Amazon Discover: SpringS Insight Participant Review

Day 1 - I enjoyed the introduction and the start, really loved the talks and the panellists. Day 2 - Again, had a great time listening to the current employees talk about the interview process and gave us useful tips. Day 3 - Enjoyed the second half of the day, the quiz and the presentation about the different Programmes and Events that Amazon supports and encourages. Overall, I didn't like the workshops at all, they were too focused on coding, didn't help us network with each other. If anything, a better approach would have been to ask for our favourite programming language and split us into groups according to that. Should have been something more interactive in my opinion that would have contributed to us getting more knowledge about Amazon, getting more in-depth about the Technology departments and how they interact with each other.

Not really, I have been taking notes and I learned about the interview process, but I cannot say I developed any skill in particular. I wish I did gain some skills though, especially to improve my communication skills, which I think would have meant some talks between the panellists and the attendees. I developed my attention span and my patience since we had to stay so many hours watching others code problems that we can already do as Computer Science students on coding platforms.

There were not enough details when it comes to the difference between the roles. The people are lovely and very nice to chat to, but there was not enough explanation of the roles available at Amazon for someone with a Technology background. The business was indeed explained, but I think it would have been better if 3/4 of the day, if not all, was focused on discussions and details about the company since the event is online and not in-person.

The culture seems collegiate and empowering. I think that once you get the job, you discover multiple people with shared values. The general atmosphere was nice, mostly pleasant. I felt uncomfortable during the workshops to be fair because I have taken part in other Insight Events in person and they were more organised and not so much focused on coding. Feld more like an assessment to me rather than just attending an event during Easter break to learn about the business and culture of Amazon.

I enjoyed most of the talks and I think they could have been more detailed (as in current projects within Tech divisions), but overall the panellists seem to be very happy with their jobs and enjoy what they are doing. It was a very big event, with many people, so it's probably quite hard to manage, but it could have touched on topics such as Cyber Security, how the client is protected, the UI of the website, the AWS certifications, the AWS Cloud and so many more. I'd say I enjoyed it like a 4/10. Maybe it would have been better in person.

No

Definitely know what you want, if you enjoy coding a lot then you will love the experience, but if you enjoy other aspects of the IT field as well, then try as much as possible to ask questions in the chat if it's online or in-person (if the next editions will be in-person). It's a good experience overall, but I would recommend everyone to go to other events as well so they can make a comparison and decide for themselves what suits them better.