- Where are you from? Where did you study and how did you start your career?
- I come from Zaporozhye. He graduated from the magistracy at the KPI, faculty FIOT. The love of computer games in the fifth grade influenced my choice of profession. It seemed to me that the whole development comes down to writing computer games. Already a little older, I realized how wide this area is, and how far it goes beyond the boundaries of writing games. Partly also influenced by the sister, who first began to trample this path.
- When did you move from Ukraine?
- My first relocation to Poland was in 2013, on the eve of Euromaidan. About a year everything suited me, after some time a period of stagnation began. I already knew the language well, everything worked out at work, and the tasks became monotonous. Scalors IT company received a proposal to relocate to Munich on time, and I agreed. At that time, I was in Poland and among all the candidates from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus I was the most suitable for the client.
- Tell me how you got a job at Amazon?
- My goal was to work in one of the TOP companies in the world. I had a lot of interviews, most of which were unsuccessful. For example, with Amazon - the journey was quite a long one. I got a job on the third attempt, although some of my friends got this job the first time. Several guys took there right after the university, thanks to the good preparation.
When the Scalors invited me to work in Munich, I agreed, because Germany is a very technological country. I was not mistaken in this, there really are and will be many opportunities. In this company, I worked for about two years, then there was a small startup, and in mid-January 2019, I started my work at Amazon.
- Can you tell us more about your experience, why didn’t it happen right away?
- My first attempt was in the last year of the university in 2012. A large-scale Amazon hiring event was held in Kiev. I managed to successfully pass the test task, which was sent to the mail after the application. After the test, there was a repeated letter to the post office, which indicated the time intervals when you could book yourself an interview. At that time I went to my parents and did not check the mail for some time, and when I opened the letter, all the windows for the interview were busy. The second time I tried it, when I was in Munich. The system was approximately the same: a test task by mail for algorithms, and after successfully passing for three days, a letter with a choice of dates for a hiring event. There I did not hesitate and scheduled an interview. The event was held in Paris. I was in the Schengen area, so a visa was not required. Amazon paid for airline tickets and other expenses such as hotel, taxi and reimbursed up to 30 euros for lunch.
Then the guys from Canada came and hired to Vancouver. I prepared very hard, but there were some nuances here why I didn’t go through. Five people interview you for five hours, each in turn. It is very difficult emotionally, and besides, they do not give any rest breaks. The maximum is to drink water and leave for the restroom. Now Amazon hiring events are back again, and you can read about them on Ukrainian it-portals.
- In addition to Amazon, in which TOP companies have you been interviewed?
- I had experience with Facebook, I remember it was a very difficult telephone interview, which I did not expect a bit. I did not go through it; there were constantly communication problems, which made me very nervous. In my last year at the university, before my first attempt to get an interview at Amazon, there was a gap when I decided to try my hand at Google. Here I went for interviews, which also went one after another. Unlike Amazon, where the interviews were continuous, they were divided into three before lunch and two after. Lunch time could be effectively used to prepare for the next two. In general, in global companies, interviews need to be carefully prepared. It is important to understand how it will go, what type of questions will be asked. After all, there are differences between Amazon, Google and Facebook, which, frankly, I did not immediately realize.
- Can you name examples of questions from the interview?
- In top companies, everything is structured: there will be one algorithmic task and for tasks or additional questions, which all also lead to the original task. There will be no non-technical issues. Although recently, the behavioral issues that are on Amazon and more recently on Google have been gaining popularity. The emphasis was previously on the algorithm, now the emphasis has shifted to behavioral issues. All of them are based on the principles of the company, which can be found, “leadership principles”. These are Amazon rules that tell you behind the scenes how you should behave, and it’s important for the company that you adhere to these principles.
Questions, as a rule, begin with the words: remember the situation or the case when you had to do something or you had some kind of problem. You need to experience all the situations that you had at work and present them in the form of Star principles. Star stands for situation, task, action, results, and when you describe everything, it may just give the impression of you, what the situation was, what actions you took to achieve any results. And the next question is why you did just that and what possible actions you could take.
- Was there a desire to return to Ukraine?
- Honestly, no, it was difficult and hard. Much did not suit in terms of life. The hardest time for me was the first move to Poland, because I had to break the connection with many friends and acquaintances. Communication either fades away or the relationship is not the same. And making new friends is always difficult. Financially, both Poland and Germany were funded by employers. All issues in the legal plan were also resolved, the company provided documents and information, as well as the amount for the move and the realtor’s contacts for housing. Life in Munich is wonderful!
“More than half a year has already passed at Amazon, what’s your impression?”
- The difference is significant compared to other companies in which I had to work. The junior, middle and senior levels are shifting. World-class companies already have enough of their people in higher positions and it is very difficult to get there. In general, these people are more experienced, behind them are many difficult tasks that they have solved. Therefore, to be honest, they deserve high positions. Despite the fact that I worked as a senior developer in the same Germany, in the previous company, my salary at the middle level increased significantly. And this is due to the fact that middle in Amazon is more than senior in most companies.
Many companies have a well-structured structure. As a programmer, you develop software, and around you there are other specialties with which you work closely. Quality engineer or tester, who help you test the code, thereby facilitating the work. A business analyst who takes care of all business issues related to the team. Linux, Windows, or server and database administrators are all separate people who help your project do some work. There are project management managers or technical managers - these are people who collect high-level information about the project and communicate directly with clients.
At Amazon, all these areas are performed by one person, and his salary is 1.5 times higher. It is very beneficial for the company to pay more to one person who does 1-5 types of work, instead of hiring a whole team.
- Tell us about life in Munich and the corporate part?
- In Munich, there are a lot of vacancies and decent salaries for programmers. On the other hand, this is the quality of life, and the comfort that is commonplace in public transport. Love the number of parks and greenery, easy to breathe. In terms of corporate life, we have fewer buns than in Ukraine.
- What are your professional goals?
- Amazon in Germany or other offices in Europe - this is not their main part. The main development office is in Seattle, where the most important decisions are made. Therefore, in Munich it is difficult to develop a career, but in terms of developing many other skills, this is 100%. Now Amazon web services are in almost every second job, and many projects are built on them. Therefore, there is great potential to study at least some part, since there are a lot of these services. Services from other companies such as Oracle and Google are not so popular. This area is important not only to improve your skills, but also it is in demand by companies. Undoubtedly, there is development, a lot of opportunities and enough people around who have something to learn.