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Ask HN: Has Amazon been hounding you?

31 points by matthewfcarlson ↗ HN
I was talking to a friend about how Amazon recruiters have sent me an email almost every weekday since Decemberish (sometimes two or three) and they mentioned that they had experienced something similar. It is different recruiters, so it's not just one particularly persistent individual.

Is anyone else seeing similar? Is Amazon desperate?

42 comments

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itg
Yes, multiple times a week, and I previously worked at Amazon too. They all go straight into the trash.
bigrightmiss
since the new year ive gotten several a week, not even from the same recruiter. i get asked for my current role and location, as well as my desired location and role.
datashaman
I think there's big pressure on all the FAANG companies right now. They must be losing staff.
_nickwhite
They’re not really “losing” staff as those staff members are just moving somewhere else for a 30% pay raise. For FAANG companies, “The Great Resignation” is more like “The Great Reshuffle”.
qqtt
With the run up of FANG-sector stock prices, lots of people have new found economic freedom and can pursue roles they are passionate about. Combined with the huge jump in tech salaries that has persisted for the past 10 years, you have a lot of people taking stock of their life during COVID and rearranging their priorities. Lots of people in my social circle in tech have left their FANG roles to pursue smaller passion projects.
throwaway743
Yup, same. Currently not looking, but after being placed with an incredibly rude interviewer in the past I will never pay them any attention
JNRowe
I've received two today as it happens; one with a quite conversational tone, and the other with a five-point questionnaire. I have to say I quite liked the transactional nature of the second one, it felt more real.

Both were for abnormally low level roles, so perhaps in a few months time they'll be sending me info about jobs wallpapering their warehouses.

Edit: Ick, reading the other comments the pay is higher than I realised for the roles they're suggesting. I'm feeling different an hour later.

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oceanghost
I haven't looked for a job nor logged into LinkedIn in 5 years (if people still use that). I also had a weeeiirddd interview with them once, and another time I took a prescreen which I screwed up pretty badly.

I get a few e-mails from them a month.

synaesthesisx
Yep there's certainly been a surge. I've been contacted by a handful of Amazon recruiters in the last few weeks.
softwarebeware
Yes. I'm seeing emails from multiple recruiters and often the same recruiter reaches out 3-5 times. I just ghost them because a) I have asked them to drop me off their list before and b) I have no idea how they got the email address that they're using.

I used to have a rule that if the words "Amazon" and "recruiter" were in the email body then it went straight to trash. I may have to add that back.

devoutsalsa
About a week ago I am Amazon recruiter signed me up for their coding quiz without even asking me.
Qworg
Amazon (as well as others) are desperate to fill roles - everyone is up leveling quickly, and they didn't have the comp to match. This is why they've roughly doubled their salary cap.
xer
AWS is growing faster than they can staff, luxury problem.
Manuel_D
Anyone gotten an offer lately? I hear they bumped their comp. What comp package does an average SDE level 2 or 3 (5-10 YOE if I understand their levels correctly) get these days?
ddlutz
Without firsthand knowledge, I heard SDE 2 can get up to 400k and SDE 3 can get 500-600k. Crazy.
spike021
Two years ago for SDE2 the first year comp was ~260k + 5% of RSU's at end of first year, second year was ~250k + 15% of RSU's.

That's due to cash bonus (base was around 180k). 3rd and 4th years no bonus, but 40/40 RSU vests.

pinewurst
I think people misunderstand this change. Previously it was up to $160K base + the rest stock/bonus. As the stock has been somewhat static lately, they've just rebalanced to more salary, less stock. The net is about the same assuming recent stock appreciation.
Manuel_D
I got an offer for SDE2 in 2020 for ~$250K TC annually. First two years were mostly cash bonus (like 5, then 15% stock). The last 2 years had probably ~$160K base and stock worth about as much as the first year's bonus, maybe more.

Is this meaningfully different nowadays for SD2? How does it stack against SDE3?

ehaughee
There is a blind post on the new pay bands floating around somewhere.
theandrewbailey
Not of late. I've had someone from Amazon email me every few months, but I guess I'll prepare for a barrage.

No, I'm not looking, and I've never wanted to work for Amazon.

brink
I've told 20-30 Amazon recruiters that I'd never work for Amazon.. ever. I haven't heard from them in a month or so, so I think they might have finally gotten the message.
barbazoo
Canada, Vancouver area, yeah they're pretty aggressive. I acknowledge them, feel good about being approached by a FAANG and delete them because neither would I receive an offer nor would I take it if I did.
aprdm
lol, same. One of the recruiters was an NFL player, which was interesting. Did chat with him.
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xeromal
I've gotten 5+ emails each from probably 20 different recruiters over the past year. I thanked a few for their time but it's always a new recruiter so I just ignore

I delete most of the emails but I guess I accidentally archived a few

https://imgur.com/a/iiUftBf

ketralnis
The cadence is so regular that I wonder if it's even humans writing them
atlgator
I get inquiries quite frequently but as soon as they look me up in their system they ghost. I had an unsuccessful interview back in 2019 and it appears I've been blacklisted.
axegon_
I got several emails over the years, like normally once a year or so. Late last year I got 3 in the span of ~4 months or so. Ignored them for multiple reasons, main one being that they don't have an office in my country and I'd have to relocate, which is practically impossible for a number of reasons.
Jgoure
If you disable downloading images in your emails, the recruiters will eventually stop emailing you.
barbazoo
I'm using Fastmail with that feature enabled (download images only when the sender is in your contacts) but it doesn't prevent them from emailing me at least once per week.
mprime1
Nah.. I’ve had it disabled for years and still receive daily recruiter email.

Amazon is definitely the most frequent in the bunch, has been for years. At least 1-2 nice customized email a month.

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deanmoriarty
Just be grateful you are a hot commodity and move on with your life.