The importance of your initial promotions
When you join a big tech company as a new grad, there are some expectations that you reach a senior level in a timely manner – e.g. Google/Meta/Databricks expect you to go from L3 -> L5 in 4-5 years.
While there are some external factors to grow to staff and beyond, the path to senior is fairly straightforward in these companies. This means that if you leave before you reach that level (e.g. as a L3/L4), it’s going to be significantly harder for you to join another big tech company because recruiters will assume you couldn’t reach senior in the first place.
Like always, there are a plethora of valid reasons to leave before you reach senior (e.g. if you want to work in a startup), and the doors aren’t fully closed (e.g. if you have a referral) but it’s just harder to get back to big tech companies. This is one reason you often see openings for new grads and senior positions, but nothing for mid-levels.