Tech IndustryJan 4, 2020

“We” vs “I” mindset

So I’ve been working for about 5 years now, and before that interned for about a year. I’ve worked at about three different companies, and I’ve always kept the mindset that any work belongs to a team, and that there is always a “we” type of mindset. And my work reflects this as well, usually I pass ideas through folks, even if I have some leadership in the design. Recently, I’ve been interviewing at higher tier companies, and I noticed a lot of them seem to value the “I” in work instead, as in the individual. I understand that in interviews, it is me that is being judged, so that the “I” is very important to discuss instead of the “we”. In particular, Amazon was the first company to make me realize this (All the LPs and whatnot). Facebook also seems to value the “I” a lot. Google didn’t seem to care about the difference. To me, this type of “I” mindset feels a bit counter-intuitive to the collaborative workplace. What do you all think about this? Does one of the two seem counter-intuitive to work or does it all make sense in some way? Which mindset do you think is overall better?

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Argo AI Ultr0n Jan 4, 2020

There is me in team. Seems like these are all individual contributor roles and not management.

Salesforce MGlo47 OP Jan 4, 2020

Yup, I’m talking about IC roles.

Argo AI Ultr0n Jan 6, 2020

Well, obviously they are trying to maximize their utility function and can give two deuces what color of socks you wear, how many catnips your dog steal from the cat in the next cubicle, and your teamwork. Disposable commodity vs valued asset. Once the roles become more management and less interchangeable with others in the labor market, that's where teamwork comes into play.

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hamida Jan 4, 2020

I’m actually preparing for the online assessment and interview for Amazon; your message has really been helpful in understanding where “I” is more emphasized. I’ve read a few articles that focus on the same—it’s more about the individual selling/marketing himself during the interview.

ClubCorp johnnie Jan 4, 2020

Its not counter-intuitive because it places personal ownership of the piece of the puzzle you're contributing to the rest of the team. You put in your best work for your own prioritizing it before helping the rest of the team out. Kind of like how in the airplane safety preflights they say to put on your own oxygen mask first before helping others out. You're no good to the team if you contribute mediocre work especially if you're using all your energy trying to help others before yourself (think of it as trying run before you can even walk). They're likely all competent. If they need help they'll reach out. Otherwise make sure your own piece is up to snuff first. You're not discounting or disregarding or being unhelpful to the team. Thats not what it means when you focus on the "I".

Google LgeA07 Jan 4, 2020

This flip flops depending on which decade you’re interviewing in. Last decade it was bad to say I because we didn’t want cowboys who can’t work with a team. Now apparently it means you’re taking credit for other people’s work. Ugh.

Amazon BlindIy Jan 4, 2020

Can confirm Amazon focuses on “I”. In fact, I was told when getting prepped by one of the interviewers for the interviews to not say “we” about anything. I think it helps produce a lot of anti-collaborative coworkers. Note, this doesn’t mean people are being competitive (they aren’t). I do think it makes it slightly awkward applying for other jobs saying that I worked on projects though. Even if it is the truth I definitely know it makes employers feel weird. I actually have to resort to barista experience to put them at ease...

Bayer Bouillon Jan 4, 2020

Teamwork sometimes obscures individual performance and accountability, for better or worse. You can say that your team did great, but how much of that is due to your work? Did you coast yet the team did great anyway? In a job interview they are hiring you personally, not your team. I’ve been on an interview panel for an internal job posting. A candidate was touting his contribution to an important and successful project. That’s great, it’s just that he actually didn’t do much in it, even though he was formally part of the project team. That’s why anytime a candidate bring up his work as part of a team, I always ask about his specific part in it.

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cooper_stn Jan 4, 2020

Totally can connect to this feeling - was in the same thought process 15 days ago while preparing for Amazon interview. I always use the word we do a to showcase that I am a team player. But, I think when you give interviews, it’s important to state what you did rather than what you did as part of a team. So, I used to practice saying the word I repeatedly for over 10 minutes at a stretch while driving to and from work everyday for a few days. This helped me to start and keep my conversations around me and about myself. You can still talk about what you achieved collectively as a team but the interview board will be more interested in what you did individually!!

Qualcomm dynasty001 Jan 4, 2020

Were you interviwing for amazon sde role? If yes, how did it go wrt the LP part ?

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cooper_stn Jan 4, 2020

I interviewed for Data Architect role in AWS Proserve. LP went very well as I had a lot of examples from my current role. Got the offer and am negotiating now. YOE 14.

Amazon sushbej Jan 4, 2020

unfortunately that's true at Amazon. I don't really like it but just like someone stated above it's important for your growth ( perf, promo, visibility)

Uber Clpn22 Jan 5, 2020

The problem is there are a lot of people who work on teams that do great things, but are themselves unremarkable. Obviously, if you go to a different company, that team is not coming with you, so they need to know what you can personally contribute. You want to talk about what the team did and how you personally contributed to it, in order to cover both collaborative aspects but also to show the value you can add if they hire you.