NOTE: Let’s make this post a place where all valuable information is available for people going through Amazon Focus Hi I am an L4 SDE. Manager said he will start my Focus plan sometime this week or next. He said that the project would be for 6-8 weeks. I am on H1B visa and haven’t done Leetcode in a while. Firstly, I am not willing to stay at Amazon even if I clear Focus. I am planning to Leetcode from today and start interviewing after 3 weeks. But I am concerned if Focus plan will be designed in such a way that I will be setup for failure. I have many unknows and also know that some of these are FAQ but I didn’t find a post which has all information at once place. If there are such posts, please link them here. Please try answering all these questions in detail as it may help others now or in future. It will be a great help for many. People on Focus plan can refer to the valuable information present in this post or can find links to other similar posts. Thank you! Generic Questions: 1. How much percentage of time should I spend for office work vs Leetcoding? Should I try to balance both with majority of time giving for Leetcoding? Or should I completely chuck office work and just do Leetcoding? Note that I prefer to spend as much time as possible for Leetcode but worried if I would be pressurized by manager for missing intermediate goals and directly start Pivot process. 2. Can I take FMLA after 3 or 4 weeks into Focus plan if I feel that I am not finding time for Leetcoding? 3. If I don’t meet the expectations in the middle of Focus plan, can they directly start Pivot process? 4. Is it easy to take FMLA for mental health without any prior consultations? How fast will the process be wrt getting doctor approval and applying the leave with Amazon? 5. Can I take FMLA during the 5 day decision period if they put me on Pivot? I would prefer to choose severance package over PIP plan. But worried if I will have offers by the time I reach this stage. If I can take FMLA during the 5 day decision period, then I can buy more time for prepping/interviews. 6. Since I am on H1B, can I immediately move to some company (A) and after 3-4 months if I crack a better company (B), can I move again? Note that I will prefer to join a company with similar job duties, ie Generic Software Engineer role. 7. Have zero idea about H1B transfer process. How long does the transfer process take? Can the new company start the transfer process with premium filing while I am still working at Amazon? 8. Please let me know what all companies are hiring SDEs with 3+ years experience. Which all companies I should target for? I am planning target big companies (since I am on H1B) with good pay and great WLB. Few on my mind: Google, Meta, LinkedIn, Snap, Twitter, Uber etc. Please add more to this list and comment about the difficulty of cracking interviews at each of these. Tc: 160k
OP how long have you been at Amazon?
1.5 years
You dint need ANY of these questions answered if you are LC. Go on with that and GTFO. Answers only apply if you plan to stay or return. Your h1b is completely transferable to most companies.
Focus is up to 60days before another decision is made, Pivot is at least 30days. Usually those timelines are never cut short so don’t worry about getting entered into pivot halfway through. If anything it likely takes longer. So overall you’ll have at least 3 months plus 2 months H1B grace period to get a new job which should be plenty. Don’t waste any time on the project, if you want to get out your focus is on LC!
Read this. This helped me ace all the interviews and the dude seems to know what he's talking about. He's kind of a douche though. But he's effective and very good. Email him if you need help https://tinyurl.com/523jbbjs
Don't support douchebags no matter how good they might be.
Check out this post! "Process to File FMLA at Amazon (Amazon)" https://us.teamblind.com/s/dPQRHw7L I have added my experience to this post. Hope this helps.
Cannot access
It's specific to Amazon
Do you think you were actually underperforming or would you say you are an unfair victim of the URA quota? I am not PIP'ed yet and get positive feedback in 1:1s but trying to LC & GTFO after reading these posts
Do use search function there is a ton of info on this stuff man. Good luck!
Thanks! But please answer some of my questions if possible, meanwhile I am trying to find more info. I wanted to make this post a valuable place where most of the info will be available for people going through this