Earlier quoted context omitted.
A browsing tip: In Firefox, you can right-click on low-contrast text, select 'Inspect (Q)', and a thing will pop up showing all of the attributes of the text. You can uncheck the 'color' styles to restore a good text color, the filter at the top of the list helps find the 'color' entries. For some reason everyone loves grey-on-grey these days, so I find I'm doing this a lot. I've been thinking of writing a Firefox ex…
There is an addon for this actually. Adjust colors for your own pleasure and press F2 (or whatever you want). https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/dark-backgrou...
I took a job at Amazon, only to leave after 10 months
671–680 of 706 posts
Re: I took a job at Amazon, only to leave after 10 months
#672Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll accept the logistics management part of Prime and AWS as obviously major achievements, but Alexa, Prime Video and Go? Alexa is a spy machine that makes already easy tasks marginally easier, and every so often tells a child exactly how to electrocute themselves. Prime Video is a 2nd or even 3rd rate video service in my experience. And having moved to Seattle recently, I tried out Amazon Go a couple times and it j…
You are approaching all of these from the perspective of an engineer and not recognizing that ordinary people don't see products and systems the way you do (a mistake I also often make). > Alexa is a spy machine that makes already easy tasks marginally easier For the average person who isn't super-bothered about privacy, the voice-activated functionality is genuinely novel and delightful. > Prime Video is a 2nd or ev…
Additional paid channel packages, commercials in the middle of paid programming, advertisements at the beginning of non-paid programming, new seasons being released in a weekly pattern instead of all at once.
Re: I took a job at Amazon, only to leave after 10 months
#673Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you think I said they'd run from you? If I caught a whiff of half what you've said here I'd end the on-site early. My industry is too competitive to put up with this sort of childish antics.
And the gate would be working as intended. I'm quite certain you have good intent. Maybe you've had truly rude people interview you, they exist. Maybe you have worked with a lot of jerks who were rude. Maybe we just have different definitions of "judge". The most generous take of my intent is ~ "this person really wants to avoid a dysfunctional work culture". If you assume good intent, you'll face fewer problems in l…
By the way, you should let HR know about your helpful intent to shield the company. They should have a wonderful commendation for you, and some COBRA paperwork to go with it.
Re: I took a job at Amazon, only to leave after 10 months
#674Earlier quoted context omitted.
And the gate would be working as intended. I'm quite certain you have good intent. Maybe you've had truly rude people interview you, they exist. Maybe you have worked with a lot of jerks who were rude. Maybe we just have different definitions of "judge". The most generous take of my intent is ~ "this person really wants to avoid a dysfunctional work culture". If you assume good intent, you'll face fewer problems in l…
I assume good intent: that's encountering why someone who'd make people uncomfortable with openly expressed ill-intent is so messed up... By the way, you should let HR know about your helpful intent to shield the company. They should have a wonderful commendation for you, and some COBRA paperwork to go with it.
This is an example of assuming ill-intent. I didn't say I'd try to make people uncomfortable. Here is what I actually wrote:
>I think I'd be happy to laugh and offend said people as a mechanism to keep them away
An interpretation of this assuming good intent is: "If I find something funny, I'll laugh. If it has the side effect of keeping people out who assume everyone has ill-intent, that's fine. "
An interpretation assuming ill intent is: "i deliberately laugh to see who it upsets".
Most people have read what I said in the generous way. There are a lot of upvotes. Hacker News isn't filled with a-holes who get excited when someone says something awful.
Re: I took a job at Amazon, only to leave after 10 months
#675Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "My biggest gripe is that Leetcode is systematically favoring candidates who have months of free time to memorize arbitrary logic puzzles. It makes me sad for the less privileged candidates who might be working a job while also trying to break into the IT field." I told google that this style of interviewing is discriminatory, especially towards people with families, or other commitments. Never got another call for…
I told one that I am a human being, not a circus animal here to do tricks, and if they want me to do live coding, they'd have to pay me for my time. Same result as you: The recruiters stopped bothering me.
Re: I took a job at Amazon, only to leave after 10 months
#676Earlier quoted context omitted.
I appreciate your comment and the nuance it brings to the conversation, but I also wonder if some of this is a distinction without a difference. Isn't the only difference between the Amazon-bashing and OP's take just a matter of delivery, tact and perspective? I personally prefer a communication style that doesn't involve bashing, and I would probably choose to write a post much like the OP, but I think it's also ver…
Well, it's definitely a distinction with a difference for the OP. If I were a hiring manager and came across his resume and the name rang a bell, and I dug up this blog post, I would have no qualms about re-hiring him at Amazon despite the short tenure (assuming I could earn the author's trust that my hypothetical new team isn't as chaotic/on-fire as what he experienced before). His ability to communicate with tact a…
In terms of OP's public persona, absolutely. And as I said, he writes the kind of post I'd probably write in that situation.
I was referring to how the HN community often discusses Amazon, which generally happens anonymously. In this setting, someone ranting and raving about issues at Amazon and someone politely spelling out those issues at Amazon don't result in very different outcomes (I say this while appreciating a well reasoned response over a fiery/impassioned response).
Employing 10k's/100k's of people does not imply that problems don't exist, or should not be addressed. The restaurant industry employees millions, and yet it's fairly well known that the industry is rife with problems, and the Anti Work movement is a manifestation of that. I don't think it's useful to conclude "well, only work in a restaurant if you are compatible with those conditions". The industry needs to change.
> Not right for you, if you are the type of person who shares personality traits and career goals/preferences as the author? Sure, quite possibly.
Many of the problems the author describes are not a matter of personal preference. They are an indication of organizational dysfunction.
Are some people better suited to work in a dysfunctional org? Sure. Does that mean the org should focus on hiring compatible people over fixing that dysfunction? That's certainly one possible approach. An approach that leads to a continuation of those problems, exacerbating them until only people who fit those "preferences" can possibly succeed.
I'm personally predisposed to stay in bad situations and deal with shitty leadership/environments thanks to years of conditioning via a very traumatic childhood. It's what I know, and so I can do it well. My ability to operate in such conditions doesn't mean the conditions are acceptable.
Re: I took a job at Amazon, only to leave after 10 months
#677Earlier quoted context omitted.
Performance Improvement Plan. On paper, it's a program where management works with you to improve your weak points so you don't get fired. In practice, it's HR protecting the company by documenting reasons to fire you before they fire you. It's rare (not unheard of, but rare) to work your way out of a PIP. In general, if you get put on a PIP, I would immediately start doing some soul-searching as to why I might be on…
Do you know is there a built-in per year PIP percentage at AWS? Does PIP involve a severance payment?
Because the rational choice is to take the high severance (being handed the PIP means your manager and manager's manager have already made up their minds against you, I've seen a coworker given an impossible task), that means that being an average Amazon engineer will have a 50% chance of being fired by your 5th year.
Re: I took a job at Amazon, only to leave after 10 months
#678Earlier quoted context omitted.
I assume good intent: that's encountering why someone who'd make people uncomfortable with openly expressed ill-intent is so messed up... By the way, you should let HR know about your helpful intent to shield the company. They should have a wonderful commendation for you, and some COBRA paperwork to go with it.
> try and make people uncomfortable This is an example of assuming ill-intent. I didn't say I'd try to make people uncomfortable. Here is what I actually wrote: >I think I'd be happy to laugh and offend said people as a mechanism to keep them away An interpretation of this assuming good intent is: "If I find something funny, I'll laugh. If it has the side effect of keeping people out who assume everyone has ill-inten…
This is the definition of ill-intent.
This is what intentionally making someone uncomfortable looks like.
Glad you learned something today :)
Re: I took a job at Amazon, only to leave after 10 months
#679Earlier quoted context omitted.
> try and make people uncomfortable This is an example of assuming ill-intent. I didn't say I'd try to make people uncomfortable. Here is what I actually wrote: >I think I'd be happy to laugh and offend said people as a mechanism to keep them away An interpretation of this assuming good intent is: "If I find something funny, I'll laugh. If it has the side effect of keeping people out who assume everyone has ill-inten…
>> "I'd be happy to laugh and offend " This is the definition of ill-intent. This is what intentionally making someone uncomfortable looks like. Glad you learned something today :)
Re: I took a job at Amazon, only to leave after 10 months
#680Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> "I'd be happy to laugh and offend " This is the definition of ill-intent. This is what intentionally making someone uncomfortable looks like. Glad you learned something today :)
Edit: I just looked at your comment history :( I should have stopped a long time ago. You seem to be stuck in this mode of assuming ill intent/bad faith from everyone.
You might as well save your breath at this point, you'll notice everything I've said was a very simple point, and every reply you've had was a roundabout treatise trying to pivot away from .
That's because what you're doing is defending an indefensible position.
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If you had just said it was a joke it would have been better for everyone involved... what a way to live life if this is really what you're about.