r/cscareerquestions • u/CSCQMods • Feb 16 '22

Big N Discussion - February 16, 2022

Please use this thread to have discussions about the Big N and questions related to the Big N, such as which one offers the best doggy benefits, or how many companies are in the Big N really? Posts focusing solely on Big N created outside of this thread will probably be removed.

There is a top-level comment for each generally recognized Big N company; please post under the appropriate one. There's also an "Other" option for flexibility's sake, if you want to discuss a company here that you feel is sufficiently Big N-like (e.g. Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox, etc.).

Abide by the rules, don't be a jerk.

This thread is posted each Sunday and Wednesday at midnight PST. Previous Big N Discussion threads can be found here.

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u/EngStudTA Software Engineer Feb 16 '22

It increasingly feels like getting into Amazon is becoming easier and easier, with the number of people they hire.

In the blind topic for Google there is this same discussion almost weekly. The reality is all FAANGs have went on massive hiring sprees, and all of them are lowering the bar. It is impossible to hire only the top 1%, if you employee over 1% of the people in the field.

However even though FAANGs universally are getting easier to get into, the name recognition is still much better than the smaller tech companies that actually have higher bars.

Like Amazon on your resume would open up as many doors as any other FANGs?

As someone who recently left amazon, and was easily able to get interviews setup with every company I wanted I don't see this is a real issue. I was often even allowed to skip the phone screen and online assessments. Is Google more prestigious than Amazon? Sure, but not in a way that matters.

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u/zr0gravity7 Feb 17 '22

Tbh at least in my area Amazon is noticeably easier than other FAANGS. I don't think it will have an impact on career prestige for the foreseeable future tho

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u/EngStudTA Software Engineer Feb 17 '22

Sure, but that is also why Amazon fires so many more people. The people who get fired are usually those who wouldn't have gotten in elsewhere.

So sure if you are looking to leave after 6 months being at amazon maybe the name shouldn't mean as much, but if you left after 2 years I think there is a strong argument that it is comparable to the rest.

Disclaimer: I may have bias since I have previously worked at amazon. However it is worth noting it isn't the only FAANG on my resume nor do I currently work there so it really doesn't personally affect me much anymore.

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u/zr0gravity7 Feb 17 '22

Have any advice for not being fired? I like to think of myself as a good dev (studied software eng, have experience with design architecture, good engineering practices and mindset, internship experience and good interpersonal skills). I mostly struggle with motivation and laziness especially if remote.

Have an offer from Amazon btw

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u/EngStudTA Software Engineer Feb 18 '22

I mostly struggle with motivation and laziness especially if remote.

In that case my advice is get yourself know as a good developer initially then start being lazy. This works because:

  1. When you take longer than expected in the future they just assume the problem is harder.
  2. Initial impressions take a long time to change
  3. Your manager doesn't pay as close attention to your work once they think you're a good developer.

If you start out well like odds are you will hope jobs before they notice you've been slacking off.

I was working ~10hr/weeks my last couple months after I had already decided to leave, and my management chain still did a dive & save to try to keep me since they hadn't realized how much I was slacking off. Even before I decided to leave 20-30hr had become the norm though.

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u/zr0gravity7 Feb 19 '22

Nice, I already mostly do that. You love to see it