Amazon Principal Engineer on Layoffs, Bad Managers, Promotions & Big Tech Reality | Steve Huynh

Transitioning to Software Engineering at Amazon [01:04]

• Quinn initially aimed to be a writer but pursued computer science for financial stability, leveraging his Pascal and C++ knowledge from AP tests and college courses.
• He used connections to secure a support engineer role at Amazon and then transitioned into software development.
• He emphasizes that gaining entry into a company unlocks access to internal wikis, codebases, and colleagues who can provide interview insights and mock interviews.
• Curiosity is highlighted as a key driver for learning about systems like recommendation engines and product search.
• While Amazon generally has an open culture, Quinn acknowledges that some areas are more siloed.

Longevity and Growth at Amazon [03:16]

• Quinn stayed at Amazon for 18 years, citing personal satisfaction derived from continuous growth, challenges, learning, and working with exceptionally smart people.
• He moved between various teams, including Search Inside the Book, Kindle, Prime Video, Amazon Tickets, and Payments, avoiding AWS.
• The decision to switch teams was often driven by a fear of stagnating or feeling like he was no longer learning new things, particularly when work became repetitive, like transforming POJOs.
• He views software development as a team sport, where collective effort on a large scale is more impactful than individual brilliance alone.

Amazon's Engineering Leveling System [06:27]

• Amazon's leveling system for software developers is described as the least granular in the industry: Junior, Mid, Senior, and Principal.
• The jump from Senior to Principal is substantial, essentially representing a different job role, and Amazon skips the "Staff" level common in other tech companies.
• Quinn notes that many highly skilled engineers at other companies who hold Staff, Senior Staff, or Principal titles would struggle to make the Senior to Principal leap at Amazon due to its high standards.
• This difficulty has led some senior engineers to leave Amazon for roles elsewhere that offer comparable scope and compensation.

The Path to Principal Engineer [07:44]

• Quinn's journey from support engineer to senior engineer took four years, but the promotion to principal engineer took an additional eight years.
• He describes this period as filled with turmoil, stress, and constant adaptation, as Amazon changed its promotion process multiple times.
• He felt technically ready for principal in 2016, four years into his senior role, but it took another four years to achieve the promotion.
• He was promoted to Principal Engineer in Q1 2020, amidst the initial uncertainty of the pandemic.
• The principal project that secured his promotion was a significant catalog migration for Prime Video, aimed at generalizing the catalog to support live sports and broadcasts, impacting thousands of services.

Accelerated Early Growth and Plateaus [10:42]

• Quinn's rapid progression from support to senior engineer in four years is attributed to his natural growth curve, fueled by intense curiosity and dedication, including working nights and weekends.
• He acknowledges that this initial phase involved sacrificing personal relationships.
• After achieving senior engineer status, he felt he could ease his pace, but attributes the subsequent eight-year plateau to a combination of policy changes and internal "politics" or unfortunate circumstances with management.

Advice for Career Advancement [12:23]

• Quinn stresses introspection about areas for growth that can unlock potential and a genuine interest in self-improvement.
• He advocates for learning "how to learn" by studying the science of learning, mentioning concepts like spaced repetition and active recall.
• He has learned over 20 programming languages and numerous frameworks, emphasizing that the ability to learn is more crucial than the specific subject.
• He believes "everything is figure-outable," which builds confidence in tackling new challenges, provided the target is clearly identified.
• Blind spots, by definition unseen by the individual, are identified as the primary bottleneck for growth.

Navigating Blind Spots and Receiving Feedback [14:50]

• Quinn shares an experience from his time as a "Bar Raiser" (Amazon's term for interviewers) where feedback revealed he was too clinical and lacked interpersonal warmth during interviews.
• He learned the importance of disagreeing without being disagreeable and maintaining professional relationships.
• This feedback, along with others on communication styles, highlighted areas of self-awareness he needed to address.
• He frames the common interview question "What's your biggest weakness?" as a probe into whether a candidate solicits and acts upon critical feedback.
• Being honest about areas needing growth and being receptive to feedback, treating it as a gift rather than an attack, is crucial for progress.

Common Mistakes in Amazon Interviews [17:29]

• Quinn states that candidates are typically 85-95% qualified by the time they reach the on-site interview.
• He believes many treat interviews as tests rather than as "dates" where both parties are evaluating compatibility.
• The interview process assesses not only technical skills (coding, system design) but also whether the interviewer would want to work with the candidate.
• Approaching the interview with the mindset of finding a mutual fit, rather than solely focusing on memorizing answers, leads to better outcomes.

Surviving and Thriving at Amazon [19:19]

• Quinn asserts that top performers are unlikely to be put on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP).
• He acknowledges that "politics," or power dynamics, exist in all companies, and while good engineers can sometimes be pushed out due to managerial issues, top performers have more leverage to choose their teams.
• Identifying a dysfunctional team can take 4-6 months, but employees can often move teams before being placed on a PIP.
• The most significant red flag for a dysfunctional team is a bad manager; a good manager creates a virtuous cycle of support and high performance.
• Research suggests managers with longer tenures on teams are generally better, and good managers retain their top talent.

The Decision to Leave Amazon [23:39]

• After 18 years at Amazon, Quinn left in 2021, motivated by the shift away from live sports in his division and his growing success with YouTube content creation.
• He felt a strong urge to take a chance on himself and pursue his passion, fearing regret if he stayed at Amazon for his entire career.
• He reasoned that worst-case scenarios were manageable (returning to Amazon or finding a comparable job elsewhere).
• He has been out of Amazon for about 18 months and is close to replacing his income, valuing the quality of life and autonomy.
• He misses the camaraderie of working with software developers and the act of shipping code.

Reflections on Layoffs and Career Mistakes [26:26]

• Quinn believes Amazon's recent layoffs of 30,000 employees were primarily due to overhiring.
• He critiques the decision not to redistribute those employees to other growing initiatives, which he sees as less "Amazonian" than cutting resources.
• A significant career mistake was not recognizing he had a choice when dealing with a bad manager, naively believing managers were inherently good and infallible.
• He emphasizes that managers are not always well-trained and have diverse, sometimes contradictory, management styles, unlike the predictable nature of code.
• He also notes instances where he stayed on teams longer than he should have, sometimes due to management issues and other times due to organizational inertia, despite sensing impending problems.

Preparing for Career Transitions [30:10]

• Quinn advises trusting instincts when sensing a team or organization is heading for implosion.
• He suggests preparing for potential layoffs by updating resumes, building an emergency fund (around six months of expenses), and identifying non-negotiable expenses.
• He advocates for having a "layoff emergency kit" to navigate unexpected job loss.

Finding Steve Quinn Online [30:48]

• Quinn is active on YouTube and Substack under the name "lifeeng engineered."
• He also offers a program to help individuals achieve higher performance reviews and promotions quickly.