, my salary at this point isn't my main source of income, my stock grants are.

As for the immigration, I can confirm that you need at least a bachelors degree. I went through the H1-B (and GC) process and you can pretty much forget about it if you can't show at least equivalency. The main reason I finished mine and didn't do the exact thing you did (but 6 years ago) was for visa eligibility.

Be careful about saying TN, H1-B and GC in the same sentence. While an H1-B is a dual-intent visa (meaning you can pursue a GC), a TN is not. If you show intent to stay on a TN visa, that can hurt your chances in the future. This should be fine to talk about with your lawyer, but mum's the word when dealing with anyone in an official capacity.

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