Target

• Higher pay than the local market and competitive across the US.
• Modern and sometimes even bleeding-edge technology stacks.
• Strong software engineering culture with talented people, some of the best I've ever worked with.
• Interesting work, if you can find a team you gel with.
• If you can't, there are many teams you could change to without leaving the company, offering room for growth and new opportunities.
• Raises and bonuses are regular and fair.
• Ability to keep a flexible schedule and good work-life balance, if you have the right managers.
• Diverse team members you work with.
• Senior leaders are receptive and encouraging of feedback; I never felt like I was in a toxic team culture.

You've probably churned through 4-5 managers; you need to be your own advocate.

Mentoring and coaching are not formalized.

Deadline-driven development for no good reason can lead to working more, unless you are willing to push back hard.

You're definitely a cog in a billion-dollar machine, a well-compensated cog, and it's still profit-driven at its core. This may grind against your morals.

Most lead-level engineers and above are white males, though it seems there is much more diversity coming up.

When COVID is over, don't expect to be 100% remote.

There's a lot of restructure churn, which is kind of typical corporate drama.

There's a lot of stuff going on; nobody has figured out effective cross-team communication yet.

A big company can grind your entrepreneurial spirit down; you are apt to be pigeonholed.

Be willing to lose some money doing the right thing, something Amazon won't ever do.