Can someone tell me, what's the actual BENEFIT to working at Amazon? Do people really go there simply because of the name? It doesn't seem like there's any reason for talent to go there as opposed to somewhere else?
I develop software for within the Amazon fulfillment centers (FCs). I get a lot of opportunities to fly around to various FCs, meet people, improve tools, reduce complexity. I try to make life a bit easier for the folks putting in four 10-hour shifts per week doing actual hard jobs. It's a really interesting environment, and it's the kind of place where 1% improvements are worth millions.
That kind of stuff motivates me.
They've also treated me really well. I started in Seattle, but really wanted to be in Toronto where my then-girlfriend (now wife) was living. A few months later, I'd transferred to a team in the Toronto office. I rarely work more than 45 hours/week, sometimes 50 if it's really bad. Hours are flexible. Good opportunities to learn and grow as well.
It's not a perfect company, but I'm enjoying being here.
Just speaking about engineering - I know a bunch of people who work in AWS/Prime Now infra teams. The opportunity to work on services of such massive scale is not something you can ignore. A lot of my friends have helped build a few AWS services from the ground up and the learning experience isn't something you would not appreciate. They definitely do technically challenging things.
The massive scale offers some pretty unique engineering challenges. But not totally unique -- you can get the same challenge at say Facebook or Google (coincidentally now across the street from Amazon HQ from what I hear).
I love working for Amazon. I get to work on extremely interesting problems that have a huge impact on the company's global operations. I rarely work more than 40 hours a week. I don't work on weekends. I am compensated very well. My management shows real concern for my well-being (after my father passed away I was told to take as much time off work as I needed. I returned to work after 10 days, and was immediately asked if I wanted to take more time off.) In contrast to what you hear, most people I work with seem happy to be here.
From personal experience -- if FB and Google are the big leagues, Amazon is triple-A ball[1]. The caliber of people there is quite high, but it's still easier to get in than at the truly elite places. I don't think there are a lot of people with offers from Google working at Amazon, but Amazon can be a good stepping stone.
[1]: (Non-Americans, substitute something like "Premier League" and "whatever league the Premier League relegates to")
I actually know a number of people working for Amazon that had comparable offers from Google and decided to work for Amazon. Admittedly, many of these people made the decision for moral reasons, specifically regarding how Google handles user data.
But as with most of Amazon, I guess a lot of it has to do with the team that you're in.
You do get paid quite a bit. They are big enough to handle visa stuff (even thought their policies regarding green cards aren't great). If you get the right team it's a good job.
I develop software for within the Amazon fulfillment centers (FCs). I get a lot of opportunities to fly around to various FCs, meet people, improve tools, reduce complexity. I try to make life a bit easier for the folks putting in four 10-hour shifts per week doing actual hard jobs. It's a really interesting environment, and it's the kind of place where 1% improvements are worth millions.
That kind of stuff motivates me.
They've also treated me really well. I started in Seattle, but really wanted to be in Toronto where my then-girlfriend (now wife) was living. A few months later, I'd transferred to a team in the Toronto office. I rarely work more than 45 hours/week, sometimes 50 if it's really bad. Hours are flexible. Good opportunities to learn and grow as well.
It's not a perfect company, but I'm enjoying being here.