I started off by talking with the hiring manager at a recruiting event. He's quite a nice guy, and we hit it off very well. The first interview was easy, we only spent a few minutes actually discussing technical problems, the remainder of the time I spent asking him questions.
Next was the hiring manager's supervisor. Again, a few technical questions, and then it was all discussions thereafter. No problem. Recruiter calls, and we schedule the on-site.
The on-site interview had me talking to five different people over about four hours. Each interview lasted roughly 45 minutes and really everyone was quite on time. What really got me, though, was the number of times that people mentioned the secret nature of the work that Lab 126 does. I've worked at facilities requiring SCI clearance before, and even though they are fairly tight-lipped around outsiders, they tend to be very open with one another--that's absolutely not the impression I got here.
In any case, each of the interviews consisted of a technical portion followed by a personality portion. Whiteboard coding was done--I think the interviewers actually transcribe your code into a computer and try to run it to see if it's correct, which is quite an interesting solution.
Lunchtime was scheduled at about halfway through the process. They actually do make employees pay for their own lunch, here; the corporate nature of this place is clearest in the cafeteria. Gives it a penny-pinching vibe that's tough to shake.
The HR person, though, was something else. All of the positive feelings I had towards the company to this point really just evaporated as soon as I started talking to her. She started off by telling me that Amazon wouldn't be able to offer me as much as I'm currently making, and then attempted to justify this by pointing out the fact that I hadn't held this specific position at some point in the past. When I pointed out that I had management experience, and intended to seek a promotion to a management role, she made it very clear that this was not going to happen, and that I should accept reduced compensation in exchange for the opportunity to work for Lab 126. Maybe that would have held water when I was fresh out of college, but I've got ten years experience now. I don't need an exciting opportunity to work with cutting edge technology; silicon valley is awash with such things.
I don't know what this place's problem is, but I know this: Amazon Lab 126 is looking for bargain basement prices on their talent. It'll work great for you if you're an intern, but if you've got real talent, go work for Google.
