How much performance matters in a company like Amazon and Google?

Walmart.com / Eng
abhi117

Go to company page Walmart.com Eng

abhi117
Jun 4, 2019 23 Comments

Is it difficult to survive in a company like Amazon or Google as a Software Engineer II or above if a employee is a avg Joe? What happens if you under perform at the end of year?

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TOP 23 Comments
  • Amazon
    nowlb

    Go to company page Amazon

    nowlb
    Amazon stack ranks so by definition if you are an “average” (50th percentile) employee, you can keep your job. Theoretically we only drop the bottom 10%.
    Jun 4, 2019 6
    • IBM / Eng
      cock.li

      Go to company page IBM Eng

      BIO
      Install Gentoo
      cock.li
      What do you mean you can't ramp up in one year. If you aren't ramped in 1 mo gtfo
      Jun 4, 2019
    • Amazon
      669

      Go to company page Amazon

      669
      Ramp up to the level for being considered a threat for an average employee...

      It requires time to understand all the different things especially related to echo system.
      Jun 4, 2019
  • Google / Eng
    dontneed

    Go to company page Google Eng

    dontneed
    Most engineers are average. Do you think Google is made of 100k geniuses? It’s not the people that end up making great products, it’s the process. Process is designed to make average engineers (given enough time) produce high quality results. E.g Code Reviews, Testing etc
    Jun 4, 2019 4
  • Google
    nrvD43

    Go to company page Google

    nrvD43
    Amazon is known for PIP'ing and firing, Google not so much but it still does happen.
    Jun 4, 2019 0
  • Amazon
    fu-cong

    Go to company page Amazon

    fu-cong
    Amazon stack ranks, but the stack ranking is based on politics and not on performance. You could perform really well, but your manager could hate you and gather “evidence” against you and PIP you.
    On the other hand, I’ve seen engineers who are absolutely useless, but they do just fine because they get along great with their managers outside of work.
    So the answer is that you could get fired at Amazon, but it won’t be because you are an Average Joe.
    Jun 4, 2019 2
    • Amazon / Eng
      OlAl28

      Go to company page Amazon Eng

      OlAl28
      Yep even being TT I'd say this is largely correct. People skills matter as much as we as engineers would like to think they do not
      Jun 4, 2019
    • Amazon
      oLyy11

      Go to company page Amazon

      oLyy11
      Only to bad managers. Which amazon unfortunately has a lot of. There are those rare ones who aren’t bad tho
      Jun 4, 2019
  • Amazon / Eng
    AB’er

    Go to company page Amazon Eng

    AB’er
    Lots of discussion on this in the Amazon room, actually.

    SDE 2 used to be a career band. It’s incredibly broad, with people with 2 YoE up through 15+ in it. However, there’s talk of that ending and people getting DevListed for simply not moving to Senior after certain time.

    I’ve seen several Sr SDE exited. It’s not pretty, but it’s typically people who were hired externally and who weren’t really a fit.

    Short answer: we stack rank. It’s tough.
    Jun 4, 2019 3