Amazon Software Engineering Manager (SDM) Interview: Managing Performance

[@tryexponent]

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[@madhurk7815]

Thank you. This is good; although as an Interviewer - I would have liked to hear specific examples supporting the answer. Some of the answers on best or worst performance teams were theoretical than actuals

[@720JC]

Wow, performance management coaching by an Amazon SDM, just what the industry needs - said no one ever

[@isurujn]

Curious. Why is it a bad thing?

[@Lens_lores]

@@isurujn because amazon is notorious for bad management. their work culture is said to be very toxic. Personally, I think that there are good and bad teams and managers in all companies. I have friends at Amazon who have good managers and good work life balance. But when looking at a bigger picture, there is a higher chance that you will get a bad work life at Amazon compared to a company like Microsoft or Google.

[@gameplayer1980]

Most of these mocks never give any examples. I know that some of these guests can't share most of their personal experiences but it's a bit dangerous to share videos like this to help people but give them the impression that they can talk in theoreticals and pass an interview.

[@IceRockPolar]

The questions asked for concrete examples, the answers were hypotheticals. I interview people and this is common of people I vote against. Even the interviewer switched to asking hypotheticals after the first 2 non-answers. Not taking much from the interviewee as he has the position. The last answer regarding contingencies was how things really work.

[@thechief7234]

Sorry but that was extremely unimpressive with just theoretical fluff. Maybe he’s that TPM switch into SDM

[@TheHarveySpectre]

I'm not impressed.. both questions and answers were vague

[@wjackter]

i felt the same way, he gave no real examples and the interviewer had no real followups

[@insearchofvalue8034]

When he says every member should have a voice, his eyes say that he is lying, he will PIP you if you don't agree. Typical Amazon manager says something and does something else

[@TyzFix]

The best interviewees would share the stories they experienced. How they handled the problems, and how they resolved (or failed) the issue. And, what they learned from that. In real life, most engineering teams work is very boring and how to motivate employees is a true challenge.

[@learnersparadise7492]

Who remembers nitty gritty of all of these? Just bullshitin

[@TyzFix]

And the true fact is underperforming engineers are always under performant. I never seen a manager can change it

[@TheInterviewSage]

Great Interview! Thanks for sharing all the amazing insights 🙂

[@joo02]

Good conversations. I dont think it is necessarily too abstract like others say. Although if he was being interviewed, would be nice with more examples. Still good to hear his views

[@Vasishta_]

Behavioral questions basically doesn't have right or wrong answer. Its about he fits to the organisation or team.

[@4gerboy]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I could easily relate to all your points.

[@tanvi471]

What's that CRT TV in background?

[@voicevy3210]

looks like it

[@SatyaNarayan-nz7qs]

🤣. Best comment ! Cracked me up

[@comeanddiscover3054]

Haha funny

[@vicky271075]

one of the better ones out there.ty

[@jasper5016]

This was one of the best interviews. Congrats Suman!

[@tuliothx]

Not the best example of an EM. Difficult to understand, with canned answers. When a manager delivers imprecise statements such as "this particular service is not performing. Let's make it performing" at 4:21, it's a poor representation of his management skills. Leadership is about communicating well.

[@mustikit]

Thanks Suman!

[@vishalsinha2026]

Good interview! Sensible, well-balanced, and mature responses. Thanks for sharing!

[@GGT199]

Sorry, not impressed at all.

[@ridhwaans]

thank you

[@leo.cavalcante86]

a question: if I know someone will slip the deadline, is it a bad idea to let them fail? then talk to them after the failure?

[@tryexponent]

Hey Leonardo! This is quite subjective. I can think of 3 factors to consider when deciding a course of action: 1. The importance of the deadline. How crucial/big is the task? Is it blocking any other tasks? 2. The character of the individual. Is this someone who only learns through experience, or can he/she internalise constructive criticism? 3. The lesson to learn. Can the same lesson be taught effectively without going through the failure? Hope this helped and would love to hear your thoughts!

[@leo.cavalcante86]

@@tryexponent Woow, perfect points, totally agree

[@learnersparadise7492]

Engineering manager interviews are all stories n talks, complete shallow talks. EM is lazy job at the end of the day, I recently made move into EM after being an Architect but I feel like I am not doing much although my stakeholders are happy. Meeting, talk n talk, that's it

[@igordykhno924]

Nothing special, everything from the “book”

[@karthikapanneerselvam3003]

well, the answers were good. However, shouldn't this be in a STAR format?

[@tryexponent]

Hi Karthika! While the STAR framework is helpful in structuring your response, it is not mandatory. Hope this helps!

[@ultrastar8976]

Doesn’t work.

[@abhisheklahiri3132]

Waste of time

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

Rob those jobs.

[@rohansshetty7]

This guys is full on BS!!

[@learnersparadise7492]

This candidate looks clever n possess negative aura, all theories only, n lying