Pros
1. Resume Gold Amazon on your resume opens doors everywhere The brand carries weight, especially in tech, operations, and finance 2. Compensation Strong total comp — base + RSUs (stock) + signing bonus RSUs vest heavily in years 3-4 (backloaded: 5-15-40-40 schedule) Good 401k match 3. Learning & Scale You'll work on problems at massive scale — few companies operate like this Exposure to sophisticated systems, data, and processes Bias for action means you'll ship things, not just talk about them
Cons
1. Work-Life Balance — It's Real "Work hard" isn't a slogan, it's the culture Long hours, late nights, weekend work are common depending on team PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) culture creates pressure 2. Backloaded RSUs Years 1-2 you get only 5% and 15% of your stock If you leave before year 3, you're leaving money on the table They know this — it's designed to retain you 3. High Pressure / Stack Ranking "Unregretted attrition" — they expect a % of people to leave or be managed out Constant performance pressure, especially in some orgs Can feel cutthroat depending on your manager/team
