Ask HN: Did I just get “sent down” by Amazon?

It's normal for departments to recommend other departments or job roles to try in large organizations. Maybe the job you applied for was just filled or the job no longer exists.

What's the difference between SDE and WDE?

I've seen this from the other side where there's a candidate we really like, but we found another that's a better fit for some reason. It may be someone they've worked with before or has a specific experience they want to take advantage of. If you read anything into this, it's that they like you so much they want to find a place for you.

The easiest action for them is to hit the reject button and move on.

Maybe. Will the team that you could work for help you along in your career? Does it matter? Maybe see where it goes? If you can still accomplish your career goals, then it could be a good move anyways.

Best of luck with this.

Do some research on what it's like to work at Amazon. You may decide that neither position is good for you.

This isn't rare. It doesn't mean you got sent to the minors. It may mean you are a better fit for another team, or that the team you started interviewing with filled the position but didn't want to see a good candidate go away.

I had this happen early in my career when I interviewed for a core developer role and they decided that I would be better as a development consultant. It was an ego hit at first, but I took the job because it sounded interesting. After being there for a while, I talked to the original team lead that I interviewed with and he said yea, I was weaker in a couple of areas but they wanted me still. However, the consulting director also needed a really solid dev that could actually talk to clients without having an allergic reaction. So he fought to get me on his team. So the irony is for 3-4 months I felt kinda like I got sent to the minors as you say, but in reality they were fighting for me in two groups. You never know. BTW -- this happens a lot because many companies will have 1 person, outside the team that is hiring, interview candidates and if they really like you they might pull for you on their side.

Suppose that instead of applying for an SDE position, you chatted up the manager of all SDE's in SF at a party, and a week later you got a call about a "web development engineer" out of the blue. That's the best model for what happened...someone talked to you and decided what need you met.

Did you get sent to the minors? No, because even if an SDE position at Amazon is the majors, you weren't one. To push the analogy, you are a prospect. There aren't many 18 year old major leaguers. They pretty much all play A or NCAA ball before going to the show.

Every general manager isn't Billy Bean calibre. Scouts use conventional wisdom because it keeps them from getting fired. Enlarging your network at a company you seem interested in joining doesn't seem like a bad investment of time. It's a date, you're not obligated to say "I do" to the web team, or prevented from saying "I undo" if you take it and it turns out to suck.

Good luck.

My first job out of college I was interviewing of a basic IT lacky position and after interviewing with several dept heads (company was around ~100 people at the time) I ended up getting offers from the business intelligence group and the research group. IT didn't make an offer.

Don't worry about too much, could be a good thing.

I'm guessing they liked you, but you got edged out by someone else for the original position. If they didn't like you, they wouldn't be recommending you to anyone.

I wouldn't think of it as being sent anywhere. You might get an unexpected offer.

That means you are lucky, they do a favor to you. Search a little bit about what it takes to work for them on Reddit. if you get an offer from them which quaranties you can get a much better one outside anyways.