Thank you for all of your videos Steve. As a fellow Amazonian, I'm happy to see other SDEs giving back to the community with good structured career advice.
@@a2shadow You can watch his eyes move left to right repeatedly in most of the videos because he’s reading the text off somewhere. Teleprompter or no teleprompter, who cares, the content is great!
Anyone who knows they want to stay IC, should still try out an EM role at least once imo. Speaking from my experience, it teaches you to be a better IC.
What´s wrong with using a teleprompter? Steve is giving us good free information and is trying his best. Indeed, writing down the video's script is the best way of making sure you say precisely what you mean in the most effective and structured way. The man has a full-time job. Cut him some slack!
I’m currently interviewing for a SDE-2 position and I must say you have been an invaluable resource. I appreciate how genuine and to the point you are in your videos. Thank you so much for your videos Steve!
Meta you are amazing - I work in the med device industry and your leveling/ advice has helped tremendously this past year. You also give me a "level" to expect working with CAPABLE people in the industry. Fortunately I am surrounded by people similar in maturity as you, keep up the great content good sir.
There's nothing wrong with using a teleprompter. Creating, filming and editing content already takes a lot of time. You're an expert and a good speaker, not using a telepromter is just a waste of time. Keep it up, great content!
Thanks the great sharing! Questions for next Office Hours: 1. as a principal engineer, How do you prepare your day-to-day/key work report to your manager, will you maintain a doc or use 1:1 to share updates 2. as a senior engineer, generally how long you stayed in the role then explicitly ask your manager for the next level(PE) preparation 3. Typical day-to-day work for a PE disclosure 4. Typical 1:1 discussion point with skip manager, how frequency meet up 5. How to select and get a next primary project which can bring mach to team priority same time with proper scope proctive force multiplier and provide growth space for principal engineer. 6. How do I know whether team has business justification for PE headcount
Just figured out this channel. The Nguyen in your last name make me really proud of and encourage that there are really many talented people of our bloods go really far in the industry. Cant wait to see more about intellectual vids! Thank you
I have recently stumbled upon your channel, and I find it really awesome. But I was quite sad to see you haven’t posted any new videos in a while. Now this video came out! Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge, experience and perspective
thanks for the video. helped me decide to stay as an IC. I am pressured by my company to move to a management position but that is a totally different job and I was not feeling it.
Nice Video! A question for next Office Hours: How do you spend your time learning besides work to learn about new technology/concept? Or do you use work time for these kind of things? How many hours do you spend for it? Thanks!
You are truly expanding your circle of influence and growing others outside of Amazon. I have a team mate who was your mentee. I can see why he's good.
A question for next Office Hours. Do you agree that one's performance in LeetCode-style interviews is a good indicator of future real-world performance? Do you see any better alternatives to LC interviews?
It's a good question I'd like to hear Meta's answer to. My assumption is that the problems which are unique yet operate with simple concepts allow to show thinking capabilities of a person without limitations based on complicated knowledge. BUT, like in school everybody is preparing for the test instead of just learning, so the quality of evaluation decreases significantly. Then the teachers adapt to students preparing by making the tests harder than it should be. What do you think?
I love your channel! It's really nice to have someone as a mentor, especially as I'm slowly thinking about all the career questions you answer through your videos!
Love these office hours! Keep them up please! Not in SE (in Data Eng) so it’s very insightful and helpful to receive this pseudo-mentorship from you. Cheers big homie
Hey Steve, could you go over how you have dealt with career rejections? Sort of, what were your initial thoughts, how you adjusted, motivated yourself to continue forward etc. Thanks!
I'll let meta chime in too. Career rejections for me were not getting promoted when I really thought I would be promoted. They are hard. Honestly that's what I feel causes burnout. I've had quite a lot of them. For most cases, it was just a minor delay. But there were couple where it caused me to loose all confidence in my abilities. When that happens it feels like your career has stopped. Like a stopped object, it's important to push forward (apply the force), focus on small wins until you gain momentum. You need to challenge core beliefs. Take therapy if needed. Learn about CBT. Believe that you are meant to achieve your dreams, and believe that if you'll relentless pursue those goals you'll win.
@@ArpanAsawa Thanks for your input, you have a very mature perspective. For me, I recently went through interviewing for Amazon, only to be rejected after the final interview. Initially, I felt extremely upset as I thought the interview to be fairly good. Afterwards, it was feeling dejected that all my work had been for naught and that perhaps I'm not cut out to work at MAANG. It was only after some retrospection in which I realized there were still many things I could improve upon (and that the rejection was justified), that I began picking up myself once again. I'm fairly green around the edges when it comes to these experiences, so any advice from senior engineers (or those who have been through the gauntlet of the industry) is really appreciated.
@@YinYueShiYongYuanDe I too once was rejected from Flipkart (a company in India). If I was not rejected I probably would have taken that job and wouldn't have moved to the USA. I had not even registered that particular rejection as a rejection when I first replied. It's been 7+ years since that rejection. I'm a Hindu and there's a quote in Bhagavad Gita: all that's happened was good, all that is happening is good, and all that will happen will be good. I didn't understand this teaching until I did. It's a very powerful tool to manage anxiety and negative emotions. You have to realise that while there are things that you can improve, you are also awesome. When you are down, focus on your strengths. Don't be too hard on yourself. Take 1 day at a time. Do me a favour, and please write on a paper 'what are your strengths?' and observe what this does to your mood.
Hi Steve! Insightful video like always. I think you should ignore the questions which challenge your credibility. Your knowledge and time can be well spent on answering genuine questions.
+1. "why do you work for Amazon?" was a question to avoid. How can one answer that without understanding what is not smart about working at Amazon. Some people need to learn to ask meaningful questions 😀
Can relate to the comment that there are just as many (and more) skilled people outside of FAANG as there are inside. I do consulting work and found this to be true, doing work for a big tech company in Silicon Valley I saw most of them were no different than those I worked with at small businesses. I think the only difference between the two extremes was luck, ability to network, and how they presented themselves.
Hey Steve, love your videos! You’ve once mentioned the difference of a leadership role vs. a management role. Where the former has broader technical impact and the latter has a larger organisational impact. Can you please expand on this? Examples, anecdotes, differentiating between the two, conveying experience about each during an interview, etc. Love your work! Thank you
Thank you for your valuable insight. Hoping to transition into a principal level role and your commentary makes me feel more confident that it's exactly what I'm looking for.
I greatly appreciate your videos and heads-on way you hit stuff... very real. really helpful for life management in all fields (i'm not in engineering /coding.. am real estate guy). thanks a lot for doing these. much appreciation
I have to say, using a teleprompters isn't a bad thing, especially if the information you are conveying is important and complex. I am guessing that you have more important things to do than memorise scripts... Also, I am currently undertaking a bootcamp course to shift from a 10 year career in IT Support to development. Granted, I probably could have done it without the bootcamp but a tightly structured curriculum certainly helps! Your videos provide a fantastic overview of the industry from the perspective of someone in a leadership role and it really helps me formulate an idea of what people in roles like yours want from the more junior staff. Thanks for the videos, they are truly helpful and insightful
Principals are not that rare at a company as big as Amazon--especially with a 15 year tenure. But, for the record, I can confirm Steve is in fact a principal.
Hi Meta, I find your advice to be on point, I used them for my Google interviews and I'm starting in 2 weeks (data engineer here, super excited) PS: Love your videos, you are really good at this, don't believe otherwise. PPS (question here): How do you manage uncertainty at work? Insight on uncertainty when you're new to a job will be appreciated
Finally a new video!! We waited very long for this. Meta was a great name, it's sad that FB stole it. Anyway, what's in the name? I have 1 question for you: Can you tell the common traits you find new comers(at amazon) lacking in?
For anyone wondering, he is a principal engineer. They are much fewer than senior or SDE II, but considering the scale of Amazon there are many of them
Hi Steve, I'm looking at taking an Amazon job in Europe (from the US) but concerned about the "hire to fire" culture that seems to permeate the company. I don't want to move my whole life to get fired 1 year later. Is this a valid concern?
Question for future office hours: - In an IC role, sometimes we're given a long-term (say 2yr timeframe) key initiative to work on. What's your mental model on how to plan, communicate (i.e. progress updates) and manage up your management's expectations? What's your approach to making great, clear and concise presentations on progress updates? Thank you for all the great videos! It's really great to hear fellow engineers talk about their mental models and how to solve problems.
Why have you stayed at Amazon for as long as you have? Do you think you would of made more money/ got promoted faster if you switched around? What do you think is the benefit of staying at 1 company for 16 years vs 4 companies for 4 years each (Asking from the perspective of someone who has almost been at a company for 4 years)
@@FirstTimeDad23 My question is if you are so smart why are you working for someone else? Presumably with such intellect you'd start your own business and be the boss...
@@Akas410 I hear you but don’t confuse being smart and entrepreneurship. You don’t have to be a genius to start a business but you do have to be smart to help NASA deploy James Webb to L2
I think my reply doesn’t make much sense but I what I am trying to say is that not all genius people are interested in business. Other people just want to help Jeff bezos deliver goods with drones.
Books to read for intermediate developer? I’m a start up / small business guy and it’s were I’d like to spend my career which often has me doing a lot lol but I’m naturally good with people (ran a marketing firm for about 15 years) before moving to web /app development. I’m wanting to develop more into an “engineer” and get better at system design, better practices, etc… Really love your channel.
Thanks Steve, i am getting promoted to senior tech lead and also i got a offer to become engineering manager in different organisations with very good compensation but i decided not got with manage route after seeing your video. I would like to get information about how to prepare for sde 3 interview in amazon with roadmap to prepare in 4-5 months,considering that i have more than 11 years of experience.
Thanks for making the content that you do. This is all great advice and has definitely helped open me to new perspectives. One of the things that I have been curious about is what a work week typically looks like for a Principal at a FAANG company. Would you be able to make a video on this sometime? By the way, the insight into being a manager principal vs an IC principal was great. I had no idea.
I watched all of your videos and I'm so happy I found a channel that actually gives real advice; SWE related youtube channels these days have become absolutely horrendous. I'm currently going through some FAANG interviews lately and I think now that I watched your video about how to tell stories, I realized that I have a lot to improve on. Do you plan on creating more videos about growing as a junior developer? Thanks Steve!
Regarding preparation for how to answer interview non-technical questions related to your experience, below is the method I was taught over 30 years ago. Throughout my career, I have kept a STAR workbook related to my experiences, and I still use them during interviews. Once you document them, you have a mental library to pick from based on the questions asked of you. The STAR method is a four-part technique for answering interview questions. STAR is an acronym for the four parts of an answer: Situation, Task, Action and Result.
Amazing office hours. You are truly a bro. I agree 100% with all advice here. For the question about getting traction on your ideas, I'd just add, that you don't go to leadership with just your idea. You need to learn to talk impact and sell the impact of your idea. This means think what is it that your idea will solve, what would it mean once implemented/executed and why do it right now?
This question is regarding quality of life, stress, and family. How much greedom id there to have a flexible schedule, consistent boundaries wrt time at work? i understand this is in part related to ability and commitment to productivity. Do you work long hours? Do you soend lots of quality time outside work during weekdays? whats your schedule?
Few questions: I'm assigned as a tech lead/lead engineer at my current place of work. Does this mean if I were to apply at other companies I should aim for lead engineer jobs? What is the difference between a tech lead/lead engineer and senior/principle engineer?
Depends on the company. At amazon L5 and L6 are technically “lead engineers” because you got a ton of autonomy and can lead design / projects. L6 is usually way higher level than a regular companies “lead engineer” Principal is basically director level engineer. You don’t really “lead” any team but you influence MANY teams across your organization. That’s just amazon tho
Have you ever been tempted to change companies to get promoted faster? I've heard that it's easier to get promoted or get better compensation by switching companies rather than getting promoted at your current workplace? Thanks!
Great video again! Could you talk about how you spend your time as a principal at amazon? What do other engineers do that you like? What do they do that you don't like? Thanks!
forget this guy- he's scared to work hard. working at amazon is one of the smartest things you can do since it's been one of the best companies to own equity in in the past 20 years. and you deserve the respect- Mr. Wyn
If you know well about the design of the system of projects you have been working on and know about system design stuff but never been included in design phase of a project. Can you appear for an interview which asks for experience in system design?
A variation of this -- many jobs ask for proven design exp with large-scale systems, but if the companies / industries in which I've worked are small, there's no real opportunity to do system design at that level. It feels like a catch-22 -- work for a FAANG so you can qualify to work for a FAANG...
6 to 8 stories for the behavioral is not enough. The recruiter told me: "don't repeat your stories, even if you can use it for two or more different questions. Sometime you might get the same question twice by two different interviewers, and you must have two different answers". Considering that for a L6 you get 1 pre full-day round that is half behavioral, then on the on-site you get 1 fully behavioral round, then another 4 rounds that are half behavioral, you will get in total 3.5 hours of behavioral. How can you cover this with 6 to 8 stories, I don't know.
The solution for imposter syndrome is to accept that it is okay to not know things. Treat your peers like stack overflow and use their knowledge as if it were your own. Over time, you'll be able to become that knowledge source for others. The alternative is that every engineer wastes time searching for the answers alone instead of just getting them directly.
What if I actually have 10 years of experience, but I don't have any mind-blowing stories that will impress the interviewers. Does that mean I'm not ready for a senior position if I can't provide at least 1 story that had huge impact on the project?
Could you do a video on the mindset and verb-age that helps when talking/haggling about your offer, as well as the managers mindset if you have experience. Related to the imposter syndrome it feels so hard to ask for more, could you do an example?
I have a soft skill question. My big boss told me I should ask less of "why you chose this, why you did this?" , But more of "where do you come from(what made the person think so)". Is asking "why" really bad for engineers? Or this advice application for those MBA graduate and senior people management?
Great content Steve! How to read tech books for max benefit especially the huge ones? I read but after some time I get bored and I forget many things afterwards. Any advice?
I worked at Amazon from 2007 to 2011 as a L6 manager. During my time there, I was never on a PIP, and I was top tier for two review cycles. If I were open to returning to Amazon, would I be considered for L7 positions?
Hi Meta, I'm having trouble deciding my next career move. I'm killing it at my current position (ASE) and my leadership team has been treating me like a senior/lead by giving me people to mentor, features to lead, and advising external teams on their features and integration with our tools. I've gained a lot of confidence in my abilities, and I feel like I can jump into an L4 role at Google or something similar. The issue is that I only have 7 months of industry experience and I feel like people don't believe the amount of responsibilities my managers have given me. Is it worthwhile to stay at this job for a few years and get outsized responsibilities and an accelerated promotion schedule, or would it be worthwhile to move to a tech company where I could get 3-5x my current salary?
Thank you for your videos! Small suggestion: i would increase the aperture a little on your camera so that more of your face is in focus -- the focus at the moment seems to be on the nose and eyebrows (ears are completely off focus)
What kind of projects should I work on if I want to work for fang(currently an undergrad)? How can I get an interview when i am not cs major? I created a twitter clone and a basic game for iOS. What should I work on?
Would you as your younger self work in an early stage promising startup or FAANG? Considering the fixed compensation is similar. I am not comparing ESOPs (paper money) vs stocks. How would you think of work?
Hi Steve, thanks for the videos. I'd like very much your style. Question about salaries around the world for the same company like amazon. I can't say for sure but I've checked glassdoor and it seems that there is a difference of 40%+ for a particular role I was checking. Something like 100K to 120K+ in US and 60K or less in Europe/Spain. From your experience, how would you negotiate/touch this subject during the interview process? Would you join the company first and then ask for relocation to US to get same kind of salary? Thanks for insights.
Hi Steve, thank you for your insights! When promoting a lower level engineer, what kind of criterion do you apply? Do you use any short cuts to make a decision?
Thank you for all of your videos Steve. As a fellow Amazonian, I'm happy to see other SDEs giving back to the community with good structured career advice.
What I love most about you is your honesty... Most UA-camrs would deny they don't use a teleprompter
Thank you for being real
How can someone know that he is using a teleprompter?
@@a2shadow You can watch his eyes move left to right repeatedly in most of the videos because he’s reading the text off somewhere.
Teleprompter or no teleprompter, who cares, the content is great!
The moment at 6:25 is so genuine and human.
What a great guy, keep the great content coming!
Really appreciate your take on choosing between going into management or staying as IC.
Anyone who knows they want to stay IC, should still try out an EM role at least once imo. Speaking from my experience, it teaches you to be a better IC.
What´s wrong with using a teleprompter? Steve is giving us good free information and is trying his best. Indeed, writing down the video's script is the best way of making sure you say precisely what you mean in the most effective and structured way. The man has a full-time job. Cut him some slack!
I’m currently interviewing for a SDE-2 position and I must say you have been an invaluable resource. I appreciate how genuine and to the point you are in your videos. Thank you so much for your videos Steve!
Meta you are amazing - I work in the med device industry and your leveling/ advice has helped tremendously this past year. You also give me a "level" to expect working with CAPABLE people in the industry. Fortunately I am surrounded by people similar in maturity as you, keep up the great content good sir.
"I think there is an issue if you compare your insides to people's outsides"
Very well said!
There's nothing wrong with using a teleprompter. Creating, filming and editing content already takes a lot of time. You're an expert and a good speaker, not using a telepromter is just a waste of time. Keep it up, great content!
Thanks the great sharing! Questions for next Office Hours:
1. as a principal engineer, How do you prepare your day-to-day/key work report to your manager, will you maintain a doc or use 1:1 to share updates
2. as a senior engineer, generally how long you stayed in the role then explicitly ask your manager for the next level(PE) preparation
3. Typical day-to-day work for a PE disclosure
4. Typical 1:1 discussion point with skip manager, how frequency meet up
5. How to select and get a next primary project which can bring mach to team priority same time with proper scope proctive force multiplier and provide growth space for principal engineer.
6. How do I know whether team has business justification for PE headcount
Just figured out this channel. The Nguyen in your last name make me really proud of and encourage that there are really many talented people of our bloods go really far in the industry. Cant wait to see more about intellectual vids! Thank you
I'm really happy that you upload again
The "why choose IC vs. manager" question helped a lot thanks
I have recently stumbled upon your channel, and I find it really awesome. But I was quite sad to see you haven’t posted any new videos in a while. Now this video came out! Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge, experience and perspective
thanks for the video. helped me decide to stay as an IC. I am pressured by my company to move to a management position but that is a totally different job and I was not feeling it.
“Don’t compare your insides to others outsides”… damn! That was good!
I’ve been trying to remember the word synecdoche for like a year now. Thanks!
The rest of the video was solid too!
Nice Video!
A question for next Office Hours: How do you spend your time learning besides work to learn about new technology/concept? Or do you use work time for these kind of things? How many hours do you spend for it? Thanks!
Great question!
You are truly expanding your circle of influence and growing others outside of Amazon. I have a team mate who was your mentee. I can see why he's good.
A question for next Office Hours. Do you agree that one's performance in LeetCode-style interviews is a good indicator of future real-world performance? Do you see any better alternatives to LC interviews?
It's a good question I'd like to hear Meta's answer to.
My assumption is that the problems which are unique yet operate with simple concepts allow to show thinking capabilities of a person without limitations based on complicated knowledge. BUT, like in school everybody is preparing for the test instead of just learning, so the quality of evaluation decreases significantly. Then the teachers adapt to students preparing by making the tests harder than it should be.
What do you think?
The name is better now imo. It fits. I love your channel. Nice work.
I love your channel! It's really nice to have someone as a mentor, especially as I'm slowly thinking about all the career questions you answer through your videos!
I just love the first frame of the reaction at 8:47
Love these office hours! Keep them up please! Not in SE (in Data Eng) so it’s very insightful and helpful to receive this pseudo-mentorship from you.
Cheers big homie
Hey Steve, could you go over how you have dealt with career rejections? Sort of, what were your initial thoughts, how you adjusted, motivated yourself to continue forward etc. Thanks!
I'll let meta chime in too. Career rejections for me were not getting promoted when I really thought I would be promoted. They are hard. Honestly that's what I feel causes burnout. I've had quite a lot of them. For most cases, it was just a minor delay. But there were couple where it caused me to loose all confidence in my abilities. When that happens it feels like your career has stopped. Like a stopped object, it's important to push forward (apply the force), focus on small wins until you gain momentum. You need to challenge core beliefs. Take therapy if needed. Learn about CBT. Believe that you are meant to achieve your dreams, and believe that if you'll relentless pursue those goals you'll win.
@@ArpanAsawa Thanks for your input, you have a very mature perspective. For me, I recently went through interviewing for Amazon, only to be rejected after the final interview. Initially, I felt extremely upset as I thought the interview to be fairly good. Afterwards, it was feeling dejected that all my work had been for naught and that perhaps I'm not cut out to work at MAANG. It was only after some retrospection in which I realized there were still many things I could improve upon (and that the rejection was justified), that I began picking up myself once again. I'm fairly green around the edges when it comes to these experiences, so any advice from senior engineers (or those who have been through the gauntlet of the industry) is really appreciated.
@@YinYueShiYongYuanDe I too once was rejected from Flipkart (a company in India). If I was not rejected I probably would have taken that job and wouldn't have moved to the USA. I had not even registered that particular rejection as a rejection when I first replied. It's been 7+ years since that rejection. I'm a Hindu and there's a quote in Bhagavad Gita: all that's happened was good, all that is happening is good, and all that will happen will be good. I didn't understand this teaching until I did. It's a very powerful tool to manage anxiety and negative emotions. You have to realise that while there are things that you can improve, you are also awesome. When you are down, focus on your strengths. Don't be too hard on yourself. Take 1 day at a time. Do me a favour, and please write on a paper 'what are your strengths?' and observe what this does to your mood.
@@YinYueShiYongYuanDe and best of luck! :)
It's always been really inspiring to watch your videos. Watched them many times and could still find out something new. Thanks, Steve!
Just started binging your vids. Really good stuff bro
Thanks for your no-BS answers, I love it!
Hi Steve! Insightful video like always. I think you should ignore the questions which challenge your credibility. Your knowledge and time can be well spent on answering genuine questions.
+1. "why do you work for Amazon?" was a question to avoid. How can one answer that without understanding what is not smart about working at Amazon. Some people need to learn to ask meaningful questions 😀
Nah, he perfectly answers that question.
Can relate to the comment that there are just as many (and more) skilled people outside of FAANG as there are inside. I do consulting work and found this to be true, doing work for a big tech company in Silicon Valley I saw most of them were no different than those I worked with at small businesses. I think the only difference between the two extremes was luck, ability to network, and how they presented themselves.
It's strange people truly believe there is only a small amount of capable people and google is perfectly able to capture them all.
Hey Steve, love your videos! You’ve once mentioned the difference of a leadership role vs. a management role. Where the former has broader technical impact and the latter has a larger organisational impact. Can you please expand on this? Examples, anecdotes, differentiating between the two, conveying experience about each during an interview, etc.
Love your work! Thank you
Thank you for your valuable insight. Hoping to transition into a principal level role and your commentary makes me feel more confident that it's exactly what I'm looking for.
Great video
I greatly appreciate your videos and heads-on way you hit stuff... very real. really helpful for life management in all fields (i'm not in engineering /coding.. am real estate guy). thanks a lot for doing these. much appreciation
Hi Meta, What would you advise if someone is in a manager position and what to move back to the IC/SDE?
I have to say, using a teleprompters isn't a bad thing, especially if the information you are conveying is important and complex. I am guessing that you have more important things to do than memorise scripts...
Also, I am currently undertaking a bootcamp course to shift from a 10 year career in IT Support to development. Granted, I probably could have done it without the bootcamp but a tightly structured curriculum certainly helps! Your videos provide a fantastic overview of the industry from the perspective of someone in a leadership role and it really helps me formulate an idea of what people in roles like yours want from the more junior staff. Thanks for the videos, they are truly helpful and insightful
Principals are not that rare at a company as big as Amazon--especially with a 15 year tenure. But, for the record, I can confirm Steve is in fact a principal.
What are your career aspirations? Will you push for L8 at Amazon? Would be interesting to see a "Day in a life of" type of video!
I am an engineer @ Amazon as well - but can you do a walkthrough of your shelf collection? (I am a big fan of Scotch / Whisky)
Hi Meta, I find your advice to be on point, I used them for my Google interviews and I'm starting in 2 weeks (data engineer here, super excited)
PS: Love your videos, you are really good at this, don't believe otherwise.
PPS (question here): How do you manage uncertainty at work? Insight on uncertainty when you're new to a job will be appreciated
how did you choose SWE? what other careers did you consider? love your detailed anwsers.
How to practice system design? Especially to prepare for system design interviews at a large tech company like Amazon?
I just found your channel and im so glad I did. You have some great tips and your pretty funny haha
At Amazon too small salary, the only one company in US where as regular programmer you can have good salary ($1 mil per year) ofc is Valve.
Finally a new video!! We waited very long for this. Meta was a great name, it's sad that FB stole it. Anyway, what's in the name?
I have 1 question for you: Can you tell the common traits you find new comers(at amazon) lacking in?
For anyone wondering, he is a principal engineer. They are much fewer than senior or SDE II, but considering the scale of Amazon there are many of them
Hi Steve, I'm looking at taking an Amazon job in Europe (from the US) but concerned about the "hire to fire" culture that seems to permeate the company. I don't want to move my whole life to get fired 1 year later. Is this a valid concern?
Hi Steve, Can you please create video on how to prepare for Engineering manager role ?
Question for future office hours:
- In an IC role, sometimes we're given a long-term (say 2yr timeframe) key initiative to work on. What's your mental model on how to plan, communicate (i.e. progress updates) and manage up your management's expectations? What's your approach to making great, clear and concise presentations on progress updates?
Thank you for all the great videos! It's really great to hear fellow engineers talk about their mental models and how to solve problems.
Why have you stayed at Amazon for as long as you have?
Do you think you would of made more money/ got promoted faster if you switched around?
What do you think is the benefit of staying at 1 company for 16 years vs 4 companies for 4 years each
(Asking from the perspective of someone who has almost been at a company for 4 years)
These are good questions. Would be interested in the answers as well
@@FirstTimeDad23 My question is if you are so smart why are you working for someone else? Presumably with such intellect you'd start your own business and be the boss...
@@Akas410 I hear you but don’t confuse being smart and entrepreneurship. You don’t have to be a genius to start a business but you do have to be smart to help NASA deploy James Webb to L2
I think my reply doesn’t make much sense but I what I am trying to say is that not all genius people are interested in business. Other people just want to help Jeff bezos deliver goods with drones.
@@FirstTimeDad23 all valid points and thanks for your perspective
Love you candid answers! Looking forward to seeing more videos about SWE career!
Books to read for intermediate developer? I’m a start up / small business guy and it’s were I’d like to spend my career which often has me doing a lot lol but I’m naturally good with people (ran a marketing firm for about 15 years) before moving to web /app development. I’m wanting to develop more into an “engineer” and get better at system design, better practices, etc…
Really love your channel.
Thanks Steve, i am getting promoted to senior tech lead and also i got a offer to become engineering manager in different organisations with very good compensation but i decided not got with manage route after seeing your video. I would like to get information about how to prepare for sde 3 interview in amazon with roadmap to prepare in 4-5 months,considering that i have more than 11 years of experience.
Thanks for making the content that you do. This is all great advice and has definitely helped open me to new perspectives. One of the things that I have been curious about is what a work week typically looks like for a Principal at a FAANG company. Would you be able to make a video on this sometime? By the way, the insight into being a manager principal vs an IC principal was great. I had no idea.
First question starts at 0:50
I watched all of your videos and I'm so happy I found a channel that actually gives real advice; SWE related youtube channels these days have become absolutely horrendous.
I'm currently going through some FAANG interviews lately and I think now that I watched your video about how to tell stories, I realized that I have a lot to improve on. Do you plan on creating more videos about growing as a junior developer? Thanks Steve!
Welcome back. Improved engaging communication!
you said office hours questions but you're still at home! Caught ya!
Regarding preparation for how to answer interview non-technical questions related to your experience, below is the method I was taught over 30 years ago. Throughout my career, I have kept a STAR workbook related to my experiences, and I still use them during interviews. Once you document them, you have a mental library to pick from based on the questions asked of you.
The STAR method is a four-part technique for answering interview questions. STAR is an acronym for the four parts of an answer: Situation, Task, Action and Result.
Amazing office hours. You are truly a bro. I agree 100% with all advice here. For the question about getting traction on your ideas, I'd just add, that you don't go to leadership with just your idea. You need to learn to talk impact and sell the impact of your idea. This means think what is it that your idea will solve, what would it mean once implemented/executed and why do it right now?
How do you determine your role's boundaries?
Hi Steve. How do you prepare for an interview at L6 level with Amazon?
This question is regarding quality of life, stress, and family. How much greedom id there to have a flexible schedule, consistent boundaries wrt time at work? i understand this is in part related to ability and commitment to productivity. Do you work long hours? Do you soend lots of quality time outside work during weekdays? whats your schedule?
Few questions:
I'm assigned as a tech lead/lead engineer at my current place of work. Does this mean if I were to apply at other companies I should aim for lead engineer jobs? What is the difference between a tech lead/lead engineer and senior/principle engineer?
Depends on the company. At amazon
L5 and L6 are technically “lead engineers” because you got a ton of autonomy and can lead design / projects.
L6 is usually way higher level than a regular companies “lead engineer”
Principal is basically director level engineer. You don’t really “lead” any team but you influence MANY teams across your organization.
That’s just amazon tho
what are your thoughts of the popularity of low code and its impact on jobs in software development?
Beside doing leetcode to prep for interview ,what is the "best" thing to do to maximize our career ?
Have you ever been tempted to change companies to get promoted faster? I've heard that it's easier to get promoted or get better compensation by switching companies rather than getting promoted at your current workplace? Thanks!
Great video again! Could you talk about how you spend your time as a principal at amazon? What do other engineers do that you like? What do they do that you don't like? Thanks!
I'm grateful for you sharing your experience, thank you.
forget this guy- he's scared to work hard. working at amazon is one of the smartest things you can do since it's been one of the best companies to own equity in in the past 20 years. and you deserve the respect- Mr. Wyn
Do you write the code that busts the unions?
Because the smartest people work at Amazon!! I have respect for Zon's engineers tbh. especially the ones who been there for years like daaamn
If you know well about the design of the system of projects you have been working on and know about system design stuff but never been included in design phase of a project. Can you appear for an interview which asks for experience in system design?
A variation of this -- many jobs ask for proven design exp with large-scale systems, but if the companies / industries in which I've worked are small, there's no real opportunity to do system design at that level. It feels like a catch-22 -- work for a FAANG so you can qualify to work for a FAANG...
6 to 8 stories for the behavioral is not enough. The recruiter told me: "don't repeat your stories, even if you can use it for two or more different questions. Sometime you might get the same question twice by two different interviewers, and you must have two different answers". Considering that for a L6 you get 1 pre full-day round that is half behavioral, then on the on-site you get 1 fully behavioral round, then another 4 rounds that are half behavioral, you will get in total 3.5 hours of behavioral. How can you cover this with 6 to 8 stories, I don't know.
Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge, great video 👍
The solution for imposter syndrome is to accept that it is okay to not know things. Treat your peers like stack overflow and use their knowledge as if it were your own. Over time, you'll be able to become that knowledge source for others. The alternative is that every engineer wastes time searching for the answers alone instead of just getting them directly.
L4 SDE HERE. ALWAYS SCARED OF PIP
HOW TO USE OVERCOME?
What if I actually have 10 years of experience, but I don't have any mind-blowing stories that will impress the interviewers. Does that mean I'm not ready for a senior position if I can't provide at least 1 story that had huge impact on the project?
Could you do a video on the mindset and verb-age that helps when talking/haggling about your offer, as well as the managers mindset if you have experience. Related to the imposter syndrome it feels so hard to ask for more, could you do an example?
How do you optimize your time and stay productive as an L6 or higher?
I have a soft skill question. My big boss told me I should ask less of "why you chose this, why you did this?" , But more of "where do you come from(what made the person think so)". Is asking "why" really bad for engineers? Or this advice application for those MBA graduate and senior people management?
Great content Steve!
How to read tech books for max
benefit especially the huge ones? I read but after some
time I get bored and I forget many
things afterwards. Any advice?
Hey Steve! Fellow Amazonian here! What was the process like going from L6 -> L7?
I worked at Amazon from 2007 to 2011 as a L6 manager. During my time there, I was never on a PIP, and I was top tier for two review cycles. If I were open to returning to Amazon, would I be considered for L7 positions?
Hi Meta, I'm having trouble deciding my next career move.
I'm killing it at my current position (ASE) and my leadership team has been treating me like a senior/lead by giving me people to mentor, features to lead, and advising external teams on their features and integration with our tools.
I've gained a lot of confidence in my abilities, and I feel like I can jump into an L4 role at Google or something similar. The issue is that I only have 7 months of industry experience and I feel like people don't believe the amount of responsibilities my managers have given me.
Is it worthwhile to stay at this job for a few years and get outsized responsibilities and an accelerated promotion schedule, or would it be worthwhile to move to a tech company where I could get 3-5x my current salary?
Thank you for your videos! Small suggestion: i would increase the aperture a little on your camera so that more of your face is in focus -- the focus at the moment seems to be on the nose and eyebrows (ears are completely off focus)
Thank you for your meaningful wisdom.
What 'side' of amazon do you work on? Commerce or AWS?
What kind of projects should I work on if I want to work for fang(currently an undergrad)? How can I get an interview when i am not cs major? I created a twitter clone and a basic game for iOS. What should I work on?
I think stuffluster means why are you an employee and not having your own product, business, etc...
Would you as your younger self work in an early stage promising startup or FAANG? Considering the fixed compensation is similar. I am not comparing ESOPs (paper money) vs stocks. How would you think of work?
For new hires, what differentiates the successful ones from the not-so-successful?
If someone is 35+ years old and wants to switch to engineering, do you know if they can have a chance to get a job?
How do you become a Distinguished engineer?
Thank you for doing these video, really much appreciated. I have a quick question, do you think it is worth it to pursue a master degree as a dev?
Hi Steve, thanks for the videos. I'd like very much your style. Question about salaries around the world for the same company like amazon. I can't say for sure but I've checked glassdoor and it seems that there is a difference of 40%+ for a particular role I was checking. Something like 100K to 120K+ in US and 60K or less in Europe/Spain. From your experience, how would you negotiate/touch this subject during the interview process? Would you join the company first and then ask for relocation to US to get same kind of salary? Thanks for insights.
The name "the facebook" is a reference to the movie "The Social Network", isn't it?
Hi Steve, thank you for your insights! When promoting a lower level engineer, what kind of criterion do you apply? Do you use any short cuts to make a decision?
Hi Steve, what techniques and best practice do you use to help you be more effective in a fast paced work environment?
How does working at Amazon conflict with the content you make here on UA-cam? and how do you manage that?