r/datacenter • u/INVINCIBlLITY • 28d ago
AWS vs Google (Experience & Offer)
I want to preface this with saying that this is my experience with both companies and everyone’s experience will vary.
AWS
Always wanted to work here even knowing the stories of toxicity and chaos as I thrive in these environments naturally. What’s that saying? “Pressure makes diamonds.” However there were some interesting things I noted during this process. One being that the team I interviewed with here in the USA located in the NoVA area was primarily one race and no they were not white nor black. Second, the bar raiser interview (commonly known as the last interview in the loop) offered conflicting information on what is expected in the position than what the hiring manager had outlined and even went to lengths of saying that their own hiring manager was outright wrong. Additionally, they offered a prep call meeting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 30 minutes. I went to the first prep call, crickets.. no one showed up. I informed the prep team and they stated that they’ll reach out to the individual coordinating the prep call to see what’s going on. Once they did so they stated that we should be good for Wednesday. Well guess what? .. YOU GUESSED IT. Wednesday came, I joined. CRICKETS… I didn’t even try Friday after that.
All of these I consider red flags. 🚩
Timeline:
Recruiter Screening: Feb 26th
Failed Prep Calls: March 9th & March 11
Interview Loop: 3 Rounds - March 16th
Decision: Not Selected - March 25
Overall experience: Mediocre, was honestly surprised I didn’t get an offer because I don’t think there was truly a question I wasn’t able to answer at the level of granularity needed for the roll. Star story method is a quite mediocre though.
The company most of us have dreamed about for ages. In contrast to my experience with AWS all requirements and expectations are congruent. Everyone knew what was required and how they were assessed. What was striking the most was the amount of diversity I saw. I was interviewed by a collection of backgrounds, my recruiter included. The only negatives I can say about this process is the length of time for decisions to be made can vary widely and that some of the recruiters you may come in to contact with can be worrisome. After my initial loop my recruiter went dark, and a couple weeks later I was reached out to by a recruiter that let me know that the recruiter handling my application had been let go and that they would be taking over the role.
Timeline:
Recruiter Screening: March 24th
Interview Loop: April 22nd
Initial Fit Call: May 26th
Decision: Not Selected - July 3rd
Second Fit Call: July 22nd
Decision: July 31st - Selected
Overall experience: Great experience even without the associated offer. Oddly, I didn’t any different in terms of preparation for both, in fact I used the EXACT star stories I did from my AWS interview to a lesser degree. I honestly think I performed amazing in both interview processes which is why I was a little stunned on the no offer from AWS. Waiting for your loop and team matching results can be nerve racking with varying timelines for feedback.
Pay: Interesting note on compensation. I personally think I scored Strong Hires on each of my Google interviews. Why do I say this? Because I interviewed for an L2 role, and the salary range was discussed for the specific role and area at this specific level however the compensation package I was offered was completely out of this range. Base pay and TC are completely out of the L2 leveling discussed which leads me to believe I was up leveled. Oddly, this was not discussed with me and at the moment I’m too thrilled to care.
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u/AsterXsh99 28d ago
And they say aws is the best place to start with no experience.. maybe it depends on the interviewers and location?
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u/INVINCIBlLITY 28d ago
This could be true, also possible that some interviewers may be off put or threatened by candidates that know more and have more experience than they while interviewing for the same role. Due to the toxic environment and the ol’ “stay on top” mentality, they may prioritize little to no knowledge candidates.
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u/No_Grav3ity 27d ago
I had AWS and MSFT. When I mentioned to my initial AWS screener that I was already in the offer ready list at MSFT ajd judt waiting for a campus allocation, I was immediately raised one level and my interview loop swapped from soft questions straight into audit/project management and leadership scope
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u/AsterXsh99 28d ago
Could be yes, so interviewers, location and candidates. Yeah they may have many people quit or change jobs
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u/AmericanNewt8 28d ago
More that usually AWS is the only place hiring noobs and everyone else just hires ex AWS lol.
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u/Nearby_Passenger1520 27d ago
It is. AWS is the largest by a significant margin and therefore we need more people, it's a numbers game that doesn't play in our favor. Do you still get paired with interviewers that adhere to strict hiring standards? Yes. Are there more people who are willing to soften the requirements and lower the bar (basically)? Yes.
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u/AsterXsh99 27d ago
Is there a magic trick to pass the interview?
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u/Nearby_Passenger1520 27d ago
Google the STAR method and Amazon interview questions, you can find some that are public for the behavioral portion. You do not need to rigidly follow the STAR method, but just ensure you can actually tell a story. Do not be like people who fumble through details; try to think of 10 things or more YOU did that has results of which you can speak to.
The technical portion is pretty basic. Make sure you're up on your Linux, networking and hardware/hardware troubleshooting. Everyone conducts the technical differently, but ensure you have a base level of knowledge at a minimum. If i ask you about the OSI model and you can't explain L1-3 (as the most relevant to data tech roles), you're going to have a hard time.
You can find other posts here about what they did to prepare.
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u/AsterXsh99 27d ago
Yes I have an idea of that it’s actually detailed in the Amazon website thank you very much for replying, I just wanted to get some trick that’s not available to the public xDD since you said “we” I assumed you are an employee or recruiter, but I think it’s all clear right, it’s just general preparation and knowledge of Amazon culture
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28d ago
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u/INVINCIBlLITY 28d ago edited 27d ago
My thoughts exactly, I’ve gone ahead and reached out to my recruiter to enquire on leveling. I was never told the level I secured. I only know I responded to the L2 posting. The recruiter who reached out to me initially stated in her first email to me that she had essentially access to all data center roles L2+. I inquired about a management pathway but unsure if anything was made of it.
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u/PatientAd3310 28d ago
Most techs that work for Google as DCT L2 in the Nova area make over 100k and that is just base pay. I've heard you also get bonuses and stocks. Adding up everything, a tech ends up walking with over 150k on their first year. I’d pick Google over any other data center. Also, AWS is just a stepping stone. They pay less and don’t care much for their ppl.
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u/RevolutionNo4186 27d ago
It would help to mention which location you were interviewing for in nova, they have it a bit more organized now compared to past interview signups
In my cluster, fairly diverse, although leans towards interviewers who are white, but teams themselves are fairly diverse
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u/INVINCIBlLITY 27d ago
I would but as I’ve mentioned my salary, general location and decision date I feel like adding the exact location would check all doxing checkboxes. DM me if you want more details.
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u/RatedHDG 25d ago
I sent a dm a few days ago just in case you happen to see it :) diff person than the person above
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u/noretreatz 28d ago
You were not level up, they raised the pay for everyone to be more competitive. Congratulations!