Sign of Hire To Fire? - Amazon Offer

Morningstar / Eng
withL

Go to company page Morningstar Eng

withL
Sep 24, 2021 51 Comments

Hi all,

I have a below offer from Amazon Robotics. I recently heard of this term "hire-to-fire" and after I did some research on this term, I am a little scared of this offer for several reasons.
- My team will be located in Boston. I told my recruiter that I can only work from Bay area for personal reasons. After a week later, they were able to resolve this for me by letting me to commute to office located in San Jose area.
- I am offered L4 even though I have 3 YOE. They specifically told me that they saw me close enough for L5 so I should be able to get promoted pretty quick, but who knows.
- My final interview was with my potential manager, and I personally really liked that person (interview also went well with conversations and actual system design). I discovered that since I am working from SF, the manager got switched to someone I did not have interview with. (I set up a call with that person to talk today)

Can these be signs for hire-to-fire? Also do you think those numbers make sense or is it also a sign of hire-to-fire? I feel like I am paranoid of this term now. Please help.

Amazon Robotics

Level: L4
Base: 150k
Year one sign on: 40k
Year two sign on: 30k
RSU: 25 (5%,15,40,40 across 4 years)
TC: 193k (first year including sign-on)

Tc: 105k
Yoe: 3

comments

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TOP 51 Comments
  • Amazon
    impact+

    Go to company page Amazon

    impact+
    - L4 is the lowest SWE band at Amazon. L4 down level for experienced folks is common. It gets hairy after 4+ years.
    - They are actually assigning you to a local team instead of remote.
    - it is hard to hire at Amazon and at robotics team, it is even harder.

    You are fine! Don’t think too much.
    Sep 24, 2021 2
    • Walmart / R&D
      serjorah

      Go to company page Walmart R&D

      PRE
      Grab
      serjorah
      Hard to hire at Amazon? Lol
      Sep 24, 2021
    • New / Eng
      GooglWhore

      New Eng

      GooglWhore
      Amazon isn't that bad that Walmart can take a dig. I won't even interview at Walmart for practice 🤡
      Sep 24, 2021
  • Amazon
    AnothaDay

    Go to company page Amazon

    AnothaDay
    Lol hire to fire isn’t real, recruiters tell EVERYONE they’re close to the next level. That’s not true. You’ll take 2+ years to get promo in most cases. It’s the same stuff they tell everyone

    Did you get an L4 or L5 loop? If L5, you performed poor enough in interview for L5 bar but would be fine for L4 + they’re prolly desperate.

    You can always switch teams if you don’t like that team…
    Sep 24, 2021 1
    • New
      pJvh01

      New

      pJvh01
      there's literally been posts from ex-Amazon confirming the ~6% forced regretted attrition rate and hire to fire, what are you, HR?
      Sep 24, 2021
  • Amazon
    e38wjs

    Go to company page Amazon

    e38wjs
    Dont believe the L5 promo is coming fast. Dont fall for that bullshit. I joined two yrs ago and still L4. Management shifts and a few other variables affected the promo. Current manager says they see it happening “soon”, but ive given up at this point. Currently have onsites and looking to get tf outta this place
    Sep 24, 2021 1
  • Amazon
    TechGrind

    Go to company page Amazon

    TechGrind
    Amazon is currently going through hiring issues overall. It's highly unlikely you are a hire to fire, because we really need good SDEs.

    Given your years of experience you will definitely meet and exceed the bar compared to the other L4s.

    Don't sweat it.
    Sep 24, 2021 5
    • Apple
      sertvn

      Go to company page Apple

      sertvn
      TechGrind@,
      They increased pay bands. did it not help?
      Sep 24, 2021
    • Amazon
      TechGrind

      Go to company page Amazon

      TechGrind
      Doubtful, can't speak for all the orgs but AWS and my org are struggling. It has to do with more people leaving than joining I think.

      The money only goes so far, chances are pay bands have increased everywhere not just Amazon this year.
      Sep 24, 2021
  • Stripe
    lmamen

    Go to company page Stripe

    lmamen
    It’s extremely important to pick a good manager
    Sep 24, 2021 0