It was a long two months engagement, consisting of 9 rounds of technical and leadership discussions, several feedback discussions and a few interconnect sessions that finally closed a few weeks back with an offer for an SDE-2 position at Amazon in Ireland. So this post is not about the traditional “How to crack FAANG/MAANG interview” kind of post but I would rather try to tell what are my learnings after going through the process of Amazon and finally securing an excellent offer.
Don’t underrate yourself. Remember you rate yourself compared to someone else in a particular situation. You never know beforehand how and where are you going to be evaluated and what could be your relative position in that case. So just by speculating something don't rate yourself. That doesn’t mean should you stop improving yourself rather work on the areas you know you are weak and make yourself a better You.
No expectation of rewards. One fine morning I got a call from an Amazon recruiter she explained the roles, and processes thoroughly and also mentioned that the opening was for Europe so that I could prepare myself for the relocation too. After a few days, I realized that I suddenly build an enormous expectation that silently made me more nervous and fragile. I ignored that initially and it hits me hard when I appeared for the 3rd coding round where I failed pathetically. It was just due to the fact that I was very nervous about - what will happen if I can't solve the problem and can’t free my mind from that concern throughout the whole round.
Ask yourself if you are ready for the next level role. One of the best things about the Amazon interview process is the stress on the 14 Leadership Principles while evaluating a candidate. For a senior role, weightage is high on leadership principles. During preparation when you recollect incidents from your past professional experience corresponding to each principle in a systematic manner (STARR method) you could automatically understand your fitment in the next higher role. So be very honest about it and please don't make up false stories.
Be always prepared for a great opportunity. It’s very rare that one fine morning an opportunity comes and you become a king (but the reverse is highly probable though). Most of the FAANG/MAANG companies give you ample time for the preparation after the first engagement call but I would suggest keeping yourself in touch with the technologies and spending time sharpening your axe when time and life permits doing so. That would not only boost your confidence but also keep radiating that confidence in front of the discussion board which could be a game changer.
Be flexible with your priorities in life. After a long two-month process finally when I received the offer I had to reject it. Life has changed a lot within two months. The priorities shifted. Once my dream offer now goes down the priority stack and you need to accept that. I believe life is all about balancing your responsibility and your wish. So this time my responsibility overshadowed my wish. It’s just not about getting an offer and ponding on it but remember it is all about making your life joyous and meaningful in the end.
Thanks for your time and patience.
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