I recently went through an interview cycle where I did really well landing multiple offers. My top choices were between a Frontend Engineer position at AWS and a SWE position at reddit. I ended up going with Reddit, which seems to have bruised amazon's ego. Immediately after I emailed the amazon recruiter I was going with reddit, the recruiter called me immediately trying to change my mind, then his manager called me, then another recruiter I spoke to before called me. I told them all the same thing. Amazon is a great company (I hope-- but after reading some of these reviews ehhhhhh xD) but reddit is the right choice for me right now because I want to focus on backend experience, work life balance, and their upcoming IPO which I believe will be a great long term investment. The Offers: reddit comp SDE II: 160k base 20k sign on bonus 2000 RSUs (vest evenly over 3 years after IPO happens in 2022 which it likely will) benefits wayyy better at reddit. But shouldn't be a huge factor in decision AWS comp FEE II: Year 1 Estimated Total Compensation: $251,046 · Base: $150,000 · Guaranteed Sign On Cash: $160,000 $91,000 broken out and paid monthly throughout your 1ST year of employment $69,000 broken out and paid monthly throughout your 2ND year of employment · Initial Restricted Stock Grant: 68 shares (5%, 15%, 40%, 40%) Since I rejected amazon for reddit. I have been emailed relentlessly by different amazon recruiters, I spoke to an EC2 recruiter recently who told me they recently raised the pay bands for full stack and backend engineers 15%. When asked what is a typical salary for a SDE II the recruiter went ahead and told me the max (416k which I assume only happens when there are high paying competing offers involved). TLDR: Had competing offers between amazon and reddit. Went with reddit. I don't want to burn any bridges with reddit since I just started here, believe in the company as a long term investment, and I am sincerely enjoying my time here and learning. But I am wondering am I crazy for going with reddit, and is amazon really that bad just in case I want to work there in the future? #amazon #aws #reddit
Ftw
You have made a great choice. You are a sane human being. You will make a shit load of money when Reddit IPOs. You have a giant dong.
Congrats! Go to Reddit and be happy, AMZN is miserable
I think you are misunderstanding the vesting schedule, you’ll start vesting those RSUs immediately, quarterly, regardless of IPO schedule
Also, Reddit ftw obv. Been here five years, no plans on leaving
Thanks for clearing that up, glad to know I'm already accumulating stonks
Reddit and it’s not even close Shit they’re the only company rejecting my applications yet I would love to go there :(
I never understood how some companies make the decision to interview a candidate or not. For instance I have friends who can get an interview with FB but they never gave me the time of day despite somewhat similar backgrounds.
Reddit ftw. You made great choice
Good job, amzn is the only faang I won’t even interview for.
The real question is would you leave google for any company?
You made a great choice with Reddit! Amazon will continue to pursue you because they’re desperate to put butts in seats.
Was this for Amazon EC2 plane team at Seattle??
The recruiter dialed in from Washington yes but the max TC she gave me was quoted for NYC ec2 teams, point is you can easily clear 300-350k as a SDE II considering that max comp
I gave onsite interview to same team at Seattle last Friday and still waiting for there response.. How many days after interview did u get call from recruiter ??
Next time tell raising pay bands is fine, but treat employees well