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Nice! When you're a black man it's difficult to make white folks feel comfortable. All they see is your Blackness* :/

StudentStuff 7y ago
I'm not black, but having spent time homeless and not having the best educational path, I know most tech companies that have interviewed me look down on me or consider me unhirable despite using code I wrote. The experience you describe lines up with what I've heard from friends, I'd recommend reconsidering Amazon though, the company is highly segmented internally and time at a FAANG will likely boost your earning potential down the line. Most of the employees that have been there 3+ years are inert/zombified, working 50-60hrs a week. Their recruiters also BS around, I wouldn't take the interview process personally. One friend interviewed at Amazon and thought she did terrible, yet they still offered her $80hr. Avoid the corporate kool-aid, cash their paychecks for a year or two, pole vault to an even better position at a slightly less well known company (with a better culture).
- thorcode 7y ago
  Thanks for your input. I appreciate you taking the time to share. Companies like Google and Amazon should make it clear in the beginning that their intent when it comes to these job posting is to collect market data and they're not really interested in hiring the candidate. It's totally fine to be upfront with this information because believe it or not, there are candidates out there just looking to practice there interviewing skills to improve. Obviously, these Technical Recruiters have a quota they have to meet for the numbers of candidates to interview for an opportunity each month so it looks like they are doing their job*(Recruiting). But as a Technical Recruiters, it would be a good idea to make that clear to the candidates you are interviewing at the beginning of the interview process so that you are not wasting anyone time. As a Black Man in America, the gears almost always change once the person that hiring for the role finds out that I am Black. I always get past the phone interview because talking over the phone it defaults to tell my race. I've been dealing with this sh!t for 8+ years now and it's getting really old. :)

I'm not black, but having spent time homeless and not having the best educational path, I know most tech companies that have interviewed me look down on me or consider me unhirable despite using code I wrote. The experience you describe lines up with what I've heard from friends, I'd recommend reconsidering Amazon though, the company is highly segmented internally and time at a FAANG will likely boost your earning potential down the line. Most of the employees that have been there 3+ years are inert/zombified, working 50-60hrs a week. Their recruiters also BS around, I wouldn't take the interview process personally. One friend interviewed at Amazon and thought she did terrible, yet they still offered her $80hr. Avoid the corporate kool-aid, cash their paychecks for a year or two, pole vault to an even better position at a slightly less well known company (with a better culture).

thorcode 7y ago
Thanks for your input. I appreciate you taking the time to share. Companies like Google and Amazon should make it clear in the beginning that their intent when it comes to these job posting is to collect market data and they're not really interested in hiring the candidate. It's totally fine to be upfront with this information because believe it or not, there are candidates out there just looking to practice there interviewing skills to improve. Obviously, these Technical Recruiters have a quota they have to meet for the numbers of candidates to interview for an opportunity each month so it looks like they are doing their job*(Recruiting). But as a Technical Recruiters, it would be a good idea to make that clear to the candidates you are interviewing at the beginning of the interview process so that you are not wasting anyone time. As a Black Man in America, the gears almost always change once the person that hiring for the role finds out that I am Black. I always get past the phone interview because talking over the phone it defaults to tell my race. I've been dealing with this sh!t for 8+ years now and it's getting really old. :)