2014. Was approached by a recruiter. Got invited for a phone interview which took about one hour, very technical. Then was invited for a written test in amazon office in Sydney. Took the test. Was not informed of the results, however had a face to face meeting with the recruiter on Amazon event...and then nothing, no calls, no follow ups, no refusal, the process has just stopped with no clear information.
2015. Amazon contacted me to apply for the position again. Knowing from the past how time consuming and ungrateful the process might be, I have indicated my current salary (got promotion on my current job) and asked if amazon would be able to match it if I am successful. Got an affirmative response from Amazon, so decided to proceed.
Next step was two phone interviews, one after another. took about two hours, first was technical, second was behavioral, based on leadership principles. This went very well, and entertaining, I got invited for a full day set of interviews at Amazon. To attend the interview, I had to take a day off from my current job, 5 back-to-back interviews finished in about 4-5 hours, all were very intense, technical/behavioral/situations, etc, lots of fun, most of the people were very interesting to talk to, so I really enjoyed it. I was exhausted, but felt very good about it. Next day i was informed that I have done very well and everyone was impressed. Background checks started.
The background check itself became a bit annoying as after submitting the papers I was asked to provide payslips and copies of contracts from my previous works. It wouldn't be a problem if at that time I wasn't on leave overseas. Regardless, all documents were found and submitted. Few weeks later, I've been informed that the background checks have been completed and satisfy Amazon.
All the fun started from this moment. I have been approached by HR who started asking questions about my current salary and my expectations (which I have already mentioned several times before to multiple people at Amazon). I was told that the offer is being prepared for me and I should expect it soon. The back and forth communications about my future salary and waiting times took about 3 weeks. Finally I was told that now after everything is over, it is hard to match what i was on and I was asked to bring the salary expectation bar down. I was not expecting Amazon to beat my current pay, and simply wanted them to match it, and being the only provider for my family, taking away from myself to get a job at amazon felt like committing a crime. I was offered 20% less of what I am on now, which I sadly had to decline.
The company might be good for those who have just started their IT career and passionate for their job, but for those with a significant experience, they will expect you to get your expectations down.
While from the beginning I was very enthusiastic about starting the job at Amazon and did all the efforts to successfully reach the finish line, the last weeks events have ruined the total experience and my opinion about Amazon as a serious and respectable employer.
