I have my LinkedIn setting to not receive any recruiter pings, but they manage to get through somehow. A few weeks ago, a Tesla FW recruiter emails me: do I want to interview for a FW position? I politely decline; I am well off at Jawbone and I haven't been at Jawbone long enough to have run out of learning opportunity, so I am not interested unless I get a significant pay raise, which I believe is not possible (recruiter told me Tesla likes to slightly underpay in return for equity). Then the recruiter comes back: would I consider a TPM (technical program manager) role, since I have a lot of different experience in the technology sector? I am surprised, and intrigued, so agree to phone conversation.
Several days later, a FW manager (Michael) calls me and tells me he needs a FW engineer. I ask about the TPM role, but Michael tells me that's news to him, and he's only interested in my FW skills. I ask him what he needs, and believe that I can do what he wants. But I told him what I told the recruiter: I would be burning my bridges at Jawbone, so I would only consider moving only for significant salary raise. That's the end of the brief phone call with Michael, and I don't hear anything back from Tesla. When I ask the recruiter what they didn't like about me, he tells me because I put money as a precondition, whereas they are looking for people who buy into Tesla's mission, vision, etc.
Well this is the interesting part, isn't it? I mean: why do we work for someone else (i.e. non-family or friends)? For me, it's the paycheck first, and then self-fulfillment, and camaraderie. Are there really people at Tesla who put the dream of all-electric transportation future above all else? How about if Tesla stock was at $10/share? Whatever the case may be, where I believe I rubbed Tesla the wrong way is that:
- I didn't include company mission and vision in my list; i.e. I am not a Tesla fan-boy. In fact, I am not a fan-boy of any kind.
- I implied that all of the intangible reasons one works for a someone else--even a hot company like Tesla--have a price (high price in my case).
I own up to both. It would be an arrogance on Tesla's part to consider its mission/vision to be any more noble than Jawbone's--even if it is the public's darling right now. The second one is debatable: Jawbone's last President (Sameer) left after only several months on the job because he "got an opportunity of a lifetime at Google" according to him; does that mean he is not principled? My mistake was not presenting my thoughts in a more positive light. Since I am well compensated and my situation is relatively secure at the moment, I was actually only interested in the TPM role; I would have considered leaving Jawbone only for say another $50k more--which would put me in an unheard of salary range for a FW engineer. Since this was an impossibility, I should have just said I am not interested in the FW position.
I still wonder though: does being a realist mean I am unprincipled?
I still wonder though: does being a realist mean I am unprincipled?
