Hi. I am a senior CS major trying to decide between Microsoft and Amazon. I was initially set on Microsoft but am concerned about the Core Services Engineering org. My position there would be as a software engineer, but I have seen some negative comments about CSE. What is the perception of the org? Would I be a glorified IT tech there? Would I be able to transfer to product teams later on? How does this opp stack up with Amazon? Thanks!
CSE is bottom of the barrel at Microsoft - it's the rebranded MSIT. You would work on internal sites and tools. However, for a fresh college grad, I'd actually say there is a fair amount of upside. The pool of actually talented engineers is low, so assuming you're talented yourself, you could rise fast. You're also "entry" level, meaning you'd still be able to learn, as well as get quick promotions, before hitting the talent cap in CSE (which feels lower than in Product or other places).
How long would I have to wait before trying to transfer?
Also, it's not as hard to move from CSE to Product as some might say. I did that move myself a few years ago. Having a good network helps.
I am in core service eng. joined as 61/industry hire swe. There were a lot of negative comments about the group before I joined. I spoke to a cousin who is in Microsoft for over 15 years, and so far it has been great for me. Work is challenging, software applications I develop are interesting, people are good to work with, and the managers give the swe lot of flexibility to build their career. The company and this group have changed a lot in the past years. It may have been bad before, but I don’t think it deserves a bad reputation. I have heard of work pressure at amazon quite a bit. Definitely not an issue here!
Could you talk a little bit more about some of the work you do? Do you think its closer to software engineering or closer to IT/Services?
I design / build applications that are used by sales teams. Software engineering. CSE is the larger group, so the applications or programs you works can be different. But you mentioned your role as swe, so I am fairly confident that you will do actual software engineering (design / programming). Microsoft has many job titles - the good part being, it/services folks will not have the title of swe. All the swe I have come across in my larger group actually do spend a lot of time programming, that too new code/features. The only main difference (as I find) between a swe in cse vs. a swe in another product group (such as azure) is the application or project they are working on. My application customers happen to be internal Microsoft teams, so i can much closely parter with them through the life cycle of the product. Also it’s fairly common that people switch teams every few years (also good to gain career breadth), so one can switch to a product team if they are particularly Included to a particular type of product.
Can I dm you op ? Had a few questions regarding CSE. have a offer, thinking about to join or not.
What amazon org/team?
Unfortunately with Amazon, I wouldn't know until 90 days before my start date. So if I signed with Amazon, I'd be going in blind.
So wait until then to make a decision