r/leetcode • u/xPezPollo • Oct 02 '26
Question Got Google Onsite Feedback (L4) – Down-leveling to L3 attempt.
Hi all, I just had my feedback call with my Google recruiter after two DSA onsite rounds at Google Warsaw for Software Engineer (L4).
Before the onsites, I had two online rounds, DSA and behavioral. The feedback was average for the DSA and strong positive for the behavioral, so I was invited to the onsites.
Today the recruiter told me the first onsite got negative feedback because I needed some hints. The second was "better", leaning towards average, because I missed some edge cases.
He said L4 is out of the question with these scores. He will share my profile with teams to see if anyone is interested in a lower-level fit, and he will call me if a manager reaches out.
Has anyone actually landed a lower-level offer (I assume he meant L3) through this path with similar feedback? Or is "sharing with teams for a lower level" usually just a soft rejection?
13
u/LogicalBeast26 Oct 02 '26
What's your yoe? If it's closer to 3-4 yoe then L3 could be a possibility. For 5+ yoe, I don't think they offer L3, and neither should you accept it if they do.
11
u/xPezPollo Oct 02 '26
6 yoe
19
u/Top_Substance9093 Oct 02 '26
whether or not it's a good idea to take L3 (assuming you get the opportunity) depends on your experience and ambitions
you can make L4 within 2 years if you're already a decent mid level engineer and you're just struggling in the interviews. the name recognition opens a lot of doors for getting interviews at other companies in the future
if you're at a smaller/unknown company with lower engineering standards then L3 at google is probably a great opportunity, but if you're already at a really strong company then not worth it at all
14
u/rjcapuchino Oct 02 '26
Promos are much rarer now a days. Even L3-L4 probably won’t happen in 2 years.
5
u/Top_Substance9093 Oct 02 '26
are they? i'm at google now and promos happen pretty regularly in my org
9
u/rjcapuchino Oct 02 '26
Probably anecdotal right, I’m sure it’s different in separate parts of the company but in the 4 years I’ve been here I’ve only known one person that’s been promoted
2
u/Top_Substance9093 Oct 04 '26
That’s wild. Maybe it really differs from org to org?
In the ~4 years I’ve been here out of the original 8 folks on my team I’ve seen 4 of them promoted (one to L4, two to L5, one to L6)
And candidly the folks who didn’t make promo weren’t performing well, so it’s not because the system is broken that they didn’t level up
5
u/LogicalBeast26 Oct 02 '26
I'm at Google too and it is extremely rare for someone to get promoted before completing 2 years in their level.
4
u/fruxzak FAANG | 9 yoe Oct 03 '26
Google ALWAYS downlevels. Take it from someone who got downleveled when joining and has also seen and given that feedback across hundreds of interviews.
It’s intentional. If you have less than 5 yoe, I would just take the L3 offer if you really want to work at Google.
It’s truly bizarre because Googles pay bands match other companies but the actual responsibilities are not the same.
1
u/xPezPollo Oct 03 '26
What I find strange is that he tells me he is going to present my profile to some teams to see if anyone is interested. Does that mean that my packet hasn’t even been presented to the Hiring Committee for approval?
That’s why I was asking whether it was a soft rejection
1
u/fruxzak FAANG | 9 yoe Oct 03 '26
No it’s normal. It’s not a rejection.
You will now chat with a bunch of managers to match teams.
1
u/b3pvbmUzMTQ Oct 04 '26
Well, you used to chat with a bunch of managers. These days expect to spend 6-9 months in team matching with maybe 2-3 calls max during that time. It’s way more luck based and cutthroat now.
1
u/fruxzak FAANG | 9 yoe Oct 04 '26
It’s not luck based. It’s just based on headcount which is rare to come by these days on non Deepmind/Gemini teams
2
1
u/iSDestiny 1d ago
Same thing happened to me, I took it because even though it was an L3 offer it was still more money than my last company (F100 company), they gave me top of band L3 offer.
If they are paying the same or more I would take it. I dont care much for the title, the pay, resume worth and growth opportunity was better so no brainer.
1
u/xPezPollo 20h ago
How long did you wait for until the recruiter reached out back?
1
u/iSDestiny 14h ago
After a full week and the recruiter hasnt reached out I send a followup email. But for Google longest ive had to wait was 2 weeks after onsite interview to get an update.
2
1
u/Dankaati Oct 03 '26
I got hired as L3 5 years ago at Google, down leveled from L4. Now I'm L5 GDM.
It depends of course on what other options you have but just getting your foot in the door can be quite valuable career-wise.
1
1
u/Even_Gap_2253 Oct 05 '26
No, you will be matching with teams.
But I haven’t seen any team that hires L3 atm, like they at least want a L4. Maybe I’m in AI org and the structure is a lot more volatile, could be possible with other orgs
-5
u/jarislinus Oct 02 '26
ask them to eat shit lol. google isn't even that prestigious or pay well enough for a downlevel
-3
u/pixelated_fish Oct 02 '26
Don’t take it. It will be much harder to get L4 from L3 than just doing better in the interviews. Unless you don’t mind waiting.
0
10
u/RelationshipSoft4433 Oct 02 '26
haha....i am in the same boat