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Ask HN: Is it crazy to ask for team specific interview at Amazon?

3 points by zaptheimpaler ↗ HN
Hi HN,

A recruiter from Amazon contacted me recently offering a job. I've been through their interviews a few times now and flunked.

He mentioned the same process as usual - coding screen, then a 5 round virtual onsite with a mix of algo/sys design and behavioral questions.

At this point I really just don't want to go through the entire pointless rigmarole again. I am a passionate and talented developer, but I suck at leetcode and suck at behavioral questions.

I might like to work at a few specific teams on Amazon if they matched my technical interests and skills. Like I'm good at performance tuning, databases, networking and ops.

Is it crazy to ask my recruiter to let me interview for team X,Y and Z directly? I'm imagining it more like a real interview at a startup, where I could just speak directly to the hiring manager and team members, present a tailored resume showing my skills at what they need and an interview process focusing on the actual skills the team needs.

Is it okay to ask for this? Is there any chance they will approve it?

11 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 27.2 ms ] thread
flakyfilibuster
At this point I'd ask myself why I'd want to work for a company whichs interview process is so misaligned with my expectations... Why not look elsewhere?
rantallion
With the long list of folk that dream of working at FAANG companies, I highly doubt you'll get any special treatment. They don't need to change their process so long as people are still lining up to get in.

I'd echo the other comment and suggest looking elsewhere so you don't have to go through such a ridiculous hiring process just for the 'prestige' of working for somewhere so 'amazing'.

zaptheimpaler
Thanks, that makes sense. I couldn't care less about prestige and don't consider Amazon to even be prestigious.. it's just that there are not a lot of companies that pay well where I live.
al_borland
Are enough people lining up? I had an Amazon recruiter reach out to me on LinkedIn. I figured they would get enough applicants where that wasn’t needed, so ignored it as some kind of scam. A couple months later a co-worker of mine put in his notice to leave for Amazon. He told me he got the same kind of message on LinkedIn, but actually replied.
frou_dh
Doesn't hurt to ask, but just be prepared for there being a good chance that the answer is "Nah".
angusmk
You could probably reach out to the specific hiring manager via Linkedin, not sure if you'd get any traction but couldn't hurt ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you're CV is great and they do refer you, the incentive from their side is getting a referral bonus

isbvhodnvemrwvn
A referral won't make you skip all technical interviews.
wizwit999
Not ridiculous at all, know your worth. Can also try to connect with hiring manager directly.
yuppie_scum
If you’re looking to avoid bullshit, Amazon is not the company for you
giaour
Teams at Amazon do their own hiring, so you're not really asking for special treatment there (at least as far as interviewing for team X, Y, or Z). The interviews will be leetcode and behavioral questions, though.