I Quit My $240,000 Job at Meta. Here's How I Got Hired and Grew My Salary — and Why I Left. Here's why I left Meta for an AI startup.

^{This article originally appeared on Business Insider.}

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alexandru Voica, a 39-year-old communication professional based in London. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm from Romania and studied computer science at a university in my home country. After graduating, I accepted a position with ARM in Cambridge. I've lived and worked in the UK for the last 15 years.

I started in engineering roles but soon realized my passion for technology and storytelling, which drove me toward marketing communications. This transition wasn't financially motivated but about finding joy in my work.

Entering the PR and marketing world came with a learning curve. My roles often involved bridging the gap between engineers, scientists, and journalists, leveraging my technical background and communication skills.

I joined Meta because of its impact and scale

In 2018, I left my role as head of technology PR and communications at Ocado Group and joined Meta after seeing a role that interested me on LinkedIn. I started interfacing with teams around the world.

I was clear about what I wanted regarding salary and benefits, including stock options. Meta offered me a comprehensive benefits package that met my expectations. It included healthcare, parental leave, gym memberships, and a pension plan.

I wasn't offered a sign-on bonus, but my compensation included a yearly bonus, half based on my performance and half on the company's financial performance. The percentage increased with promotions, starting at 20% and moving to 25% as I advanced.

By the time I left in 2022, I was making £135K, around $173,000, in base salary and £190K in total, around $244,000, including the bonus and RSUs.

To get promoted at Meta, you need to perform and collaborate effectively

The promotion process at Meta involved a twice-a-year performance review cycle. Promotions were about individual achievements and how collaboratively and effectively you worked with others.

The process sometimes feels like navigating social dynamics, as building positive relationships is crucial. I was promoted once.

At other companies I've worked for, decision-making was mainly driven from the top, and teams had clear areas of focus, which they rarely strayed away from. Meta was unique because decision-making was also done cross-functionally, spanning multiple teams, which meant you could leverage the expertise of people outside your organization.

The size of Meta was a new experience for me

The company's size was unlike any I had worked at before. The vast scale introduced challenges and opportunities unique to a global company with significant societal impact.

Meta's large scale meant initiating projects was more complex than in smaller companies. Projects required buy-in from cross-functional teams and sometimes had to pass through several layers of approval, which, while thorough, could slow down the process. There would be times when you'd have dozens of people involved in a decision or project that shouldn't have required much debate.

The company's prominence also meant that the media and the public constantly scrutinized our work, which is expected for a company with such a broad societal impact.

There are advantages and disadvantages of being associated with such an impactful company

The name recognition and validation of my experience provided a competitive edge when seeking jobs, which I started to do after I had been at Meta for around 3 ½ years. This part of my résumé often caught the attention of recruiters.

There were also some drawbacks. Smaller companies might hesitate to hire someone from a major tech firm due to concerns about matching salary expectations or fearing that I might be overqualified for the roles they were offering.

My visibility on platforms like LinkedIn increased to the extent that I frequently received unsolicited messages from both recruiters and random individuals seeking assistance. It occasionally placed me in awkward situations where I had to redirect these requests to official support channels.

While the professional network I had built was beneficial, it also led to an overwhelming number of requests for recommendations or guidance on getting hired at Meta, which were difficult to manage.

I decided to leave Meta for personal reasons

After the demanding pandemic years, I wanted to spend more time with my family. An internal hiring freeze and subsequent layoffs confirmed my decision to seek opportunities elsewhere, leading me to a role in a different sector aligned more closely with my professional goals and values.

Before the layoffs in November 2022 were publicly announced, I had already sensed that the company might be scaling up unsustainably. During my tenure, I watched the employee count surge from about 50,000 to 90,000. This near doubling of the workforce seemed disproportionate, even for a company of Meta's scale.

It's good to be cautious when considering transitioning into tech

I've been working for a startup in London specializing in AI avatars for eight months. Unlike larger corporations' structured and layered settings, I have direct access to the company's leadership, which allows me to make a bigger impact on decisions.

I also advise the world's first AI university in Abu Dhabi, which taps into my network and experiences from Meta to raise the institution's global profile in AI education. Relationships cultivated in Big Tech can lead to meaningful opportunities even after moving on.

I have no regrets, but I do miss my Meta colleagues. I'm open to returning to Big Tech if the right opportunity arises. My positive experiences at Meta mean I would consider another role there.