3 ms·

i’ve interviewed with aws and received offers twice over the years. the first time they made me pay for my own lunch. the second time no lunch break was afford

i’ve interviewed with aws and received offers twice over the years. the first time they made me pay for my own lunch. the second time no lunch break was afforded. i didn’t accept the offers though i know several truly excellent people who work there.

neilv 1y ago
When I interviewed at a Google outpost, a good-cop employee they mistakenly thought had a connection to me took me to lunch (message: forget about the bad-cop interviewer you were just with, you're among friends, loosen your tongue so our spy can report back) in their cafeteria (message: look at the free food perks you'd enjoy), and initiated a conversation with an visiting economist there who then spoke of something oddly relevant to my research interest at the time (message: look at the interesting people and collaborations you will bump into every day). Your interview lunch experience sounds like message: this is what it's going to be like, and we don't care if you join us.
- coderatlarge 1y ago
  yes, i definitely walked away with that impression. maybe they reserve the better experience for mire desirable candidates :)
- eythian 1y ago
  I've been on the other side of that (not google), taking people to lunch who are interviewing. Usually you're picked because they're from the same country as you or something like that. At least where I work it's not like those messages. Instead it's lunch because food is good to have, and if you were lunching with them you weren't involved in the interview process at all, and it gave them a person to ask questions of and get an unbiased-as-reasonable response. If there were real red flags I'd probably raise it, but otherwise I had no contact with anyone in the hiring process regarding that person at all.
  - neilv 11mo ago
    I don't know what percentage of companies use the lunch in an on-site interview for evaluation, but definitely some do. Either with express feedback into the process, or because it's the hiring manager taking the person to lunch, and this is shaping their opinion. I suppose some could also use it as a refresher break, from their battery of antagonistic one-way LeetCode hazings, or a chance to give the person a more comfortable feeling about the company (not otherwise permitted by their hazing process).
sgerenser 1y ago
That’s weird, both times that I interviewed for Amazon (admittedly pre-pandemic) they paid for flights, hotels, and all meals, including lunch. The lunch was basically either before or after your interview (depending on whether you had an afternoon or morning interview schedule) and you just grabbed whatever you want on your own. But it was expected to be expensed just like all other interview expenses.

neilv 1y ago

When I interviewed at a Google outpost, a good-cop employee they mistakenly thought had a connection to me took me to lunch (message: forget about the bad-cop interviewer you were just with, you're among friends, loosen your tongue so our spy can report back) in their cafeteria (message: look at the free food perks you'd enjoy), and initiated a conversation with an visiting economist there who then spoke of something oddly relevant to my research interest at the time (message: look at the interesting people and collaborations you will bump into every day). Your interview lunch experience sounds like message: this is what it's going to be like, and we don't care if you join us.

coderatlarge 1y ago
yes, i definitely walked away with that impression. maybe they reserve the better experience for mire desirable candidates :)
eythian 1y ago
I've been on the other side of that (not google), taking people to lunch who are interviewing. Usually you're picked because they're from the same country as you or something like that. At least where I work it's not like those messages. Instead it's lunch because food is good to have, and if you were lunching with them you weren't involved in the interview process at all, and it gave them a person to ask questions of and get an unbiased-as-reasonable response. If there were real red flags I'd probably raise it, but otherwise I had no contact with anyone in the hiring process regarding that person at all.
- neilv 11mo ago
  I don't know what percentage of companies use the lunch in an on-site interview for evaluation, but definitely some do. Either with express feedback into the process, or because it's the hiring manager taking the person to lunch, and this is shaping their opinion. I suppose some could also use it as a refresher break, from their battery of antagonistic one-way LeetCode hazings, or a chance to give the person a more comfortable feeling about the company (not otherwise permitted by their hazing process).

sgerenser 1y ago

That’s weird, both times that I interviewed for Amazon (admittedly pre-pandemic) they paid for flights, hotels, and all meals, including lunch. The lunch was basically either before or after your interview (depending on whether you had an afternoon or morning interview schedule) and you just grabbed whatever you want on your own. But it was expected to be expensed just like all other interview expenses.