Meta Ads Infra PE vs Intel AI Agent SDE for new grad
I’m a new grad and having a hard time deciding between two verbal offers. I’d appreciate advice, especially from people familiar with Meta PE, Intel software teams, immigration/GC policies, or early-career SWE growth.
Background:
I interned at Meta last year as a PE and got a GE rating. I returned this February as a new grad to my original team, Warm Storage, but was laid off on 5/20 after only about 3.5 months. It was pretty rough emotionally. I started interviewing quickly and now have two verbal offers. One of them is a return offer to Meta.
Offer 1: Meta | Ads Infra PE
Pros:
- Stronger brand name and resume value. During my recent job search, Meta connections definitely helped.
- Ads Infra is a core revenue org. The manager said the team is relatively stable, and only one person was impacted around 5/20.
- The director proactively reached out to me, which feels like a positive signal.
- Mature large-scale infra work, likely a good place to learn.
- Potentially Day 1 green card. I’ve also heard PE cases may be slightly easier for immigration, but I’m not sure.
Cons:
- Package stays around the same: ~133K base + ~32K stock.
- Returning would effectively cost me around $50K due to losing 2 months of severance plus no new sign-on.
- I have some anxiety about going back to Meta after being laid off as a new grad after only 3.5 months.
- Not sure if PE has worse long-term career growth compared with pure SDE.
- Team fit is a question mark. The team has many newer people, with most tenure under 5 months.
Offer 2: Intel | AI Agent SDE
Pros:
- More trendy technical area: Agent Harness / Hybrid Agent, roughly OpenClaw + hybrid model scheduling.
- 30K sign-on.
- Slightly higher level / comp. Current numbers are around 155K base + 28K cash per year + 30K sign-on.
- Expected WLB seems better.
- Team communication/culture fit feels more comfortable to me.
- Because of H1B considerations, I may choose the Oregon office, which seems more favorable and can map to level 3.
Cons:
- The team feels like an internal startup inside Intel, so project stability is unclear.
- Agent Harness sounds exciting, but I’m worried about long-term durability since AI is changing so fast, unless it can tie meaningfully into Intel’s hardware advantage.
- Intel is still primarily a hardware company, so I’m not sure the software engineering process will be as strong as top software companies.
- Initial HR discussion suggests GC may only start after H1B, which is a downside. Would appreciate any Intel folks confirming or correcting this.
My questions:
- As a new grad, if I want to optimize for stability, future optionality, and career growth, which offer would you choose?
- How much does PE vs SDE matter early in career?
- Is Intel’s AI Agent internal startup worth betting on, or is returning to Meta Ads Infra the better long-term move?
- For immigration/GC, is Meta clearly better here?
Thanks in advance. Any advice is appreciated.