I am a veteran who served in Afghanistan and after returning from active duty I enrolled in a masters program in computer science after which I started my software development career. I joined Amazon two years back as sde 2. I am older than most of my colleagues I don’t attend a lot of the social events. To be more specific I missed happy hours for 3 months and Sometimes our team has online games session after 5 PM on Fridays I didn’t join those. My manager says my work is good but I am not being a team player. I am being a culture I mis fit in the team and he plans to put me on focus. My manager is Indian and so are most of my teammates. It was a little difficult for me to break into their social circle plus i am introvert by nature. It was a great pride to serve my country but honestly I didn’t end up making a lot of money. This job is important for me to pay my mortgage and help raise my kids. What should I do? Ever since I got the news I’ve been very worried Tc 240k Yoe 8 Sde2 Edit: i have Received a lot of messages for referrals. Thank you all folks. Also I didn’t want this to turn into a hate mongering post against Indians. Lotta folks who are willing to refer me are Indians.
Sorry to hear that. All the best with whatever you end up doing!
Look for another job. It’s a great market and you will be paid better. Why stay at Amazon?
Is it really that easy to find work? I’m still at AWS because I can’t even get asked to interviews. Idk why. I have a good resume. Engineer at AWS. It doesn’t seem that easy to break free of this place.
You are an inspiration to others so don’t let the Amazon pip culture bring you down. Look elsewhere, you might get a bigger comp and be more appreciated Btw: I’m an Indian manager
Sorry I didn’t mean to be xenophobic, it could have been any other country but i face language barrier and dont understand some of the jokes,, hence i stopped attending social events.
If they’re speaking anything besides English at work, and excluding you, that may be illegal. I’m not saying you should go the legal route, but I’d suggest talking to a lawyer, to know where things stand. As others on blind have said, if you’re getting put on PIP, you can apply for FMLA and take medical leave, to buy time and avoid PIP. I’m sorry to hear you’re dealing with such bullshit. And thank you for your service! ❤️
How is your actual performance? Code reviews submissions / avg revisions / other standard metrics etc in relation to your teammates? They can’t kick you out for social events, most senior engineers I know hate being social but no one dares to call them out since everyone knows those are the guys getting work done
My previous manager was pushing for my sde3 promo the. She quit amazon and my new manager has put a paused on the process saying he needed time. Then i hear this
8 YOE and still at SDE2? It is time to move...
First of all this isn’t uncommon. Secondly he was in the military for a while, so you can’t expect him to be at the front of the TC-chasing computer science crowd.
Just because it is common does not mean it is alright. My point here is that team/company does not seem to value OP much even before this recent PIP. Does not bode well for his prospects to stay on. OP even highlighted above that this was partly due to his current manager putting his promo plans on hold.
That sucks, was the feedback specific to happy hour or something else?
It was specific to happy hour. Online game sessions after work , which manager says are critical team building events
That’s messed up. I would run away from that team and Amazon. I thought the bro culture was something of the past at tech companies. Also, They should have team building events during work.
Amazon doesnt deserve you. Ping me if you need a microsoft referral.
Microsoft LOVES hiring military veterans
You guys ping him, the app has been weird lately and I haven't seen some comments on my posts until several days or a week after the fact despite refreshing
Ok Blind Community, agree or not with US military policies it's time to come through for OP. Break out your networks and refer this guy somewhere
Sorry to hear this happened to you. I hope you don't internalize it and let it impact your sense of self-worth. As for what to do, I suggest you: 1. Check your personal mental health. If you need to take a leave of absence before deciding to do the PIP or take severance, try to do so. 2. Assess whether or not you want to try to fight for the job. Honestly, given how this company is, I personally wouldn't care to fight for it, but it's up to you. 3. Assess your interview readiness. Do you feel good about being able to interview within a few weeks? If not, take the PIP plan and don't actually do it. Use the time for interview prep instead. But do keep showing up for meetings, and say you're trying, or they might immediately dismiss you. You can also consider the option of quitting immediately and not doing the PIP, but given what you said, I'm not sure if the severance will cover you financially. You will have to assess that yourself.
So true!
Ha! Wish you’d been around when I nearly accidentally sabatoged my career last week while dealing with a very similar situation as OP.
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That’s weird that they put you on PIP bc of missing happy hours 🤷♂️ *no comments*
Not because of that specifically. He want another Indian in the team so they can all talk in their native language.
Wouldn’t put race/ ethnicity in the center of this but I do agree that this looks like manager wants to bring a friend/ family member and trying to get rid of OP.