Amazon Software Development Engineer II reviews

3.5

58% would recommend to a friend

(954 total reviews)
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Andrew Jassy

19% approve of CEO

53% positive business outlook

Software Development Engineer II employees have rated Amazon with 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 954 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Software Development Engineer II professionals have a good working experience there. Amazon is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Software Development Engineer II professionals compared to other employers within the Informationstechnologie industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

954 reviews
1.0
Dec 25, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you can schmooze, you can work your way onto some interesting projects. Lots of cool technology to learn.

Cons

Definitely saw darker-skinned colleagues being discriminated against. Stack-ranking and bucketing both incentivize sabotage over collaboration. Look up “workplace narcissism”: trauma from working with these people can follow you the rest of your life and impact your future jobs.

2.0
Dec 22, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Amazon's internal sites training and videos are a treasure trove for growing employees. The Principals of Amazon talks are always informative and well done. Its mentoring program is for *everyone*; if you put in the effort, you will reap the rewards. Regardless of role, your writing skills will get better if you embrace the "writing culture". For non-technical employees, Amazon Technical Academy is a great way to make the switch to being a software engineer. Amazon affinity groups are a great place to meet others with common backgrounds, causes, etc. OG Amazonians have amazing anecdotes about what it was like when Amazon was pioneering some of its now-iconic services like AWS, Prime Now, and Alexa. The insights into the pitfalls of launching new, scalable, and ubiquitous products are invaluable. Internal transfers are encouraged, alleviate boredom, and allow for expanding skills. The benefits, though limited in number, are excellent and well-priced (the health care plans are some of the best and least expensive I've had in my 10+ year career).

Cons

Managers do not always have management experience or training, so Amazon's policy of allowing an IC to "try out" being a manager can backfire. The opaque employee evaluation process requires your manager to advocate on your behalf, but this requires preparation and time that are now under more pressure than ever by projects and other priorities. Compensation and salary caps that do not adjust for inflation make Amazon less competitive with other employers, particularly when other employers are putting in extra effort to attract and retain talent. As Amazon's culture has changed, the cost of staying has increased while the compensation for staying has decreased or remained stagnant. The "5th-year cliff" after hiring incentives (2 years for sign-on, 2 years of RSU vesting) is steep.

Viewing 367 - 369 of 954 Reviews

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