Need advice GroupOn vs Amazon
Perhaps a better way to find out what you want would be to ask specific directed questions about the companies.
What concerns do you have?
I think you may have accepted the offers till now but, as of now Groupon as a company is not doing really well. It may have more growth opportunities since the company is new. Amazon - True the working hours are long and there are talks about its culture not being as friendly as other tech companies. Engineers are "on call" for their product - what it means is that you may get a call/sms if something related to your product goes wrong in production. on-call happens in rotations so you may not be on-call all the time. (Please ask the recruiter or a engineer at the company about policy for your team).
The advantage is
1) Reputation - If you come from Amazon people will know you are hardworking
2) You will learn a LOT in a large company - how do they handle their products, scaling network and products etc etc \
3) After 1-2 years if you look to move in a mid-size company which is growing, they would love to have you on board since you would have the knowledge on how these giant companies scale. Chances are you will also get a really sweet salary and position to lure you to leave Amazon.
If you burn out within an year or so, never mind just apply for a new job :) (its easy if you are single to move). If you cleared Amazon Interview i'm sure you will do well in other companies too
Congratulations!
- Anonymous May 01, 2014That's all I can say. Your question is unanswerable.