Not related to the content, but why do sites like this disable pinchzoom? What value could it possibly add?
The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
11–20 of 118 posts
Re: The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
#12I disagree with "In most cases, the “best and the brightest” already have jobs, so you’re really just on the lookout for the best available.". Just because one is employed does not mean one is taken. If you want the best you have to work at it. Appeal to their desires and they'll come to you. Looking for the "best available" is no better than settling. In my opinion you'll end up doing a disservice to both your compa…
Lets be honest Amazon is an online shop the best and brightest are either going to be working at tier 1 RnD or on wall street or the city.
down voted eh the truth hurts doesn't it there is a world of difference between working at JPL MIT etal and some me to start up using the latest shiny new thing copying some existing SM type solution of which there are dozens already.
Re: The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
#13I'm always amazed by how confidently people can propose a hiring "rule" or even guideline. The article pays lip service to the fact "There's no way to A/B test hiring decisions" but then goes on to describe a handful of rules to "build an effective organization, regardless of size or resources." The thing is, there's no evidence that these are effective and definitely none to suggest they're generalizable to organiza…
This topic has started taking on religious tones in the past year or so. It seems to be a long stream of anecdotes and opinion pieces presented with appeals to authority either of the author or someone the author is connected to.
Re: The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lets be honest Amazon is an online shop the best and brightest are either going to be working at tier 1 RnD or on wall street or the city.
Re Wall Street: It's unfortunate that some of our brightest are tempted into playing multi-million dollar poker, rather than focusing their energy on producing any significant long-term value. I believe software engineering wages will continue to rise over time, and will eventually reflect the true value the industry produces.
Experience from other branches of engineering compared to other equivalent professions over the last 100 years suggests otherwise.
Re: The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lets be honest Amazon is an online shop the best and brightest are either going to be working at tier 1 RnD or on wall street or the city.
down voted eh the truth hurts doesn't it there is a world of difference between working at JPL MIT etal and some me to start up using the latest shiny new thing copying some existing SM type solution of which there are dozens already.
cough http://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/nasa-jpl/ cough
Sorry, caught a nasty flu..
Re: The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lets be honest Amazon is an online shop the best and brightest are either going to be working at tier 1 RnD or on wall street or the city.
down voted eh the truth hurts doesn't it there is a world of difference between working at JPL MIT etal and some me to start up using the latest shiny new thing copying some existing SM type solution of which there are dozens already.
I didn't downvote you, but calling Amazon a startup is pretty ridiculous -- and your spelling/grammar isn't lending your argument any favors. (Though, ironically, it does fit into PG's description of "a company optimized for growth.")
Re: The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
#17I disagree with "In most cases, the “best and the brightest” already have jobs, so you’re really just on the lookout for the best available.". Just because one is employed does not mean one is taken. If you want the best you have to work at it. Appeal to their desires and they'll come to you. Looking for the "best available" is no better than settling. In my opinion you'll end up doing a disservice to both your compa…
If you have a situation, which I believe we do now, where the number of engineers who fit the "best and brightest" category as defined by the companies looking is less than the number required by these companies, somebody is going to have to either "settle" or work with a hole. It will also make some of these engineers overpaid. I don't see how this benefits your company. Yes, in this system some companies will be "w…
"over paid" what is this concept that you speak off - there is no big guy with a big white beard sitting on a cloud who's going to reach down and say "you yes you with a third in media studies from Luton university should be paid X and those cheeky blue collar train drivers or miners who have scarce skills should be paid less than you".
The PHB might think they are over paid but like it or not this is Laissez-faire capitalism pay is determined by scarcity and bargaining power.
ps for those outside the UK Luton is the unfortunate University that props up the bottom of the university league table - though to be fair they do rank well for Nursing degrees.
Re: The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
#18Not related to the content, but why do sites like this disable pinchzoom? What value could it possibly add?
Yesterday I needed to look at source code on GitHub using my iPhone. Horizontal scrolling AND pinch-to-zoom were disabled, making it impossible to read lines of code wider than my phone screen.
Github.
Why is this so hard?
Re: The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
#19I disagree with "In most cases, the “best and the brightest” already have jobs, so you’re really just on the lookout for the best available.". Just because one is employed does not mean one is taken. If you want the best you have to work at it. Appeal to their desires and they'll come to you. Looking for the "best available" is no better than settling. In my opinion you'll end up doing a disservice to both your compa…
Lets be honest Amazon is an online shop the best and brightest are either going to be working at tier 1 RnD or on wall street or the city.
Have you heard of a little thing called Amazon Web Services?
Re: The anatomy of the perfect technical interview from a former Amazon VP
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
down voted eh the truth hurts doesn't it there is a world of difference between working at JPL MIT etal and some me to start up using the latest shiny new thing copying some existing SM type solution of which there are dozens already.
I didn't downvote you, but calling Amazon a startup is pretty ridiculous -- and your spelling/grammar isn't lending your argument any favors. (Though, ironically, it does fit into PG's description of "a company optimized for growth.")
I think it should have been obvious from the context that I was talking about a substantial number of the HN commentators who are working at me to start ups (nothing wrong with that but its not world changing rocket science)
Soory if you have problems with reading as a literate dyslexic I had no problem with reading writing not so much :)