Hello, Recently an external recruiter reached out to me about a senior swe position at Amazon. They claim that this team acts like "a startup within Amazon" and isn't mandating a return to office besides a few times a month, so this sounds interesting. I'm currently mid-level right now with 4 YOE, so I was surprised they reached out to me about a senior role. Is this recruiter just BSing me, or is there a chance I could uplevel by going to Amazon? What sort of questions should I ask to make sure this team isn't toxic (e.g. with PIPs)? Is salary cap 1.5 years at FAANG, 2.5 years at Oscar. TC 232k (stock is not doing well) #swe #amazon
L5 cap is at least 425k so ask for 700k
Not sure but I feel like they'll down level you by the end of the process.
All of the said thing is possible
Don’t be fooled. Every team in amazon claims to operate like a startup. Since joining I have written SOPs for taking a shit, an mcm for sleeping when I have diarrhea and a subsequent COE (may or may not be related). The remote thing. Most teams are deciding/have decided on what days of the week you have to come in. Also you’re expected to live close enough so you can be called in. Toxic, ask them about their operational load. How do they evaluate success for individuals. Some orgs like to use CR counts which means people will be trying to split CRs when they don’t need to. There’re PIPs everywhere. Ain’t dodging that shit. If you’re in an org where no one wants to join, less likely to get pipped as the VP might not have that much pressure to pip people but there’s some reason people don’t want to join. If it’s a high demand org, there’ll pip up the tits. Every level has a salary cap. You need to be performing at the next level to get promoted and wait another year or two to get the 🥜 designated for the next level. Amazon strives to be the worlds best employer. They introduced a radical and unheard of policy where you don’t have to change your password every 3 months addressing a major pain point encountered the world over.
I live pretty close to this office so I am not too concerned there. What would be considered a high demand org?
It’s hard to know if you aren’t working there. I’d say once you talk to the hiring manager. Float the org here and you’d know. Most internal tooling teams, essentially teams which make tools for hr etc are low demand.
I'm 3 YOE $405k TC and Amazon reached out to me L6. I know a few others around my YOE that have gotten the offer, so seems possible
Just as an update, looks like they sent me a job application for SDE II. I asked why it wasn't senior, and the recruiter said that SDE II was basically senior at other companies and I shouldn't look into title too much. She's the one who messaged me - how did she think this would play out??
tell her you’re targeting L6/Senior otherwise no. They’re forcing you because amazon is desperate for L4
Why desperate for that level specifically? Tbh I don't care that much about level as long as I get a raise lol
Don’t buy their shit. Senior L5s are almost the same as L6 but get paid less. L5 -> L6 promo can be painful. He might also try to sell you by saying you’d be on the cusp of promotion. That’s a lie. It’s always easier to up level before the interview and get downlevelled rather than get in and get a promo.
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potentially downlevel
Like they would take me on as entry level?
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