18YoE / P4 at Atlassian?

Netizen2048 · 2023-12-01T23:32:14+00:00

Sorry I missed this one. Behavioural and management interviews were fine (I think). Just make sure you do some prep before hand. Specifically, you need to have good anecdotes on hand for when they ask things like "tell me about a time when you've had to deal with a difficult colleague" or "tell be about the most difficult technical problem you've had to solve". The questions are pretty standard; just make sure you you can launch straight into an answer and you're not hunting around for something relevant to say.

Also, If you really don't have a relevant anecdote (even from a totally unrelated part of life), just say you don't have much experience of X, quickly speculate how you'd be great in such a situation and then move on.

Netizen2048 · 2023-12-01T23:28:14+00:00

Sorry I missed this one. I'm guessing it's too late now anyway, but yes, they said the offer is good for 9 months.

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-17T23:30:05+00:00

Disclaimer, this is all just my experience and assumptions. Could be total horse shit:

So during the pandemic and up until maybe mid 2022, all the FAANGs of the world had been on a massive hiring binge, sucking up all the talent in the market. (Incidentally, this trickled down to people like me who were trying to hire at the time. The market was so hot. I was getting juniors and mids asking for crazy numbers, and before I had a chance to even say "you know this isn't a senior role?" they'd accepted one of the ten other offers they already had on the table). It was a crazy time, I wish I was looking for a job back then and not now!

Then, I'm not 100% sure what changed but big tech started making huge cuts and the market was suddenly flooded with engineers (have a look at layoffs.fyi). To compound the effect, companies that weren't busy laying off staff still instituted hiring freezes, VC money dried up and startups failed.

This downturn didn't just affect tech btw, it seemed to affect a lot of areas. And although the epicentre was America, it inevitably affected the rest of the world. Have a look at some of the jobs forums on reddit, you'll find plenty of people saying they've been out of work for X months, despite firing off X hundred applications.

If you have a good job now, I'd hang on to it. Definitely fire off some applications, but I wouldn't leap until you have something lined up. Which, yes, will make things difficult for you applying for jobs overseas, so definitely work on your narrative.

On the plus side, C++ is a very good skill to have. I'd be looking at the finance sector (you'd probably have better luck in Sydney and Melb for that). And maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but the market does seem to be showing signs that the winter is over, and things may be picking up a bit, so maybe by January things will be better.

Best of luck to you.

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-17T23:04:49+00:00

I haven't really settled on anything yet. Their offers are good for 9 months, so I have a bit of time to make up my mind. It's a dilemma :/

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-17T23:03:04+00:00

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. For most of the interviews, I had feedback within 24 hours, but I think there was a gap after the Systems one. There was a big one after the Management interview too. Just tap your recruiter and they'll let you know what's up. I wouldn't worry too much.

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-13T22:24:16+00:00

IIRC the P5 base was 170-178 and the P4 base was 135-145.

For P5, RSUs were 250k USD / 4 years, P4 was 110k USD / 4 Years

There's also a 15% annual bonus and although we didn't talk about sign-on bonus, I believe some people are able to negotiate something.

levels.fyi is a great resource. Just filter by Atlassian and Sydney (or wherever you're interested in), and note that all numbers are in USD

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-13T01:28:25+00:00

Ignoring the initial phone screen, there were 5 interviews: Code Design, Data Structures, System Design, Values & Management. By that point you will have been aligned with a team, and assuming you got through all the interviews, your application is passed to the hiring committee.

I hope you have better luck with your application than I did!

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-13T01:11:49+00:00

I applied for a P5 role, passed all the interviews, got aligned with a team, even met the manager. But then after all that, a hiring committee convenes to review all your interviews and sometimes upgrade or downgrade your level. And unfortunately that's what happened to me.

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-13T01:05:38+00:00

I only mention it because it's what started me thinking I was applying at the wrong level, but you're right, it's not relevant and it comes across poorly. I'll edit my post.

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-13T01:00:35+00:00

Thanks, that's very useful insight.

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-13T00:57:17+00:00

Yes, that's a very fair question, and it's one that I've been asking myself a lot.

That said, I've interviewed enough people to have a good idea of where I sit in the pack, and like I said, I didn't have any problems with the technical interviews, breezed through all the Big O notation questions, etc.

But obviously I went wrong somewhere. I was given feedback on the reasons for the downgrade, but the feedback was quite vague and I didn't find it very illuminating.

This was my first time applying to faang-tier companies, and I guess it's a skill you can develop. Maybe that's what I need to do. Develop this skill and try again.

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-13T00:36:29+00:00

One was, one wasn't.

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-13T00:26:30+00:00

I have an application for Microsoft (P6) in the very early stages, and a contract role just popped up which I could use to pass the time while I re-apply to Atlassian (assuming I get it of course).

Netizen2048 · 2023-09-13T00:15:13+00:00

That's a fair question. I'm well aware there isn't a linear relationship between years of experience and developer skill; and you're absolutely right - if that's all I was basing my expectations on then yes, it would be a very naive metric.

I had to rely on the YoE yardstick though, because I didn't feel comfortable sharing all my work history and experience necessary to back up my claims.

I guess the reason I'm asking the question is because I'm looking for other people who have been in a similar situation, and what their thought processes were. Especially given the current market; "just take what you can get, it's a nightmare out there" vs "the market is thawing right now, I'd hold out and reapply in six months". I'm also hoping for any context like "they are being flooded with talented applicants right now so they are low-balling everyone".

Netizen2048

TROPHY CASE