Amazon

I work as a Solutions Architect for Amazon Web Services. This has been an amazing opportunity for me.

I help customers on a daily basis to make positive changes for their businesses. For many companies, the 'Core Values' are something on a webpage; at Amazon, we live the Leadership Principles, especially rule #1: Customer Obsession.

I have worked for AWS for a year and a half, and the job is never boring. New services are constantly coming out, so there is always something new and interesting to learn and play with. Every customer is different, so your skills will spread.

Culture in the office I work at is amazing. Everyone is ready and willing to help you, or point you in the right direction. The two managers I have reported to have been some of the best in my career (especially since they both did the job before they managed the job). I've not had a single bit of negative feedback that wasn't relevant and useful.

On a more personal note, there have been two instances, a family emergency and a family tragedy, in my time working for Amazon. In both cases, my team supported me 100%.

The job is what you make of it. If you challenge yourself to constantly improve, this is the place for you. After a year and a half, it may not seem like it's still 'Day 1' thankfully, but maybe Month 1.

Would I recommend the job? Absolutely, and I have several times.

For me, there aren't really any 'cons' to the job. But an SA job isn't right for everyone:

This isn't a job, or a place, for someone that just wants to get by. If you want a job where you will know everything you need to know in 6 months and then cruise, this isn't the job for you.

As an SA, we need to work independently as well as part of a team. We will have conversations with both business and technical people, so if you aren't comfortable with one side or the other, then don't take the job.

SAs need to be able to manage your time and priorities independently. You need to maintain your schedule and figure out how to best fit in everything you need to get done. No one is going to do that for you. If time management isn't something you are good at, you either need to get better at it or choose a different job.

I think a lot of people have read some bad press about life at Amazon. I don't recognize the company they have described.

We have an amazingly diverse set of really smart people. Keep doing what we are doing, and constantly strive to make things even better.