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My Interviews with Amazon

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Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#181

Post by WalterBright »

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…

> without ever needing to speak to a human engineer

That would be one way to remove bias from the process.

I've often thought college admissions should be done in a blind manner. Applications go to a subcommittee that removes all race/gender clues from it, then the scrubbed applications go to the admissions committee.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#182

Post by iamleppert »

I wouldn't work for Amazon if my life depended on it. I interviewed once with A2Z. Phone coding interview, working on their music service. I was just coming from a major company in the space where I did the exact thing they needed and they recruited me based upon the strength of the product I developed. I answered and passed all questions without a sign of issue. I was expecting the new step was an in-person interview, and in fact was told that. Although I was local, I got called again to do another phone screen, more coding. I told the recruiter that I already had other offers and would be more than happy to do coding on site, so I could streamline the process.

She didn't like this and put up a hard-lined attitude about it, insisted I needed more basic questions. Totally treated me like less than a person and didn't care that I had other offers that would expire. Acted like it was a gift that Amazon was interested in me at all.

Who seriously puts up with this crap? One can only imagine how working for a company must be if this is how their hiring process works. I hung up the phone and last I checked I wouldn't want to be working at the music thing anyway.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#183

Post by serge2k »

justinv wrote: post #161
inopinatus wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm ex-AWS. Actually an ex-AWS hiring manager. My experience is at odds with the negative stories. What Amazon has is a culture with a strong flavour. Like all strong flavours, I think you're going to either love it or loathe it. I had a fantastic team to work with - they were all either ex-tech-sector CTOs or equivalent or they had that level of potential. So as the team manager I had permanent case of imposter synd…

I'm at Amazon (non-tech; 3 different orgs; so literally NYTimes' focus or whatnot). Your first paragraph is exactly how I describe Amazon to people. You either love the culture - or you hate it. There are very few people I know who are ambivalent about working there. It's hard work. It's important work. It's demanding work. It's not for everyone.

> It's hard work. It's important work. It's demanding work. It's not for everyone.

It's needlessly hard and too much of it is unimportant.

Do you really think people at Google/Facebook/Microsoft/etc... aren't working hard? Aren't working on things they think are important? The job isn't demanding?

Yet the horror stories consistently come from Amazon.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#184

Post by balls187 »

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…

> People often don't consider cost-of-living when making job decisions.

Do you have a source for this? Anecdotally, cost of living/quality of life are two big issues with every candidate I've every talked with.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#185

Post by ex_amazon_sde »

dominotw wrote: post #18
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…

I applied to amazon last month, they asked me to do interviewstreet coding for 2 hrs. After that Recruiter didn't even have the minimum courtesy to let me know what happened. He simply stopped all communications with me. Reflects their attitude of treating ppl as mere 'resources' , I would work for amazon if I have no self-respect.

Ex Amazon here: that's not supposed to happen.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#186

Post by serge2k »

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…

> People often don't consider cost-of-living when making job decisions.

They do. People not living in the cities constantly bring this up. We know. We are not idiots because we live in a bigger city.

I have roughly 55k left over after taxes, rent, and 401k. In other words, I'm doing fine even with the higher costs.

This is not counting bonus and stock.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#187

Post by derefr »

serge2k wrote: post #163
riot504 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only in programming would this type of statement hold any merit. I was an air traffic controller for 10 years prior to becoming a data scientist. Experience is more than just being able to code (or do your specific job), it brings a wealth of knowledge you have to yet notice or realize.

> Experience is more than just being able to code Necessary, but not sufficient. If you can't code you're worthless as a developer. You can be a great coder, but if your other skills are poor you aren't worth a senior engineer salary.

I've had points in my programming career where I felt completely burnt out. I would open up a text-editor and just stare at it. I didn't want to create.

But, separately from programming, I absolutely love teaching/mentoring. I found that, if I was helping someone with a programming problem, I could code just fine while burnt out. As long as someone else was doing "the programming"—the part involving wanting to create something and actually typing it—I was fine with them "borrowing" my knowledge and expertise in the form of doing all their design work, finding libraries and API functions for them, correcting their syntax errors, doing all their debugging, and basically every other part of programming that isn't typing words.

If someone handed me a college intern—or, hell, even a really passionate and patient elementary schooler—to serve as my "assistant", then I could make them appear to be a great programmer. If you hired me to wander around a team and pair-program with everyone, I could have a multiplicative effect on that team's productivity. But, by myself, I wouldn't be able to code for beans.

What do you call me?

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#188

Post by ryanlm »

brianwawok wrote: post #127
ryanlm wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

Yah so this is the age old problem. Big companies do really big thing. Google is literally changing the world. But if you get a job there, you are employee #145,231. Maybe if you work hard for 5 years you can rise to the rank of middle manager, and attend a meeting with someone that reports to the CEO, and maybe you can try to get a project you want done scheduled. More likely you will just do the work you are assign…

Is the age old problem mean I'm too young to be taken seriously in any context?

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#189

Post by whamlastxmas »

iamleppert wrote: post #182

I wouldn't work for Amazon if my life depended on it. I interviewed once with A2Z. Phone coding interview, working on their music service. I was just coming from a major company in the space where I did the exact thing they needed and they recruited me based upon the strength of the product I developed. I answered and passed all questions without a sign of issue. I was expecting the new step was an in-person intervie…

It's a really tough job market for a lot of people. I would guess as a total ballpark that 80% of people who apply to Amazon would absolutely jump through hoops all day just to get an interview. They're almost always not going to be a good fit, but if you deal applicants all day and they're overwhelmingly kissing your ass for the time of day, it's easy to see why someone with narcissistic traits would get huffy when someone doesn't follow their every whim.

Re: My Interviews with Amazon

#190

Post by fragola »

larrykubin wrote: post #99
plandis wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I live in Seattle. I love the look on new coworkers' faces when they see Mt Rainier for the first time in April: "HOLY COW IS THAT A VOLCANO??"
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