The interview process is overly time-consuming and ultimately requires sitting through at least one 4-5 hour interview loop with 5-6 different people where you are grilled on the same generic "tell me about a time when.." question over and over. Once hired, you must fully commit to a stereotypical corporate culture which includes constant doc writing and following the leadership principles like a religion to have any chance of success. You are regularly expected to respond to emails on weekends and join late night calls for non-critical items that could have been an email. It is very typical to be on the phone with people who are dialing in from their child's sporting event, a doctor appointment, while driving etc. because of this always on the clock mentality. Despite the high expectations, you only receive a meager two weeks of PTO, which is a joke is today's market and a death sentence for working here. It is widely known and discussed internally that the average lifespan of someone at AWS is only 1-2 years before they burn out and leave and it becomes immediately clear to see why as the extreme stress that is induced by leadership unsuprisingly leads to consistent backstabbing and infighting amongst teams. Overall, a job with AWS may be worthwhile as a stepping stone to something better, but be prepared to sacrifice your mental wellbeing and personal life along the way.
