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Comment by pyb | Hacker News Reader

Have you heard of Amazon's "LP" interviews? It seems to be a little bit like that. The challenge there is to tell a number of well-rehearsed stories.

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I'm going through job interviews now (not with Amazon, but others). The whole thing feels like well-rehearsed regurgitation. Well, and a smidge of acting, obviously, because you don't want it to come off as well-rehearsed. But they know exactly what they want to hear and you're competing with other candidates who see the same writing on the wall and are doing their own rehearsals.

I thought it was just the leetcode, but it's the behavioral questions and system design exercises, too.

Eh, I'm coming across as cynical. I'll be fine--I just wish we (as an industry) had a better system.

No it’s totally right. Going in cold is basically impossible. You have to be ready to regurgitate leetcode answers, “approved” system designs, STAR stories about your career that show various BS story arcs. And of course pretend like you’re not just regurgitating for… reasons. It’s all a bizarre cargo cult acting session at this point. Big companies even send you a study guide these days ffs

Amazon sent me a study guide......I told the recruiter I'm going to pass.

Until, I don't have a job I'm not grinding leetcode. I also dislike people who refer to themselves as ex-faang. I really don't care.

LP style of interview optimizes even more towards storytellers and fair bit of BS purveyors. The entire process is far too impersonal to drive any real and effective assessment.

I get the sense that, because of Amazon's roots as a bookseller, they still like to optimize for people who are a bit more well-spoken and well-read, compared to other FAANGs. At the executive level, PowerPoint is banned and all meetings start by reading a well-composed multipage memo.

Being able to tell a great story might not be highly valued at most orgs, but I think it's part of Amazon's culture and something they desire in their skilled positions.

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