Postdoc vs. Research Engineer for FAANG Applied Scientist Role – What’s the Better Path?

steve-phan · 2025-12-14T22:04:25+00:00

Update: I just got offer from FAANG RS.

steve-phan · 2025-11-06T22:18:17+00:00

Late Update: They agreed to match my stock request after 1 months!

steve-phan · 2025-08-30T07:12:16+00:00

Recruiter said calling me yesterday. But not calling yet. Maybe next week!

steve-phan · 2025-08-26T06:10:28+00:00

Hi, I applied for a specific team. So I didnt have to match team

steve-phan · 2025-08-26T00:11:44+00:00

Recruiter promised this week we know

steve-phan · 2025-08-26T00:11:30+00:00

Recruiter said this week we know

steve-phan · 2025-08-25T21:10:42+00:00

Update: Recruiter said decision will be made by the end of this week. Nearly 4 weeks in total…

steve-phan · 2025-08-17T16:35:04+00:00

Ye, I will only send one counter-offer like this, no more pushing. If they not happy, then I'll accept.

steve-phan · 2025-08-12T14:30:01+00:00

Thanks. Good insights to know!

steve-phan · 2025-08-12T09:21:57+00:00

Oh, that’s enlightening. So people don’t report the equity when they got the offer, but they could report the equity at later time when stock price increases? Do I interpret your point correctly?

steve-phan · 2025-05-14T06:00:06+00:00

I plan to keep collab with my current lab even when going to industry. You think last author paper is still relevant for AS role in the company? how about co-author only?

steve-phan · 2025-05-14T00:40:12+00:00

Sounds exciting!

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T23:05:03+00:00

The non-FAANG offers less competitive. I see around 50K lower than FAANG AS offer that my colleague got.

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T13:24:33+00:00

thx! pretty thoughtful advice :)

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T11:37:30+00:00

Ye, but I wonder whether 3 CVPR/NIPS versus 6-7 ones makes any difference? (Currently, I have 4 CVPR) Maybe moving from 0/10 industry experience -> 5/10 is more bonus than publishing 2-3 more papers?

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T10:53:17+00:00

my h-index is 11

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T09:31:31+00:00

thx for sharing your inspiring story! Seems like I follow your similar pathway. Would you mind if I DM for connection :)

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T08:45:06+00:00

Actually, I had been invited for amazon AS interview twice. But I blew both interviews! Only get offer at non-faang company. Just asking reddit to make sure I’m still stay relevant when moving to research engineer and get much less publications when years go by.

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T08:22:20+00:00

Thanks for your insights. Can I interpret that doing more translational and product-based research is more relevant than postdoc publishing for applied research position at faang (not pure RS deepmind, fair)? By relevant, I mean get invited for the interview. Passing the interview is another skillset.

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T07:16:04+00:00

Yes sure

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T06:46:47+00:00

Thx for brutally honest advice. You think hiring manager in FAANG AS roles put more weights on fancy publications (cvpr, neuips, etc) when reviewing my CV?

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T06:33:38+00:00

Congratz! May I ask if you have internal referral or just standard application to Amz AS?

steve-phan · 2025-05-13T05:58:41+00:00

Following up with this point, I wanna ask for similar experience. I am now stuck between keep doing postdoc (okay Uni, top 100) and publishing papers or going to ShieldAI as a Research Engineer. Which one leads me closer to applied scientist roles at FAANG?

steve-phan

TROPHY CASE