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My Interviews with Amazon

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Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#91

Post by throwaway52584 »

ryanlm wrote: post #11
larrik wrote: post #3

Interesting, I get pestered by them constantly, and never actually considered going for it. For one thing, the common sentiment on HN seems to be 'friends don't let friends work for Amazon'. Amazon seems like a meat grinder, where getting hired isn't as hard as it seems, and they just burn through young people who don't know better. This is as someone completely on the outside who's only heard stories, though. When I…

I'll work for them in a heartbeat. Seriously, I want to work somewhere where I'm never bored, and can take part in conversations, etc. It seems like a good place for an ambitious new grad for a few years. If there are any Amazon employees reading this, please reach out!

I'm picturing a wide-eyed lamb wandering into the lion's den. "Hai guys! Let's have conversations LOL."

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#92

Post by vkou »

patja wrote: post #13

What is the general take on the initial ballpark of 170k - 200k vs. the actual offer of low 6 figures? Is that just how the game is played and to be expected (e.g., never believe anything they say to get you into interviews), or is it something to be affronted by: why did we both waste all of our time on this process? Or is it likely to be somewhere in the middle...maybe if he blew everyone away in the interviews he…

They interviewed him assuming he was a senior candidate, the interviewers gave feedback that said "Good enough to hire, but not good enough to hire as a senior."

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#93

Post by gnu8 »

ivraatiems wrote: post #5

Good on the author for making the decision based on his and his family's needs and not "but it's a top-tier company, man, you gotta work for the best be the best do the BEST." People often don't consider cost-of-living when making job decisions. I think the way to do it is to equalize the salaries based on cost-of-living across each company you're considering. So if you make $60,000 in a small midwestern town, that's…

There isn't even a difference between $60k and $120k, from the employer's frame of reference. That's not even real money. The tens of millions are going to the top managers, VCs, and shareholders, who leave the people that actually generate that profit to argue over scraps. Everyone should be arguing for a lot more money, regardless of geography.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#94

Post by ruddct »

ytanotheramzn wrote: post #43
hellogoodbyeeee wrote: post #12

I'm a little confused. The recruiter said that $170-$200k was an acceptable range. Then they offered him the position for significantly less than that. I don't understand why he even considered the offer. I would have been really upset that they wasted my time with a bait and switch. Am wrong for feeling that way? Are there other factors to consider?

When I've seen this with people interviewing in Amazon, it's generally because they're tagged to a higher level position, and during the interview, they decide they're not a fit at that level, but possibly at the one below it. i.e., he might have originally been interviewing for an SDEII position, but they felt his skill-set was closer to what they look for in an SDEI, but still wanted to make him an offer to join th…

Ex-Amazonian here, this is indeed the answer to this question.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#95

Post by tcoppi »

majormajor wrote: post #84
tcoppi wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taxes are also percentage based, and progressive at that. Your effective tax rate at $120k is quite a bit higher than at $60k, so you won't be saving double in that scenario because more of it will be going to taxes. Also, the percentage increase of 401k contributions etc. is very easy to calculate out to a dollar value, I recommend everyone do that when comparing salaries(though you have to remember not to consider…

I can tell you personally that going TX -> CA 60k->120k I was able to save way more money (in the five figures a year range) despite taxes and despite housing costs in a way that the naive "online cost of living calculators" wouldn't tell you about. Yes, the square footage of my apartment went way down. Pretty much everyone out here lives in less space, generally it's less a "standard of living" thing than a "that's…

> Yes, the square footage of my apartment went way down. Pretty much everyone out here lives in less space, generally it's less a "standard of living" thing than a "that's the norm" thing

I see you've gotten Stockholm Syndrome already :) But yes, it is definitely an individual-situation type of thing for sure. I'm merely responding to the blanket assertion that just because you ~double your salary in a ~2x CoL area you are always coming out ahead. As you say there are assumptions built into calculators that you personally have to decide how to value, and how you value things like a good commute, schools, and a backyard can change over time as well.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#96

Post by throwaway52584 »

Bartweiss wrote: post #7
larrik wrote: post #3

Interesting, I get pestered by them constantly, and never actually considered going for it. For one thing, the common sentiment on HN seems to be 'friends don't let friends work for Amazon'. Amazon seems like a meat grinder, where getting hired isn't as hard as it seems, and they just burn through young people who don't know better. This is as someone completely on the outside who's only heard stories, though. When I…

Interestingly, I opened the Amazon door as a new dev and found something very different than what this post describes. The first step - before speaking to anyone about my background or interest - was going to be an intensive, one-hour coding session. It looked like it would be more "independent proof of competence" than "friendly programming task to evaluate you". I was expected to be on webcam the entire time to ver…

Although being asked to code on webcam is obnoxious, it's probably also a symptom of cultures where people exploit every trick in the book to game university admissions, exams, job interviews, etc.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#97

Post by linkregister »

Kudos on the author for sticking to what he said was his bottom line. This episode benefits all developers/engineers because we need to incentivize software companies to branch out beyond SF, Seattle, Boulder, and NYC.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#98

Post by hackcasual »

sgk284 wrote: post #52
Bartweiss wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly, I opened the Amazon door as a new dev and found something very different than what this post describes. The first step - before speaking to anyone about my background or interest - was going to be an intensive, one-hour coding session. It looked like it would be more "independent proof of competence" than "friendly programming task to evaluate you". I was expected to be on webcam the entire time to ver…

Bezos set a mandate to HR a few years ago that he wanted them to be able to hire a new grad without ever needing to speak to a human engineer. That is, he wants the entire interview process automated (specifically for new grads, at least for now). What you experienced is part of their experiment in figuring out how to make this work. They've got a number of variations of interviews going on right now. I believe this…

Ex amazonian here. About 5 years ago I was invited to beta test an online automated coding system, the stated goal of which was that upon passing, you would be given an offer for an SDE1 position. No webcam stuff, just checking your coding solutions. I don't believe that ever rolled out in that state.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#99

Post by larrykubin »

plandis wrote: post #88
aianus wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather be homeless and broke in a sunny third world country than ever visit Seattle again. So what?

I'm curious why is Seattle so bad you'd give up the relative safety to live in a third world country?

I live in Seattle. I get really depressed from December-February due to the lack of sunshine, and I've found it to be a more difficult place socially compared to other cities I've lived and worked in. To the point where I have frequently thought about leaving.

That said, I played beach volleyball all day yesterday with some friends as the sun set over the Olympic mountains in the background, and it was greatness. But it took me a couple of years to find my place.

Happy as can be at the moment, but it's odd how the gray can send me into a spiral of inward reflection that drives me nuts. Everyone posts the beautiful pictures of Mount Rainier and sunsets, which are gorgeous, but half the year you can feel lethargic and go into a hibernation mode which messes with your head if you don't have a strong social circle already.

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