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How I got a job at AWS

Winston Puckett on August 27, 2024

Background I had been working at my first software job for 3.5 years and in that time I moved from junior to mid. It was obvious that if...
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Jack

Thanks for writing this article; I really enjoyed reading it. While I appreciate the insights, I’m not sure I would want to work at AWS. I generally prefer smaller companies where I can have a bigger impact, even if that comes with more stress. I’ve always heard about the challenging interview processes at companies like Google, Facebook, and Netflix, but I didn’t realize AWS had a similar approach—although it makes sense. It’s surprising that they offer interviewing workshops to help candidates prepare. The amount of time required for their interview process might also be a deterrent for me, but I’m glad to hear you had a positive experience overall!

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Winston Puckett

I love that you're thinking about your own path and what you want out of a job. Knowing that is so vital for a healthy career

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Eric VanWieren

It is interesting reading this. Having worked at AWS/Amazon, there is some good stuff in here, but there is a bit more I would add.

  1. Don't make stories up. A good interviewer will ask questions and find out when/if you are full of crap. This may sound bad, but you have to be honest. Now, you can spin a story any which way, but make sure you actually worked on what you say you worked on.

  2. Earns Trust. If you are caught lying or thought to be lying you will get axed. I have seen a full interview board turn down someone because they were caught lying. Be honest.

  3. The technical aspect is only a facet of the interview, for technical roles. Be prepared for all types of questions. A lot of people know that everyone is just grinding leet code to prep. This means that interviewers are getting more creative in their questions. Asking open ended problems that can be solved a number of ways.

And, if you get a question about the 15/16 leadership principals, just run.

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Winston Puckett

Absolutely to all three of these.

Haha, while I agree that the latter two don't fit with the first 14 principles, I think they are attempting to address real problems Amazon was facing. I hope there's a good resolution there.

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Vishesh Dvivedi

Thanks for such a detailed and well informing article. You really gave very good information on what it takes to get into a FAANG company. I personally wish to get into a FAANG company and I will use this as a roadmap. Thanks for that

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Winston Puckett

Glad this could help! Good luck on your journey!

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Leo Antony

😮

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Winston Puckett

Wait a minute, I recognize you from Twitter! Hello again!

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Leo Antony

Hello, didn't expected that coming 😲

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Shrijal Acharya

Keep shining, buddy. ✨

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GP

Hope Amazon retains you for long!

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Winston Puckett

Thanks! They keep offering me positions after I chose to leave, but it's more important that I'm home with my baby right now.

I look forward to when I can say yes to coming back though

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Cesar Aguirre

So true about step #4. Trees got me off guard the last time I tried at a FAANG

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Winston Puckett

Right!? It's so interesting how integral they are to some faang work. I don't know of many places which would prefer to work with a tree over other data structures.

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jyoti thakur

Worth reading and Thank you!

Please keep posting such articles.

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Winston Puckett

Will do! I'm open to ideas if there's anything specific you'd like to hear about

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Agnel Waghela

How about a roadmap even more detailed ? :)

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OssiDev • Edited

Hey, nice post! I thought I recognized that avatar from Slack and I was right.

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Winston Puckett

Oh hey! How crazy to bump into you here!

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cosma203

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! Btw nice collection of dice you have there. ♥️

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Winston Puckett

♥️ it's such a a great desk toy. I was running a ttrpg where the players where an analogy for the subconscious and repressed thought at the time

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Oviyan S

Worth reading can you share some tips to crack job as fresher?

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Winston Puckett

Sure! Actually there's another comment on this post which summarizes some good extra tips: dev.to/eric_vanwieren_813ca70462/c...

Also, look up Neetcode on YouTube if you haven't already. Seeing them break down problems is incredibly helpful.

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Agnel Waghela

Neetcode you say? I haven't checked that out. Thanks for sharing.

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Bruno

Amazing proyect, nice work!!

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King Triton

Preparation is key! Balancing coding challenges, leadership principles, and design patterns made a huge difference in my AWS interview. The hard work paid off!

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Syed Muhammad Ali Raza

thanks for sharing

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Leonam Silva

great tips man

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Winston Puckett

I do want to emphasize that this is something that they explicitly said I could do in that AWS provided class, might want to check with your recruiter if the rules change 😅

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Devtonian

Very helpful article, thanks.

Although I work in a very small operation and love it, I would like to experience life at one of the big ones, even if only for a short time.

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Winston Puckett

I think it's worth it to try and make the shift for a while. I learned a lot there that I couldn't have anywhere else (although I guess that's the case with a lot of jobs 😆)

I will say, if it was me, I'd wait till I was ready to move on from my current role before looking for something at a faang company. For a number of reasons, but the biggest being that job satisfaction is fairly difficult to find. It's awesome you like your current role!

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Rajat

Hi Winston, thanks for sharing the article! I really enjoyed reading it.

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Lucas Chitolina

So practical, thanks for sharing with us!

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Kahlan Guha

Informative article.

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Bruno Monteiro

Very inspiring article, man.

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tutkia

Great read. Thanks for sharing those resources! I will check them out.