Amazon Web Services

"Being surrounded by intensely smart and motivated people is inspiring, it can be the hardest job you'll ever love."

"Ask for what you want because if you don't ask you won't ever get it."

"I've worked here for 1 year (a veteran at this point), and I see men and women alike drop like flies. There are women who work in marketing, but the majority are in event planning roles. The few women in strategic marketing roles are looked over for leadership positions. Even if they manage to justify the need for more headcount, new leadership roles, or new projects, the opportunities are first offered to male peers or headcount is given to someone else entirely. One of the leadership principles is to "have a backbone; disagree and commit," but when women speak up in disagreement, they're pulled aside by their managers and told to tone it down. In emails announcing promotions of male colleagues, their pushback is cited as practicing the same leadership tenant. Overall, the issues are subtle when reviewed case-by-case, especially with the high turnover rate. But the pattern seems to be that women of all levels of experience are constantly overlooked in favor of men with less experience, but better networking opportunities. That being said, the amount of experience you receive while working here is unmatched. With the intensity of the environment and the lack of opportunities for leadership roles, a lot of people leave when they're ready to move up."