[tomduncalf]

The thing to note is that the base salary isn’t often too far off from non-FAANG jobs, but the stock grant which usually “vests” over 4 years is what makes the compensation so much higher.

The amount of stock is locked in based on how many shares the dollar amount you’re offered would buy when you start, so if the share price goes up over time then that’s going to be worth more when it vests (which I guess mostly happened in the last decade), but if it drops from when you started it’s worth less (as happened in the last year, so if you started this time last year and the company stock is down 50%, that compensation is worth a lot less now).

I definitely think it’s good to be aware of what compensation at these places looks like, I wasn’t really aware of how significant the stock thing is until recently (but I had a fun career up to now so not to worry!). I guess one of the downsides is that these are often huge companies there’s a reasonable chance you’ll end up maintaining some boring internal system or whatever, so it depends what motivates you.

[highwaylights]

Honestly, as I'm non-US, I think I'm ruled out of those compensation packages (I don't think many offer remote work).

It's disappointing, but it's the reality for a lot of people I'm sure.

[tomduncalf]

Not sure where you’re based but some of the mid-sized companies definitely do hire outside of the US and offer equity (typically places where they have a company presence so they can employ you, and I guess they’ll probably try to have people in sensible time zones) and are remote-first. For example, I’m based in London and my last job was with MongoDB and that was fully remote in EMEA.

[eddsh1994]

Check out angel.co and look for remote startup roles - I've worked with two US startups from the UK prior to moving out here. Some are happy with extra experience & lower end of salary while you'll still have a good multiple.

The alternative to that is contracting - London is a great place to look for that.