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I don't think it's about growing fast so much as, from those I talked to, Amazon now has a fairly bad reputation in the tech community. You only go to work ther

I don't think it's about growing fast so much as, from those I talked to, Amazon now has a fairly bad reputation in the tech community. You only go to work there if you don't have a better option (Google, Facebook, etc) or have some specialty skill they're willing to pay for. Pay is below other FAANG companies and the work culture isn't great (toxic even some would say). edit: They also had the most disorganized and de-centralized interview approach from all the FAANG companies I talked with. Which isn't growing pains this far in, it's just bad management and process.

imajoredinecon 6y ago
Interesting re interview experience I interviewed as a new grad SWE and the process was totally straightforward, and way lower friction (albeit much less human interaction, which made it feel even more impersonal) than almost everywhere else I applied: initial online screen, online programming task, and then a video call with an engineer where you explained your answer to the programming task.
- akhilcacharya 6y ago
  The process for new grads and interns is different from industry hires and is decided by team.
  - mav3rick 6y ago
    Why doesn't Amazon have one bar across the company ? Doesn't it lead to varying levels of talent across orgs ?
    - akhilcacharya 6y ago
      That's what bar raisers are for
- marcinzm 6y ago
  I was doing machine learning so more specialized than regular SDE. Other companies it was talk to recruiter, phone screen with manager, and then virtual onsite interviews. Hiring was either not team specific or the recruiter helped manage the process (ie: what does this role actually need). Very clear directions on what type of questions will be asked, format of the interviews, what to prepare for, etc. Amazon the recruiter just told me to look on the job site and then, despite me being clear, applied me to the wrong role. Then got one of those automated coding exercises despite 15 year experience and an internal referral. Wasn't hard but it also pointless since the coding exercise was for the wrong role. Finally got a phone screen and they asked me nothing but pedantic college textbook questions for 40 minutes. Recruiter provided no warning for that. edit: You could blame the recruiter but every other company had a well oiled machine for their recruiters. So even if they provided only generic information there was still a standard process for what they provided.
nixass 6y ago
Very anecdotal
- reducesuffering 6y ago
  Here's some anecdata that matches up with GP[0]. Note how Amazon is substantially worse-rated than most other companies. [0]https://www.teamblind.com/company/Amazon/ https://www.teamblind.com/company/Amazon/ Disclaimer: Am Amazon employee
ActorNightly 6y ago
Just as a general reminder to anyone reading this: forum comments are incredibly biased and hardly ever represent reality accurately.
- marcinzm 6y ago
  Yup, as I said, just my personal observations based on those I talked to. Your mileage will vary.
amf12 6y ago
> I don't think it's about growing fast so much as, from those I talked to, Amazon now has a fairly bad reputation in the tech community. My personal observation having known quite a few Amazon SWEs and interviewed them. The bad rep is only for the junior roles. SWEs who work at AWS and are high L5+ are pretty solid.
- akhilcacharya 6y ago
  What exactly does high L5+ mean?
  - amf12 6y ago
    SWEs who weren't just recently promoted to L5 at Amazon. They have some experience at that level. Granted, there could be some bias because it's not easy to pinpoint when they were promoted.
    - akhilcacharya 6y ago
      As a recently promoted L5, what bad rep should I be shielding myself from as a junior?

imajoredinecon 6y ago

Interesting re interview experience I interviewed as a new grad SWE and the process was totally straightforward, and way lower friction (albeit much less human interaction, which made it feel even more impersonal) than almost everywhere else I applied: initial online screen, online programming task, and then a video call with an engineer where you explained your answer to the programming task.

akhilcacharya 6y ago
The process for new grads and interns is different from industry hires and is decided by team.
- mav3rick 6y ago
  Why doesn't Amazon have one bar across the company ? Doesn't it lead to varying levels of talent across orgs ?
  - akhilcacharya 6y ago
    That's what bar raisers are for
marcinzm 6y ago
I was doing machine learning so more specialized than regular SDE. Other companies it was talk to recruiter, phone screen with manager, and then virtual onsite interviews. Hiring was either not team specific or the recruiter helped manage the process (ie: what does this role actually need). Very clear directions on what type of questions will be asked, format of the interviews, what to prepare for, etc. Amazon the recruiter just told me to look on the job site and then, despite me being clear, applied me to the wrong role. Then got one of those automated coding exercises despite 15 year experience and an internal referral. Wasn't hard but it also pointless since the coding exercise was for the wrong role. Finally got a phone screen and they asked me nothing but pedantic college textbook questions for 40 minutes. Recruiter provided no warning for that. edit: You could blame the recruiter but every other company had a well oiled machine for their recruiters. So even if they provided only generic information there was still a standard process for what they provided.

nixass 6y ago

Very anecdotal

reducesuffering 6y ago
Here's some anecdata that matches up with GP[0]. Note how Amazon is substantially worse-rated than most other companies. [0]https://www.teamblind.com/company/Amazon/ https://www.teamblind.com/company/Amazon/ Disclaimer: Am Amazon employee

ActorNightly 6y ago

Just as a general reminder to anyone reading this: forum comments are incredibly biased and hardly ever represent reality accurately.

marcinzm 6y ago
Yup, as I said, just my personal observations based on those I talked to. Your mileage will vary.

amf12 6y ago

> I don't think it's about growing fast so much as, from those I talked to, Amazon now has a fairly bad reputation in the tech community. My personal observation having known quite a few Amazon SWEs and interviewed them. The bad rep is only for the junior roles. SWEs who work at AWS and are high L5+ are pretty solid.

akhilcacharya 6y ago
What exactly does high L5+ mean?
- amf12 6y ago
  SWEs who weren't just recently promoted to L5 at Amazon. They have some experience at that level. Granted, there could be some bias because it's not easy to pinpoint when they were promoted.
  - akhilcacharya 6y ago
    As a recently promoted L5, what bad rep should I be shielding myself from as a junior?