Gautam N.

Did you know there are no "roles" (SDE, SDET, TPM, …) when you get to L8 IC (Senior Principal) at Amazon? It’s one of Amazon’s peculiarities. [Side note: in general, Amazon SDEs tend to be "jack of all trades" where we pragmatically do whatever is necessary to make our organization successful at that given moment (within reason). In fact, I believe being well-rounded and able and willing to wear a number of hats is one of the things that makes me valuable to an employer. We don’t over-index on "that’s not part of my role doc." Other companies where I worked (eg Google) have very clear swimming lanes and people stick to them pretty religiously, eg. "oh no I don’t talk to customers, I’m an SDE and talking to customers is for TPMs." Whereas at Amazon I never once had a manager tell me, "what you did (although impactful, important and necessary) was not really your job." ] My little side note about this critical piece of amazon culture explains why as you get to L8 the concept of a "role" no longer really makes sense. The boundaries between roles get fuzzier and fuzzier as you go from Senior Engineer (L6) to Principal Engineer (L7), and they become unimportant when you get to L8. We’re all just “Senior Principals” - whether you came via the SDE path, the TPM path, or in my snowflake case, the SDET path. In fact I think most L8s are snowflakes in that their path to L8 was unique and the value they bring to the company is also unique. In phonetool (our amazon directory) you can have whatever unofficial title you want (also within reason...), so I chose to keep the "SDET" title to reflect my background and passion for testing, engineering and operational excellence, and developer tools. I also hope that by keeping the title, others in my (old?) role can see that SDETs at Amazon do not have a "ceiling" in their career. And lastly, it's a fun conversational piece ("you're an L8 SDET???") (The image here is "Peccy" - a beloved little icon that has represented Amazon's Peculiar Ways for years) [Edit: Strictly speaking there are a few L8 IC roles that do have a different job code, like PMT or Scientist - but I think we generally view all L8 ICs in the same lens]

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Dear Intuit, Layoffs always suck but publicly labeling laid-off employees as underperformers is not a good move. Firstly, it reinforces the stigma that being laid off is synonymous with poor performance. While this may be true in some cases, it's often not the reason for large-scale layoffs. Highlighting this only strengthens that misconception. Secondly, bad performance doesn't necessarily mean it is the person's fault. We have all seen teams left in a dire situation after a reorg or change in company priorities. In reality layoffs often reflect company decisions, not employee capabilities. Additionally, personal challenges or ineffective management can impact anyone's work. Let's face it, we've all experienced periods where our performance wasn't our best. Not performing at a given time is not a sin and it shouldn't weigh on those employees forever. Thirdly, this labeling can have a significant negative impact on the mental well-being and job prospects of those laid off. The perception becomes, "They were let go because they weren't good enough." Let's support those affected and help them land awesome new gigs. Here to help any Intuit employee in any way I can #layofffs #layoffssupport https://lnkd.in/gX3TfqGe

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I'm moving on from Alphabet after 18 years. It was my first real job, and in my time there I advanced from an entry-level software engineer to a director and principal engineer. Many folks staring down a big change after a long career think about sharing some wisdom from their journey. If your feed's anything like mine, it's full of folks offering advice on how to advance your career. Amidst all of that, I offer something different: a catalog of some of the ways I got lucky in my career: - I encountered computer programming by chance at my piano teacher's office when I was in elementary school and fell in love with it. - My high school offered computer programming courses in 1999 and I was able to get a head start on my career skills there. - I knew what I loved doing before I enrolled in college, and knew it was a viable career path. - My cousin helped me land a well-paying software internship after just my freshman year, so I graduated with 3 summers of solid work experience under my belt. - My family was able to help me graduate college with minimal student debt. - Google started recruiting at my university the year that I graduated. I probably would not have applied to companies outside my school's career fairs. - A long-term relationship ended before my senior year, so I entered my career search with no constraints about where I wanted to live. - I gave a few foolish interview answers, including a misguided opinion about hash tables, but the company overlooked them and hired me anyway. - I joined big tech in its absolute heyday, when benefits and opportunities in my field were exploding. - Less than a year into my first team, the team's TL left, and I was thrust into an unearned leadership position out of necessity. - Shortly after I transferred to the Boulder office, Google closed a few remote offices. Mine wasn't one of them. - My field was only lightly impacted by the 2008 financial crisis and bounced back quickly. I was able to capitalize on the moment to buy my first home. - I switched teams at a fortuitous moment, finding myself as person #5 on a team that grew over a few years into the hundreds. This gave me tremendous leadership and growth opportunities. - I was recruited to plant Verily's Boulder office due to a chance relationship I had developed on that team. You won't hear me say that I'm not smart or that I haven't worked hard. But amidst all the voices here telling you how to hustle to get ahead, let me be a voice reminding you that some of the folks offering you their formula to success have some undisclosed good fortune. If you're still struggling to find a job after a layoff or to get your own business off the ground, remember that your struggles aren't a moral failing. You're doing great, and I wish you the good fortune that I've experienced these past 20 years.

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I've been at Amazon a long time. When I talk about my career with Amazon, the most frequent questions people ask me are: What kept me with Amazon for so many years? When I left after nearly 14 years, what drew me away? What brought me back 2 years later? The genuine answer to each, as trite as it sounds, is the same: it's the people The people who took a chance on me. The people that, when I struggled, helped me lean on my strengths and shore up my weaknesses. The people who saw potential and invested in me. The people who modeled the value of building relationships, not just building code. The people who challenged me, made me think differently, and helped me grow. As I've grown in my career it's also those people in whom I can see potential and invest, where I might take a chance to give them an opportunity, for whom my experience could be of some value as they grow, and with whom I can continue building lasting relationships. I've been with Amazon's Global Talent Management and Compensation for about a year and a half, where our mission is to help Amazonians build rewarding careers. In that time, I've met with hundreds of people in our org and every single one of them has been driven by our mission and passionate about how we can meaningfully improve the lives of every Amazon employee. I've learned so much about how challenging, rewarding, and important taking a culture-first approach can be. This post isn't a claim that Amazon is objectively unique, I know there are amazing people in every company, though it has been my personal experience that Amazon's intentionally peculiar culture is one that encourages these kinds of behavior in people. Rather, my point is this: To deliver sustained business and customer value, your organization cannot be a feature factory. It needs to be an organizational engine that continuously inspects and adjusts its culture to grow people and relationships, according to your values, and through which you deliver for your customers. #people #relationships #culture #amazon

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🚀Hi Folks, I'm Taking on the Product #Teardown_Challenge along with Arindam Goswami! 🚀 As part of an exciting challenge by Product Space, I’m stepping into the role of Senior VP of Product at #Zepto Quick Commerce! Zepto’s already crushing it with 10-minute deliveries across 30 cities in India, but there’s so much more potential to unlock! 💡 Here’s the mission: ➡️ Increase Zepto’s Average Order Value (AOV) to ₹600 🛒 ➡️ Boost product discovery and engagement to encourage bigger, more frequent orders 🔍 ➡️ Elevate the purchase experience to keep customers coming back for more 🔄 And I need YOUR help to make it happen! 🙌 🎯 Your insights on quick commerce platforms like Zepto, Blinkit, and Swiggy Instamart are key to shaping these strategies. I’ve put together a short survey, and your feedback will be crucial in tackling this challenge! 💥 Thanks for your support���let’s crack this together! 🙌 Link to the form - https://lnkd.in/g5v2y4wR #ProductTeardown #QuickCommerce #ProductManagement #ProductSpace

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Ok, so I get a lot of people asking how to setup custom, secure, safe, “ChatGPT Like” tools with access to proprietary information. In the procurement world this could be Spending and Transaction Policies, Delegations of authority, spend thresholds or any other or a myriad SOP’s. It can even be highly detailed category specific knowledge that you you want to surface to specific individuals. Now you can with #AmazonQ. Whether it’s straight for q&a or more advanced clause extraxtion, it’s all available right now. It’s easy to setup, super safe and secure and empowers procurement teams like nothing else! If you want to know how to get the most out of Generative AI tools in procurement (whether it’s a RAG like solution like this or something else) ping me and I will be glad to share my experiences! The world is changing procurement folk… let’s make sure we change with it! #aws, #amazon, #llm, #chatgpt, #innovation, #procurement, #generativeAI

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My Journey to Securing 7 Offers for Management and IC Roles Across FAANG and Startups I’ve been considering opportunities beyond Amazon since 2020, but I was fortunate to be offered enriching experiences year after year, which kept me from making the leap. By early 2024, after laying the foundations for AWS App Studio, I decided to explore other roles within #Amazon. However, I realized that Amazon’s presence in the Bay Area was shrinking, and with its #RTO policies, the management opportunities in #bayarea were limited to just a few roles, none of which aligned with my interests and goals. A combination of limited internal opportunities, and changes in Amazon culture and policies, motivated me to explore external options. Initially, I had two interviews with a FAANG company and a startup, but I failed them miserably. Securing new interviews proved difficult due to factors like scarce roles, high competition, and increasing expectations in both technical and people-management skills. I quickly realized I needed to make every interview count by preparing more methodically and strategically. In a future post, I’ll dive into how I: a) Adjusted my job search to land new interviews consistently b) Staggered my interview timeline to maximize preparedness and increase the likelihood of receiving multiple offers c) Prepped for technical skills, as many companies now expect managers to be as technically competent as senior engineers I also decided to interview for individual contributor (IC) roles for several reasons: a) I’m still hands-on with my side projects b) Companies are reducing management layers c) I enjoy both IC and management roles d) Compensation for ICs at some companies can be higher than for managers at others e) Since I was preparing for technical interviews anyway, I figured I might as well explore IC opportunities too I segmented my job search into four categories: Startup/FAANG and IC/Management, staggering my applications to focus on startups first and then #FAANG. This approach created an avalanche effect: I started receiving IC and management offers from startups, followed by multiple FAANG offers across both IC and management roles. Here are the benefits of this approach: a) I was able to fairly evaluate startup opportunities without bias toward cash components. One startup came close to winning me over, but by that point, I had FAANG offers and ultimately decided to pursue those. b) I gave myself a chance to objectively reconsider an IC role, as I’m still mid-career c) I ensured that for any managerial role I considered, the company culture and its policies aligned well with my values. d) This approach helped me negotiate effectively and secure a top-of-market compensation package. e) I was at my best in the final interviews (both FAANG and startups) after having multiple real-world practice sessions with other companies.

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"Your main job is to make your product win." I think this should apply to any product that your company makes. I also like what he says following this statement about what is NOT your main job. I will summarize here: "Your main job is not to make your manager happy, it is not to make execs happy." Also, note, this main job doesn't only apply to PMs, but also to senior Engineering Managers, Tech Leads, and Designers. #makeyourproductwin #leadership

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Intuit's recent decision to lay off developers, citing the need for more advanced AI skills, comes off as a disingenuous manoeuvre that sidesteps the truth. It's hard to buy into the narrative that these layoffs are truly about acquiring employees with better AI proficiency. In reality, it seems like a convenient cover for a cost-cutting strategy that involves offshoring jobs to cheaper markets. Think about it: the idea that current developers lack sufficient experience with AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, or other generative technologies is misleading. These tools have been part of the industry landscape for the past few years, and developers everywhere have been getting up to speed with them. The notion that there's a significant skill gap among developers when it comes to these tools is simply not accurate. The tools themselves, while helpful in certain contexts, are far from the magic solutions they are often hyped up to be. At best, they serve as fancy autocompletes—useful for streamlining some tasks but incapable of replacing the nuanced, expert work required for sophisticated software development. The real issue here is that Intuit's move undermines the trust and morale of its employees. Firing seasoned developers under the pretext of needing more AI-savvy replacements is not just misleading, it's a slap in the face to those who have dedicated their skills and efforts to the company. It creates an atmosphere of insecurity and distrust, where employees are left wondering if their hard work and loyalty mean anything in the face of corporate cost-cutting. Moreover, this strategy reflects a short-sighted understanding of what AI can achieve. While AI tools can certainly assist with certain aspects of development, they are not yet sophisticated enough to replace human expertise in creating complex, production-ready software. Believing otherwise is a risky gamble that could compromise the quality and innovation of Intuit's products in the long run. If the true intention behind these layoffs is to offshore jobs to cheaper markets, then Intuit should be honest about it. Hiding behind the AI narrative is dishonest and disrespectful to the employees who are being let go. Offshoring comes with its challenges, such as communication barriers and potential declines in work quality, and it is not the silver bullet it might appear to be. In an era where ethical business practices and corporate social responsibility are increasingly valued, such a strategy can erode customer trust and loyalty. #intuit #layoff #jobs https://lnkd.in/dv3qD9kS

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An open letter from Meta employees to Mark Zuckerberg and Meta's leadership. Very well articulated, I couldn't have done it myself better! I left Meta end of 2023 because of many things similar to what's mentioned in the letter, so I can definitely relate.

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Amazon-to-Google-to-Amazon #a2g2a thought of the day: Guardrails 2018, Amazon: I spent months polishing a 6-pager and doing many reviews with Principals and Directors. Getting an initiative funded at Amazon requires crisp thinking, high quality writing, and credible data. 2020, Google: I put together 20 slides, and after a 30 minute review I had approval from my leadership to go build a thing, with roughly the same headcount. Initially the experience was liberating. After all, writing code is a lot more fun than writing a doc isn’t it? Awesome! That freedom was one of my favorite things about my time at Google. Hire really smart engineers, let them do whatever they want. BUT… When you don’t have sensible guardrails to make sure people are building the Right Thing, they will often build the Wrong Thing. That initiative I started at Amazon? Today it is a successful, business-critical product that impacts the way tens of thousands of amazonians test their code before it goes to production. All those seemingly endless reviews were worth it. With every one, I had refined my idea and improved upon it. That initiative I started at Google? Long dead and deprecated. I was proud of it and it provided some initial business value but over time I’m actually not convinced it provided more value than it cost. The downsides of that freedom: (1) Google deprecates things an order of magnitude more than Amazon. They do so without a care in the world about customer experience. (2) There’s an order of magnitude more intersecting or competing internal initiatives at Google than at Amazon. My last job at Google was in an org that was attempting to converge dozens of duplicative tools, most of which probably should have never been built to begin with. I believe the rate of deprecations and duplications is directly related to the ease of starting things. I appreciate a culture of fast iteration, but guardrails matter too. Clarification: NOT advocating for heavy processes in every situation. Guardrails don't need to be "endless reviews" and Amazon can also iterate fast. They can as simple as consistently and critically asking "Why are you building this? What is the customer experience today? How will it be better tomorrow? How will you measure you've succeeded?" Lastly as an engineer Building the Things, feeling that what I'm building is likely to be more durable and provide more value gives me a higher sense of purpose and achievement.

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I asked the following question to Chat GPT and Google Gemini and both of them gave pretty much the same answer with ~5-10% variation. The question was "When organizations adopt AI to streamline operations and boost profits, they often reduce their workforce, leading to layoffs and job cuts. As unemployment rises, more people struggle to pay bills and make ends meet. This reduced disposable income leads to lower consumer demand, which in turn affects company profits. Doesn't this create a vicious cycle, and isn't it concerning? Being an AI, what's your thought on this?" Basically they mentioned about reskilling and upskilling, Social safety nets, Universal Basic Income(UBI) as the solution approach.

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A justifiable outcry last week with Intuit announcing layoffs, or rather recrafting the org. The outcry: Publicly stating underperformers were cut, and grouped in with other roles being removed is unhelpful for the people moving on and unnecessarily brutal. But there was another detail I found intriguing: Intuit say the shift is due to its desire to "take advantage of this AI revolution" or risk "no longer existing." The layoffs aren't a downsize but a right-size to reinvest new resources in their AI platform offer. This is the first big public announcement I've seen about refitting an org for the AI opportunity. If you've seen others, please add in the comments. Intuit states: Today is “Day 1”. I'm sure there will be more Day 1's to come. Is a scythe the best way to retool for AI? Consider also how to reshape and reskill the people you have to power your journey sustainability. 💟 #AIstrategy #GenAI #AIskills https://lnkd.in/eUUpJ6YW

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Hello, colleagues, this Yahoo article is interesting and relatable for professionals. Here is a teaser: "Amazon has an incredibly granular list of criteria that need to be met before you can be considered for promotion, so I worked with my manager to identify the gaps in my performance, ... and I created a project for each gap that, if completed, could serve as evidence of my ability. I worked backward to create a strict timeline to finish my projects ... that helped me get systematic about my approach moving forward." https://lnkd.in/dsfvPeAk Take a lesson from this person. I seems Amazon gets very analytical when it comes to promotions. And in a company that size, it is impossible to not promote without rigid check-off type policies or whatever XYZ job promotion software. But, hey, there is a lot I will do for a $500,000 salary. Please take note of this last sentence, if anyone works for Amazon and wants a Quality Engineering Manager/Director anywhere in the world.

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Read this anecdote from someone interviewing for Spotify SWE in Infra team. He was asked to do a "Live root-cause analysis of a failure which previously occurred in Production at Spotify" How the interview worked: You explain your thought process (check connectivity between System A and B via ping, DNS name resolution, look at open ports, etc...) and they tell u the result like "ping returned 'Name or service not known'". It's like traversing through nodes of a decision tree and getting new insights at every checkpoint, and then deciding the next step! Doesn't it sound interesting? What are some interviews that you really enjoyed? #observability #monitoring #engineering #devops #infra

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🚀 How to Approach a System Design Interview: Amazon Prime Video Example When tackling a system design problem, especially for a complex platform like Amazon Prime Video, it's crucial to approach it strategically. Here's how I break it down: Get clarity on the requirements, both functional and non-functional. Focus on the user flows, define the scale, detail out the components, improve scalability, and wrap up confidently. Pro Tip for Interviews: Don’t rush into drawing diagrams! Ask clarifying questions, understand the problem fully, and then build the system piece by piece. Communicate your thought process clearly, and focus on scalability, reliability, and cost-efficiency. Remember, the trick is to think aloud—explain why you're making certain decisions. The interviewer wants to understand your reasoning as much as the final solution! Good luck to all those preparing for system design interviews! You've got this!💪 Want to master system design interviews and land those $500k+ TPM roles? Make sure you're fully prepared with the Kracd.com interview prep course. Sign up today and transform your career in just 30 days. #SystemDesign #AmazonPrimeVideo #TechInterview #InterviewTips #Scalability #CDN #TechCareers #SoftwareEngineering #Microservices #TechLeadership

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Ever wonder why some companies can ship software at lightning speeds while others seem stuck in the mud? 🚀⏳ . . . . . . . . . Daksh Gupta of Greptile collected real-world insights from engineers at many of the world's largest tech companies, unpacking the intricacies that either propel or impede the speed of shipping code. The big reveal? Older and larger companies tend to move more slowly because the costs of missteps become greater. In some cases, those costs are fairly non-negotiable (e.g. ensuring software for customers in production remains secure) while in other cases, the costs are more optional and cultural (e.g. wanting a lot of accurate estimates, forcing a manager's vs. maker's schedule, etc). #SoftwareEngineering #Tech #DevelopmentVelocity #Innovation #Productivity

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Next week, I will be the Principals of Amazon (PoA) talk presenter. It would be fun to have folks join (and ask good questions!) if you are an Amazonian.   Talk Abstract: Code reviews can be a painful ordeal, leaving both reviewers and authors feeling frustrated. But it doesn’t have to be that way! In this practical talk, we’ll explore techniques to transform code reviews into an enjoyable learning experience. You’ll learn how to give and receive feedback constructively, focusing on the code rather than personal attacks. You’ll gain strategies for structuring feedback, addressing comments, and handling disagreements without devolving into office brawls. Whether you’re a junior or mid-career developer, this talk will equip you with the skills to make code reviews a collaborative, educational, and (gasp!) enjoyable process. Join us to get a stress-free ‘ship it!’ on your next CR.   Here is a sneak peek at what we will cover. You might notice a few Principal Tenets in here. I use these daily in my work, in addition to the more famous Amazon Leadership Principles. The Principal Tenets are a framework for thinking about my work as a Principal Engineer and always raising my game. You can learn more about them here: https://lnkd.in/esPSssWv   Code Reviews that Don’t Suck   Learn, Educate, and Advocate You are NOT your Code Start with a Self-Review Consider Team Standards Check the Obvious Things Make it Atomic / One Change per Commit Respect what Came Before Make it Readable Provide Clear Context Go Talk to a Person, in Person Work Hard; Have Fun; Make History   How about giving Code Review feedback that doesn’t suck? Lead with Empathy Don’t be too Harsh But Be Clear Use Radical Candor Give a Full Review Be Prompt… or Delegate Act as a Co-Owner Coaching a New Engineer Hold High and Consistent Standards Use Comment Conventions Include Praise

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