Amz is better than FB in terms of Technology?
Oct 6, 2017
132 Comments
Almost everyone would choose Fb over Amz for a job. But I feel like in terms of technology, amz sounds better, especially Aws and Alexa. Also, Java is more popular than PHP. So the only advantage of Fb is it has way better compensation and way higher bar. Any thought?
comments
What is "tech"? Google's search engine is tech? Sure, one could say it connects users with webpages based on queries and recommendation data.
Amazon connects users with products based on queries and recommendation data. But it's not tech, it's retail. Hmm. Why? Is it because it happens to be in the retail space, which is somehow less techy than...the search engine space? Is it because it's not innovative enough? Less complex than Google's search indexing? Where are these lines drawn?
Not to mention numerous other examples. Amazon Go, 1 hour drone delivery, Amazon Video, Amazon Music, etc. Google similarly has its own slew of products. To say there is no innovation involved is honestly a bit unfair and maybe delusional.
Oh, and just because you think Alexa is just "noise" and will fail doesn't make it not tech (Google Wave I'm looking at you 😜). If I remember correctly, your super techy tech company is now playing copycat. Granted, we could debate about which one is smarter (pretty sure Google Home has a higher IQ cus my Alexa is sometimes retarded), but the point is, both are clearly tech.
I just typed this on the toilet btw. It helped with my bowel movements, so thank you.
Reason is manager is cocky and thinks he is invincible, and every one of our competitors are slacking off wasting resources.
As for the hiring bar, I don’t think Amzn is “lower” it’s just different than most other companies. The FB or G interviews have a higher bar for CS fundamentals while amzn has a higher bar for leadership. I believe strongly in the latter but that is difficult to measure at the entry levels.
So since the CS fundamentals have a lower hiring bar at amzn, many entry level hires just won’t be a good fit. At the higher levels though those LPs pay off in spades, enough so that we still have amazing tech even with so many L4 mishires.
While it may seem that the hiring bar is lower at amzn, I would say that at the upper levels (L6+) it would be more difficult at amzn. It’s difficult to judge though since we can’t really measure from both directions. I see plenty of senior engineers go from amzn to FB or G meaning there are plenty who are passing that senior bar over there but we don’t see many come from FB or G to amzn. I think the reason for that isn’t that they aren’t getting accepted, it’s that they believe they will get paid less at amzn so they don’t bother (plus not wanting to move to Seattle).
I could of course just be biased here because there would be very little chance I would ever want to work at FB (interviewed there though so I could get a competing offer).
Better tech isn't necessarily best. Look at the tech at Boeing, spacex, etc build. They're pretty much rocket science... people don't choose them over fb or goog.
Different people prioritize things differently.