Amazon Discover: Spring Insight Participant Review

There were a series of sessions, some interactive, that gave us an insight into the company and also advised us with best practices for improving interview skills. We also has sessions in subgroups with mini coding challenges each day which covered a range of topics within computer science such as algorithms and data structures. The first day focused more on the company core values and the last day focused more on networks in the company, which was helpful.

I have definitely developed my existing skill of how to approach an interview. Having talks given to us by interviewers and being able to listen to their advice and past experiences was extremely helpful. Another skill I have developed was how to approach coding questions in technical interviews as this is notoriously difficult. Participating in the mini-coding challenges in subgroups and having the opportunity to interact with an employee at Amazon made a big difference.

It was very insightful being able to understand all about the business and potential roles available. I did not realise there was such a vast range of roles available and hearing from employees allowed me to see the potential levels of progression within the company. Regarding the products that Amazon develop, I did not anticipate how many lines of business there were within the company so this was also a pleasant surprise due to the opportunity for internal mobility.

Although the insight programme was online, I was able to receive an idea of the company culture. All employees appeared very happy to be working at the company, and many had been at Amazon for five years or more. Overall, the atmosphere was welcoming and everyone appeared enthusiastic and very happy to be a part of the insight programme. I would say that this atmosphere and culture was maintained throughout the 3 days, giving me a good impression of the company.

I enjoyed the insight programme to a large extent as it gave me a broader perspective of Amazon, being such a household name, and allowed me to develop my technical skills which I can apply to anything in life. One point to highlight is just that if the event was in-person I do think it would have been slightly better as it would have allowed for greater interactivity, but overall I really enjoyed my time during the programme.

Yes

The tips I would give to others applying to Amazon is: - Be authentic and try to portray your personality - Make sure to focus on the company's leadership principles and these are very important to employees - Try and apply the leadership principles to examples of what you have done ad how you have portrayed them in your everyday life, both academically and extra-curricular - Brush up on your technical skills as these are also significant for a SDE job role