Amazon Software Engineer Salary — All Levels

Amazon is a multinational enterprise that has spread its wings faster in the sector of e-commerce than any other enterprise. Apart from Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple, Amazon is considered one of the world's biggest influential companies that have been stirring the online commercial sector since the incorporation year.  

It held books as its building block and gradually landed services to trading electronics, apparel, food, furniture, payment, etc., in the market. According to 2018 reports, its revenue amounted to 232.9 billion USD with more than 150 million customers across 19 countries. 

There lies no doubt that Amazon has laid its foundation in the lives of customers requiring its services each minute. And this is hardly possible without the engineers and developers working at the company. Amazon is always on the lookout for approx. 9000 software engineers and developers in a year. 

What Are Popular Skills for Software Engineers?

You must be curious or aspiring to the role of software engineer for the above question to be popping up in your mind. With this role comes high remittance and workplace benefits and the skill targets that may be strenuous for some. The technical skills you need to catch hold of are listed below:

1. Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence: required to build more user-friendly applications with exciting benefits. 
2. Cloud Computing: to create a secure base for data in cloud environments.
3. Security Expertise: This can cost you your entire career. It is required to prevent any cyber threat at an organization and cannot be meddled with.
4. Docker & Kubernetes: required to contain the docker images and their smooth shipping across multiple software. 
5. Software Testing: without testing the applications first, there would be no release and no development if it fails.
6. Internet of Things: required for proper inter-functioning of things inside the network. This would give the application and business goals a whole picture. 

Other skills include Professional Networking, DevOps, Angular, and the most crucial Management & Certifications such as Agile, Six Sigma, Lean, etc. Finally, it would be useful to have the willpower to learn these skills and be ambitious enough to acquire this role. 

Precisely, for Amazon SDE interviews, take notice of the following:

• Binary Trees and Binary Search Trees
• Traversal of binary tree in a different order
• Implementation of BFS & DFS on binary trees.
• Constructing a tree into a given array.
• Arrays / Stacks/ Linked Lists
• 70% of DSA and 30% of Leadership Principles.
• Multithreading, Cache, messaging queues and functionalities that are accessible to the end user.
• Designing of e-commerce and other websites,etc.

To demonstrate your problems statement and the results in a better way, learn and prepare the essential STAR method.

Amazon Software Engineer Salary:

‍Amazon Software Engineer Salary: How Much Can You Earn?

Base Salary Ranges by Location

Depending on the geographic location and diversity, Amazon has been found to pay around $165–175k/year. as the basic salary. Incredible, isn't it? Another staggering thing is that there is more flexibility once you enter this base cap salary, such as bonuses, significant sign-on, RSU grants, etc.

Amazon Software Engineer Stock Options

As a software engineer at Amazon, there is no losing but only earning of RSUs (Restricted Stock Units). But this process might not take place as early as you may desire. It takes up to four years of a waiting period to be entitled/eligible for these stock units to become your liquid assets.

RSUs are a way for fortune companies to provide compensation to their workforce in terms of company shares, in addition to their salary. 

Perks of Working at Amazon

If you have only heard about high monetary gains at Amazon, then you would be taken aback by these privileges the company has to offer. From pet-friendly culture and workplace to health and dental insurance, Amazon takes complete care of its software engineers. 

Besides, there is also a provision of vision insurance for engineers to keep their visions checked after working for long hours. 

Now, let's see what other exciting perks are in store for engineers at Amazon.

1. Insurance and Wellness Benefits 

Amazon prioritizes its employees' health by arranging free snacks and drink breaks and provides snack budgets from time to time. To keep staff fit as a fiddle, Amazon assigns $1,000 per year to a health savings account.

Amazon never fails to keep your family's health in check besides yours. 10 weeks of maternity leave and 6 weeks of paternity leave are also granted if needed. The safety of its employees is placed above all. Hence, life insurance of 2x your base salary, i.e., up to $500,000, is also conceded. 

2. Transportation Benefits 

When working for Amazon, your transit worry takes a back seat as transport allowance with company shuttle makes your way to work hassle-free. In case of usage of a regional transit system, Amazon compensates the amount for you.

3. Home, Financial and Other Benefits

Beyond Immigration assistance, phone bill reimbursements, adoption assistance, Amazon grants a relocation bonus of $10,000. Now, you do not have to worry about relocating to an undesired working location as it will be convenient and stress-free.

In addition to this, 10 percent off is accorded up to $1,000 of purchases.

Amazon vs. Other Technology Companies Software Engineer Salary Comparison

‍How to Become a Software Engineer at Amazon?

Amazon is known for spotlighting ''Leadership Principles'' in its interview series. Following is the procedure that is in accordance to disembark on the software engineer journey at Amazon.

1. Send Application: Through Amazon Portal or LinkedIn connections, make sure to get in the queue for Amazon'sAmazon's job offer. Another stressing point in your application should be its precision. You get 15 seconds to make the only impression on the recruiter. Hence it would be to your benefit if you kept your elevator pitch and referrals ready.

2. Screening Interview: Make sure you do not get filtered out at this round, as your coding skills are likely to be challenged by experts.

Tip: Write and optimize precise, clean, and bug-free code. 

3. Onsite Interview: If you get lucky and intelligent enough to pass the screening round, you have reached the last edge. This step includes the following:

• Technical Coding Round: Involves the analysis of your technical projects and algorithmic knowledge on data structures, etc.
• System Design Round: Involves the test of your knowledge regarding system databases, logging, etc.
• Bar Raiser Round: Involves analysis of customer-centric and innovative principles and sees if you are culturally fit. 
  

Due to the pandemic, onsite interviews at Amazon are now being conducted virtually on Amazon Chime (video conferencing tool).

Virtual Onsite Interview: Prior to your interview, review the NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement ), download Amazon Chime and check the accessibility and login with your Chime ID sent by the recruiter. 

1. Be in a well-lit room and casually dressed.
2. Check your internet and devices before the interview.
3. For drawing or diagramming use the tool given in Chime.
4. Share your screen and free  and use a web-based whiteboarding product to illustrate.
5. In addition to this, you can use pen and paper and present before the camera when done.

For additional queries and tips, visit Amazon's virtual-interview-prep.

There isn’t much difference between in-person and online interviews at Amazon. You can request the recruiting contact to accomodate you accordingly.

How to crack a Coding Interview at Amazon?

Landing a chance even at an interview round is no joke. To crack the coding game, follow these steps:

• Drink up the algorithms & coding skills by solving problems on GeeksforGeeks, LeetCode, and HackerRank.
• Secure one programming language (preferred: Java, C++, Python, Ruby, and Perl), review the basics, and boost your knowledge of data structures, system design, object-oriented programming, OS, and concurrency concepts.
• During your interview, make sure your code occupies less memory and is capable of being flexible and fast at the time of running.
• To clear this round, visit software-development-topics listed by Amazon.
• Don’t hesitate to clarify doubts during the coding round and apply a brute force approach before finalising the code, optimise it and then submit.
• Hook yourself to the ideas and technicalities of the projects listed on your resume.
• Participate in numerous online mock interviews and coding assessments to brush up on basic aptitude skills
  

Conclusion

From small teams to VIPs/stakeholders to managing the entire organisation, software engineers handle it all. Build exceptional interest in web based components and floor your interest in scaling of systems and servers.

To get through Amazon's stone-cold interviews for higher levels, think before answering, analyze and be confident. 

As recruiters are attentive to the candidate's conduct and stability towards the company, they may toss the same questions but with disparate angles, be open to their hints and criticism. Try and solve the problems with a calm mind and don’t give any red flags to miss your chance.