It is really hard to understand what's so bad about working at Amazon. I understand that other companies in the FAANG group have a better work life balance and free food other than just bananas. Since I will begin my first job after graduation next June, should I even consider preparing for Amazon? Everyone here keeps joking about Amazon mentioning the lack of breaks, peeing in bottles, and horrible managers. I'm guessing if I land a non-FAANG company, there's a good chance I'll face probable long work hours, not too many freebies, pathetic managers, and office politics anyway.
Yes. Amazon is an excellent place to learn. Consider it an investment. I do not regret working there, and I know former interns who still work there as FTEs. There are bad managers and office politics everywhere, not just at Amazon.
Thanks, if you don't mind, what made you leave?
Come join us to find out. You need a referral?
I actually do have folks working there. This is just an uncomfortable conversation to have. Thanks, I really appreciate your offer to help with a referral.
Don't consider it uncomfortable at all. It's a big decision on your part. If they won't give you an honest answer, it's not a place you want to work for. Same advice for any company.
I love it. Learning at a pace that hasn’t matched any of the other companies I’ve been at
Glad to hear that
Which companies were they?
A person from recently Amazon posted on Blind a question asking about the best app to meet women online because he was not having luck. I suggested that he meets singles by going to meet-ups that fit his interests or going to other events targeting young, single professionals. His response was, “I don’t have time for that, I work at Amazon.” Another person asked what he does in his free instead, and the reply was, “work”. I know a girl who wanted WLF, so she would work 8am - 6pm, go home and spend time with her family. Then she would wake up at 4 AM and work for 2-3 hours to finish whatever she did not get done in the offices. The saddest part about that story — she thought it was normal! I know this is anecdotal evidence, but many people here share the same perspective.
Lol. I work from 10 to 4:30, idk man.
Maybe that is because you are working on unreleased product ! There is less pressure from customers at least
You can always tell a bad company by how much they spam you on linked in. Amazon has to because they have so much employee churn. Also the vesting schedule is very much grind you out before your third year.
Frugality sucks, but a good place to build your experience. All depends on a team you land in ...
Why don't you change your team? I got a SDE2 offer and recruiter is constantly saying that it's super easy to switch teams etc etc. She is selling a lot on this basis but your experience there is making me nervous.
Switching team after three months isn't going to look really good.
I'm looking to leaving because of management not listening to engineers. My team was recently dissolved because it was split across cities and they wanted to consolidate (makes sense). So I was moved to a new team with a disaster of a project. No tests of any kind, no documentation, buggy as hell, and it didn't even address the problem they were trying to solve. We agreed as a team that it would take until May to get this done right. Management gave us until January. One of the SDE 2s voiced his concerns and got pivoted for it.
It is a good place if you want to learn things at the expense of the customer and are constantly kept in check by your manager.
I have a friend from college who left amazon. They had nothing remarkable — good or bad, to say about it. It was a tech job, like any other. The NY Times piece is overblown. Some teams are worked hard but if you believe every Amazonian is putting in over 40 hours per week, you’re in a false reality. The piece is true with regards to that particular team, but it isn’t representative of all teams.
A lot of bad press other than the nyt is about the fulfillment centers, so I'm not relying on that. Thanks for sharing your perspective!
My friend is an engineer. Yeah, I wasn’t referring to fulfillment centers.