Why I chose Google over Microsoft and Meta

By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time.\n\nAccess your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you\\'re on the go. download the app\n\nSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview\n\nThis as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a Google employee who requested anonymity to protect their privacy. Business Insider has verified their identity and offer letters. The following has been edited for length and clarity.\n\nI started school at a top-ranked school for tech about four years ago. When I first entered, I was undecided about my career path.\n\nThis story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.\n\nBut by my sophomore year, I had my eyes set on FANG, also known as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. My ultimate dream was to work at Google,\n\nDuring my sophomore year, I started grinding on applications for the summer.\n\nAdvertisement\n\nMy GPA at the time was a 4.0, which definitely helped. But I also spent a ton of time doing Leet Code practice, which are algorithm brain teasers to test if you understand the fundamentals of theoretical computer science.\n\nMy hard work paid off and I was able to get an offer from Google, Facebook, and Amazon.\n\nI ended up interning at Google for two summers, and the experience was everything I hoped for. I received great mentorship and worked on interesting projects that I learned a lot from.\n\nWhen I finished my second internship, I received hiring committee approval, which allows former interns to get matched with a team full-time.\n\nAdvertisement\n\nThe issue was that it wasn\\'t a guaranteed match — and if you don\\'t get matched within a year, it expires.\n\nI got full-time offers from Microsoft, Meta, and Google\n\nI started off the job hunt process pretty confident. But a couple of months before graduating, I still hadn\\'t heard from Google.\n\nI sent several follow-ups asking about the matching process, but they had no updates for me.\n\nRelated stories\n\nSo I started looking at other companies and ended up applying to at least 100 companies over the next few months. Once the market picked up, I started to receive a lot of DMs and cold emails from recruiters, including Meta.\n\nAdvertisement\n\nI spent a couple of months interviewing and eventually received offers from Meta and Microsoft. Right as I was about to accept my offer from Meta, Google let me know that

they found a match for me.\n\nMeta initially offered a higher total comp, but Google had some attractive benefits\n\nThe offers from Meta and Google were most attractive to me so I was deciding between those two.\n\nMeta gave me a better offer initially. It included $131,000 in base pay, 10% of my base as a bonus with the potential for an additional 10% based on performance, a $16,000 signing bonus, and $150,000 in stock options over four years. The total compensation came out to around $210,700.\n\nThe companywide performance bonus isn\\'t given out every year, but if it does well, it will most likely be given out to its engineers.\n\nAdvertisement\n\nGoogle originally offered me less in total compensation, but I was able to get them to increase the offer to $218,360 in total compensation, including a $138,000 base salary, 15% bonus, and $157,000 in stock options over four years.\n\nGoogle also offered a $13,000 cash stipend for relocation, which made a difference. Meta\\'s relocation package offered cash in lieu of some of the services they offered, like employment housing for 30 days, but the recruiter told me I could only cash out up to $5,000.\n\nGoogle\\'s front-loaded stock schedule also made a big difference in my first-year compensation, which appealed to me. At Google, I would receive 38% in the first year, 32% in the second year, 20% in the third year, and 10% in the fourth. At Meta, I would\\'ve received 25% every year.\n\nGoogle also offered work for a month anywhere in the world, which was pretty cool.\n\nAdvertisement\n\nBoth have hybrid work structures, but Meta seemed stricter about it. The recruiter at Meta told me three days a week, in-person were required. At Google, it was a suggestion, and in the two summers I worked there, it wasn\\'t enforced. Some weeks I didn\\'t come in person at all and it wasn\\'t an issue.\n\nI would have chosen Google either way\n\nIf Google didn\\'t increase its total compensation offer, I would\\'ve had a really tough decision to make. But I still would have chosen Google because the role itself was more interesting to me.\n\nThat, and it\\'s the company I always wanted to work for.\n\nGoogle made an impact on me early on. Before college and working in tech, Google was a name that stood out to me. It\\'s a hallmark of company culture, and it started off bigger than the other tech companies that have emerged.\n\nAdvertisement\n\nGoogle may not be the one leading the AI train, but I think they\\'ll catch up. Google is the top search eng