Working at Amazon

New / Eng
cRnZs0

New Eng

cRnZs0
May 8, 2019 12 Comments

People on Blind are shitting on Amazon 24/7, yet there's still ton of SDEs voluntarily working there.

Can some of you Amazonians share what you like about working at Amazon? And how (if) it differs from public perception?

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TOP 12 Comments
  • Amazon / Eng
    onMyWay

    Go to company page Amazon Eng

    BIO
    AWS
    onMyWay
    - learned a ton, and work with really smart people in AWS
    - company gets rid of bad hires really efficiently (perhaps more efficiently than any other company)
    - ability to transfer to other teams (or orgs) is very easy
    - 2 weeks of paid time for conventions/other offsite learning opportunity is not bad
    - company moves fast
    - has pretty good perception with customers (opposite of Facebook, for example)
    - one of a few places you can learn about distributed systems on a global scale (outside of Microsoft, google, etc)

    Just a few. Itโ€™s not as bad as people make it out to be.
    May 8, 2019 7
    • Amazon / Eng
      onMyWay

      Go to company page Amazon Eng

      BIO
      AWS
      onMyWay
      Sounds like ec2 :)

      Ec2 actually I think has one of the better, more stable ops loads because of its history and maturity.
      The thing about ops at amazon is that you learn your service and then after a while you get added to the oncall rotation. After one or two heavy oncalls you become a pro at operations. Donโ€™t fret too much
      May 8, 2019
    • Amazon
      kmcY20

      Go to company page Amazon

      kmcY20
      Don't fear the ops load. The company is still human. I work on a team with heavy ops load, and there's a supportive culture around it. Leaders work to drive it down, everyone knows if you've had a hard night or weekend, you can uncounted time off after a hard shift, and people will step in to give you rest if you're having a really bad shift.
      May 9, 2019
  • Amazon
    pmpmpm

    Go to company page Amazon

    pmpmpm
    Not an SDE but PM. Starting to look elsewhere so have a little (limited) perspective on AMZN vs other tech companies.

    I agree with the pros listed above. The learning opportunity at Amazon is probably one of the best in the industry, because of the ownership culture, leanness of teams, and the need to navigate noise/chaos/change to be effective.

    Cons:
    - Management can be variable. Some are okay but in my experience many are not good, and the company doesnโ€™t do any real training of management. So you just have to get lucky, which is out of your control.
    - As an external hire, you are more vulnerable to being caught unawares by politics and get thrown under the bus. The performance management culture incentivizes people to make sure someone else is perceived as worse at their job. Managers are under pressure to identify low performers every review cycle. It can create a lot of stress, depending on your situation.
    - Amazon, as a company, does not care about your development. If your manager does care, and works to ensure you get the right opportunities, then you are lucky. But the company has no support system (like no funding for outside classes) or guidelines (like you should be doing x,y,z to grow).
    - Lack of perks that make daily life easier, compared to other companies.
    - A culture that encourages hard work, rather than work-life balance.
    May 8, 2019 0
  • Uber
    UberPool

    Go to company page Uber

    UberPool
    It's easy to get a job there and pays better than average, people like the $$ and the respect, but cry when they are pipped out
    May 8, 2019 0
  • New / Eng
    cRnZs0

    New Eng

    cRnZs0
    OP
    (complimentary ๐ŸŒ comment)
    May 8, 2019 0
  • New
    DukeOfSW

    New

    DukeOfSW
    Howโ€™s the work culture. Do SDEs slog after 6pm daily ?
    May 8, 2019 0