Amazon Culture
I hear horror stories about the Amazon culture with people running out of meetings in tears and competition between engineers with monthly layoffs of you weren't performing enough. What is the reality at amazon working as an engineer?
Wut? Some teams are shit. Some are great. Most have pros and cons. Same as everywhere else. Culture is generally good in my experience so far.
The horror/stress is extremely over exaggerated. Most teams are fine and people are happy.
Oh trust me, this place is not a good spot. Enjoy life, don't work at Amazon. It's a hell hole.
It’s really bad -I would advise you to really do research on the team your joining
Exactly. You can be joining shit show or a solid team that knows what it’s doing. Doing go by what the HM says either. They’ll lie through their teeth to get you on that shit show team just to fill HC. Find some people on the team and ask them what it’s like.
How do you find out how the team is before you join?
How could a candidate considering an amazon offer get to know which team is good? Heard there is some survey but i suppose it is only accessible by current employees. Is there some way for an outsider to find out?
You can transfer internally if you get it wrong
I don’t recommend it. Our turnover rate is extremely high for a reason.
The extreme horror stories are an exception, not the rule. If you’re coming into Amazon, you’ll struggle to get a clear view on your team and it’s day to day...interview loop won’t be that revealing. I generally recommend that if you get a chance to join Amazon to do it, because the opportunities are incomparable. If your team sucks, transfer. I’ve seen people transfer after a few months; I myself did that, and it made a huge difference. Once you’re inside Amazon, if you’re targeting a new team, there are a few things you can do. First, check the tech survey. Usually a good level-setter. Then if you’re concerned about schedules and the like, check the calendars of people on the team—look out for either tons of meetings, or recurring meetings at odd times (my old team has a weekly 9pm tech sync with a team in India; not the worst thing, but few people love that). Then meet with as many people in as many roles as possible within that team and immediately connected teams. When I was looking to transfer, I think I talked to 7 people. Made the decision quite clear.
Thank you for the insights. Very helpful. Was your old manager supportive for your transfer? I wonder how much veto power managers have.
If you get on a bad team and your manager doesn't want you to transfer, they can block you essentially forcing you out of the company.
I have never seen anyone run out of meetings in tears. Have never seen anyone in tears actually. And in the three years I've been here we have never had a layoff. We do axe the lowest performers. So do several other top companies. Facebook and Netflix do it even more aggressively than Amazon does yet for some reason I don't hear that they are so bad. Apple also aggressively fires low performers. Unless you are the bottom of the barrel, this is a good thing. It's what makes it a great place to work: everyone around you is smart. Amazon is full of people who are great to work with because we fired the ones who weren't.
Used it love it, still like some aspects of it, but has been going downhill fast. Now every decision has to be made in a committee. A common theme from people leaving the company is “I want a job where is can stop “aligning” and start “doing”. Yes folks, we’ve reached Day 2.
Yep, you got it. Surprised you did not hear about the engineer who jumped off a bulding a year ago.
Really? URL pls
http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employee-attempted-suicide-from-12-story-building-at-seattle-headquarters-2016-11