Taro Logo

Work hard, party hard

Software Development Engineer II
Current Employee
Has worked at Amazon for 1 year
September 2, 2012
Seattle, Washington
5.0
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEO
Pros

The company is objective, unemotional, and focused. For a certain type of old-school mathematician nerd (not the new-age script-kiddies), this can be a good thing.

There are no company-wide memos on "culture" or "grand visions." Everything you do has an objective and a measurable, well-defined outcome. You know why you're doing something, and that helps you make decisions faster, easier, and more efficiently.

The company is growing, aggressive, and I believe the only company able to withstand Apple. The company genuinely cares about customers – that's not rhetoric. You can find an Amazon engineer at 3:00 AM in the morning, shake them out of deep sleep, drug them, and ask them why a certain decision was made. Whether they're on-guard or off-guard, the answer won't change. If something impacts customers in a positive way, it will be done.

Cons

The above pro can become a minor con since there is little to no romanticism about any type of work. The biggest con is facilities. I came from a company with lots of facilities, on-campus laundry, etc., so I was used to convenient parking and a lot of campus-wide services, which was a mild annoyance to me for a few months. The hours aren't quite flexible, so it gets difficult to manage your time if you have to visit other businesses during business hours only.

Advice to Management

I like to attend meetings during the day while doing other stuff, like groceries, etc. Then, I spend a coding session at night where I am undisturbed.

Fixed business hours for developers is a pain. Sometimes you get stuck in something and just sit there staring at the screen because you get criticized if you're not present during core hours.

Was this helpful?

Amazon Interview Experiences