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?

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TOP 132 Comments
  • Amazon
    Holas

    Go to company page Amazon

    Holas
    I worked at a few companies and have to say that Amazon has pretty brilliant people working for them. The bar here is insanely hard but worth it if you get in. Amazon also coaches people to be able to reach their potential, not just treating people as a body in a seat.
    Oct 6, 2017 36
    • Amazon / Eng
      pufferduck

      Go to company page Amazon Eng

      pufferduck
      I feel like you are cherrypicking a lot of things just to fit your own worldview of what a "tech" company should be. Why is AWS suddenly excluded? AWS is a massive part of Amazon, and there are a lot more people working on it within the company than you seem to think.

      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.
      Oct 7, 2017
    • Amazon / Eng
      mUqi08

      Go to company page Amazon Eng

      PRE
      Amazon
      mUqi08
      Out of all the companies I've worked for Amazon is the one that coaches the least. Bar may be high but frequently the wrong bar. I've seen manager sending out junior to a hard problem in the field unprepared and ended up with huge blast radius, and let our customers deal with the mess.

      Reason is manager is cocky and thinks he is invincible, and every one of our competitors are slacking off wasting resources.
      Oct 9, 2017
  • Amazon
    Jrkfbe

    Go to company page Amazon

    Jrkfbe
    I’ve heard from many people that left amzn for Facebook, that save a few teams at FB, amazon tech is way higher bar/quality. So if that’s what you’re interested in, amzn could be better (that’s why I accepted an offer).

    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).
    Oct 6, 2017 6
    • Intel
      alskdjh

      Go to company page Intel

      alskdjh
      amazon also fires fast if people don't work out. google never fires and facebook fires but not quickly like amazon. amazon weeds people out mercilessly and quickly, which is why they can afford to relax a bit on the CS fundamentals. People who survive and thrive in the amazon culture are actually very competent. amazon hires and fires much like startups. wasn't uber modeled after amazon ?
      Oct 6, 2017
    • I worked in Amazon for long time n now in Facebook...i totally agree with L.P skills.. I think lower levels are more competent in Facebook and higher levels are more competent in Amazon..
      Oct 6, 2017
  • Uber
    1357

    Go to company page Uber

    1357
    Both companies have a terrible choice of languages for sure
    Oct 6, 2017 11
  • Most people would choose fb over amazon because of pay, benefit, and supposed prestige.
    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.
    Oct 6, 2017 3
    • I agree that being able to learn is super important, but it probably depends on the person. For me, good coworkers and good culture are also very important. This makes ms a huge disappointment for me :(

      Different people prioritize things differently.
      Oct 6, 2017
    • Uber
      GMie27

      Go to company page Uber

      GMie27
      @Morrison You need to learn computer science by yourself. General software development is not science at all. Do you learn math from the manual of a scientific calculator? You just read the documents and build another document.
      Oct 9, 2017
  • Google
    dkPF13

    Go to company page Google

    dkPF13
    You are ignoring half of the engineers working in fbcode in C++. Maybe you should formulate you question just for the frontend stuff. Because most of the hardcore backend projects in FB (and Google) are leaps and bounds better than Amazon, except AWS ofcourse. But if you want to compare AWS vs FB you need to be explicit about that. Because if you average out all the teams, Amazon is much much lower.
    Oct 6, 2017 10
    • Facebook / Eng
      unicorn-

      Go to company page Facebook Eng

      unicorn-
      @world’s and @dkPF13 Why don’t the two of you get a room and bargain it out ? :)
      Oct 6, 2017
    • Oracle
      amenhotep

      Go to company page Oracle

      amenhotep
      In any case, mention C++ and the recruiter will hook you up. Doesn't matter what the % is if you can interview for it. I was under the impression that it's in demand because most colleges no longer require c++ and most new grads over the past 10 years don't know it.
      Oct 9, 2017