Amazon

From my experience at other large tech companies, I'd say that Amazon stands out as being challenging.

At other tech companies, you may have more vacation days. At other tech companies, you may have more perks. What you are unlikely to have at another tech company is a role which allows you to stretch yourself to the limits.

I've repeatedly heard and agree that at Amazon, you'll have a role similar in scope to a role occupied by 6 people at Microsoft (for example). You'll have to drop 80% more things on the ground to be able to stay sane, considering any reasonable person would say a team should do the job you're doing solo.

On the other hand, this means that assuming you are (or become) great at time management, you get to have influence over a significantly larger portion of the company than you could otherwise.

I'd also say that Amazon is significantly more excited at getting into every type of business imaginable. We have an extremely active process for any good idea which can lead to "Sure, we'll fund that new business." Take all the AWS services for example. This is much more true than was my experience at Facebook or Microsoft, where it was significantly less likely to move forward.

I also feel you have a great amount of control at Amazon over your personal work experience.

Some people work 12-hour days, always say "yes" when new work comes up, and they're surprised when they end up burnt out. Others can work consistent 8-hour days, still move their careers ahead, yet have learned those crucial prioritization/"no" skills.

Working from home, working odd hours, doing internal extra-curricular activities/projects - all within the control of someone who's excited to be involved and do things.

Career growth is only limited to your own abilities. I've seen over the years some great people rocket upwards in the company, always being stretched by their management chain because they've proven capable of taking on more. I love that Amazon is growing so much (across so many types of businesses) that it is up to an individual to decide how, where, and when they'll grow their career.

I would say the most clear downside is that Amazon is brutal to someone who can't manage their own time. That's the most common situation I've seen where someone didn't do well at Amazon.

Saying "no", prioritizing, and dropping things on the floor when needed is a crucial skill. As I mentioned in my pro section, we often have one person doing the job a whole team really should be doing. So you're going to have to figure out how to accomplish the bare minimum frequently to avoid being a total failure, while looking successful, while trying to hire more people for your team.

If you have no interest in building a great career and want to just relax in your job, it's unlikely you'll be successful here.

I'd also say that due to the quick growth, management can be inconsistent. I've seen failures where people didn't take enough control over their careers and sat working for a poor manager for too long. Amazon doesn't have a ton of parachutes for people who don't actively manage their careers.

"I wonder why I haven't been promoted in the last four years" is viewed as a personal failure at Amazon, not necessarily a management failure. So again, people are expected to self-drive. Find exciting roles, find good managers; you can't sit and wait at Amazon for opportunities to come to you, because things are too chaotic for that to happen.

Finally, frugality can end up in "frupidity" land at times. Amazon will build beautiful new buildings (like the new Doppler building downtown), but then some teams will ask for donations to buy beers for a team event. It's baffling how some teams take frugality to such a stupid level.

Overall, it's a great thing to be frugal; it builds efficiency into the company as a whole, but it can be painful when some leaders end up taking it too far.

Keep flexibility in Amazon policies, and look for improvements. As Amazon has grown, it feels like it is harder at times to make changes than it was 10 years ago.

HR policies should never be set in stone, so being willing to look or change them is critical.