Amazon software engineer salary

When you hear Amazon, what comes to your mind? For most, it’s the dream journey of the founder, Jeff Bezos. Jeff founded the company in 1995 after resigning from D. E. Shaw and Company. He was a senior vice president and earned a six-figure salary by then. Now, Amazon is one of the biggest online stores, serving customers from every corner of the world. As a company that uses the online platform to serve customers, it needs specialists like software engineers. This article will focus on the amazon software engineer salary and other related information.

Amazon Entry-level Software Engineer Salary

This is probably a pressing issue for the fresh software developers graduating from universities. Since most tech companies don’t reveal their salary data, somehow, a few of the candidates post their offers online. For example, Quora and Reddit feature several threads of testimonies from previous and current software developers sharing their salary information.

 Let’s focus on Amazon. Entry-level software engineers at Amazon are likely to earn a base salary of $108,000. Also, software engineer salary data includes a stock option of $70,000 and a bonus ranging from $44,000 to $64,000.

Compared to other tech professions, the figures are higher than their average pay. Not forgetting, some are well advanced in their careers. According to the Dice Salary Survey report of 2019, the average salary a tech pro earns is $93,244.

Amazon Senior Software Engineer Salary

A senior software engineer at amazon earns an average pay of $190,823 per year. These include a base salary of $ 138,834 and $51,989 worth of bonus. This amount is higher by $53,733 than the average pay a senior software developer earns in the US. However, the senior software engineer salary at Amazon varies from $130,000 to $282,000 while equity ranges from zero to over 150K.

Incidentally, amazon engineers earn better than their colleagues in the HR department. They receive $14,890 more. Senior software developers earn less than senior software engineers and less what lead engineers earn.

How do I become an Amazon Software Engineer?

Amazon hires and develops the best. Their recruitment process is unique from most companies. They rarely focus on years of experience or a four-year degree. And if they do, it’s something they need. In recruiting, Amazon cares more about its leadership principles. So, if you aspire to work in this company, be aware of data structures and algorithms. This is solely for interview preparation.

It’s one of the must-have skills as a software engineer or developer applying for a role in amazon. Beyond that, the hiring procedure will focus on other specific details, preparation strategies, tips, and the Amazon evaluation process. Candidates should keep in mind, the difficulty level of interviews depends on the position. If you applied for a higher post, expect a more grueling interview.

Here are Some Important Points to Remember:

  1. Leadership principles are Amazon’s number one priority. They even have a standardized script purposely for the interview. It focuses more on customer obsession. So get acquitted with their leadership principles before applying for any job post.
  2. Ensure you do some background research about the company. Likewise, it would help if you were up to date with what is happening around the company. For example, the current market scenario or which technology Amazon is releasing. Such information will show how much you are interested in Amazon. 
  3. Do expect interviewers to show reactions to your answers. They won’t respond yes or no, so you will not know if you are doing well or not. This might depress, but it works effectively on their end.
  4. They have a bar raiser during an onsite interview. Here, they make sure candidates raise the competency bar, which means you should be more competent than 50% of the interviewee.
  5. The interview question and difficulty level are not consistent, unlike in Google or Facebook.

Next is the interview process. After applying and your resume gets accepted. One recruiter reaches out to you. In most cases, they offer the mentioned resources and schedule an interview after a week or two.

The first interview will be a code challenge. Here, you will receive two programming problems to solve within 90 minutes. Amazon prefers a working solution over an optimized solution for these problems. Step two of the interview will revolve around your character and is usually conducted via phone. After this, an in-person interview follows. You will receive questions about technical issues, how you handle difficult situations, and scalability.

Interested candidates can look for Amazon’s interview description. Here, they will find more details regarding the interview process.

Is Amazon a Good Place to Work as a Software Engineer?

Amazon is an excellent place to work, learn, explore, and develop as a software engineer. After employment, it won’t take long before you get obligated to raise your programming standards. This comes automatically from the surrounding. Regarding work-life balance, most employees interviewed gave positive responses.

Here are seven reasons Amazon is a good place to work:

  1. The salary and bonus are pretty competitive
  2. They have great internet tools, meaning you can get nearly all services within Amazon. Plus, the process is efficient since issues get resolved internally, and you don’t pay a third party.
  3. As an innovative company, Amazon seeks to venture into almost any domain. And being one of the fastest-growing companies, it gives you more opportunities to grow more.
  4. Amazon entertains no inefficiency. It’s part of their leadership principle of customer obsession.
  5. Amazon preaches and practices design patterns in equal measure. It’s a philosophy embedded within engineers, plus they know when to choose between designs. Also, scalability is part of every task, which ensures it does not compromise maintainability.
  6. Engineers in Amazon are smart. They get things done quickly and preserve the quality of codes. Most of the employees are up to date with the best practices, latest technologies, and frameworks.
  7. The work culture at Amazon is well structured. They take planning seriously, and engineers accurately calculate the duration of any task. 

Conclusion

Amazon is one of the unique companies. Its core business remains online retail or eCommerce even after venturing into web hosting and among others. The founder, Jeff Bezos, is not only highly technical but also a brilliant business strategist.

The foundation of Amazon is technology. Its business extension revolves around technology. These two facts explain why software engineers are essential in this company. And indeed, Jeff rewards their effort handsomely. Amazon software engineer salary is among the best across the world.