So.. My roommate applied for an Amazon new grad position and did the iq test + 2 hacker rank coding questions, then got called for a final video interview. The video interview was 1 interview, 45 minutes long, and did not consist of a single coding question. They discussed only the 2 hackerrank coding questions he did before the interview itself.. That was it.. Is this normal? I've never heard of this happening.
Yes. My friend passed 0 test cases on his 2nd assessment and still passed. The final video call was a 15 minute discussion on how he felt about the assessment. Eventually got an offer.
Yep. Amazon's mass hire/mass fire at new grad/junior position. They shortlist the interview. Re: "bad WLB, bad culture" Its just the culture is a bit more cut-throat and less forgiving than other big tech companies, and the biggest voice are the new grads unknowingly getting the short end of the stick with Amazon's mass hire/mass fire (shortlist/shorcut interviews and hiring for entry level L4 etc), thrown out to the wolves, may the best man win culture. Most new grads do not and have not developed the skills to do well in that environment, so we hear about how *bad* it is from the biggest churn group of employees, naturally. Amazon doesnt want to hold your hand, but unfortunately new grads/junior levels need that more often than not. I dont blame them, its not easy when you have zero work experience and the first job is so cut-throat. So your roommate needs to take that into an account if he gets an offer or else he'll just be another statistic of "amazon sucks" if he gets PIP'd out.
Around how many years of experience does it take to get to the next level at Amazon, above this new hire entry level culture?
The culture is the same at all levels. One could argue it gets progressively more cut-throat the higher you go. Or are you asking how long it takes to develop these soft skills to work in the culture/adapt to it? External experienced hire at L5/6+ this seems to be more fit and thrive under these conditions because they have already developed these skills from previous roles to adapt, work within this type of culture. So at least a few years, minimum, for both promotion and culture adaptation. So if you're starting internally, 3-5y for normies, 2-3y for real good candidates both soft skills and tech skills that pick up these things quickly.