Amazon AWS Interview, Network Engineer

darkerz

I'm super duper nervous, I have a call scheduled for Monday.

For any other company, I'm completely fine, but this is my first touch into reviewing w/ a company that might actual center itself around Technology like Microsoft does, even more on the network end, even!

Any tips or advice? This is a 3-5 year experience position working with amazing enterprise & SP technologies under the same boat in Seattle. The best part is, besides the Juniper gear, I've worked extensively with everything listed.

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• A Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience is mandatory.
• Candidates should have 5+ years industry experience in a similar environment.
• Excellent IP networking fundamentals and extensive experience in the application of IP protocols.
• In-depth knowledge of and experience with major internet routing protocols; specifically BGP and OSPF
• In-depth knowledge of and experience with major router platforms; specifically with Cisco 37xx, 49xx, 65xx, 73xx, 76xx, Nexus 7K and Juniper MX/EX platforms including all compatible supervisory and line cards for these platforms.
• Excellent network analysis fundamentals and robust troubleshooting skills.
• Candidates should also have had significant past experience with, and expertise in many of the following protocols & technologies: DWDM, T1/DS1, DS3, SONET (OC3, OC4, 802.2/3, 802.1d VLANs/STP, IPv4 & IPv6, TCP (internals & flow control), BGP, OSPF, HSRP/GLBP, PIMv2, IGMP, LDP, TACACS, IPSEC & VPNs, netflow, DNS, HTTP.
• Experience with mission critical multicast systems is highly desired.
• Experience designing network and datacenter installations utilizing L2 and L3 protocols

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Thanks!

~

Jackace

Sounds like a great opportunity. One of my co-workers just moved to Seattle to work for Amazon. He said it was the most thorough and comprehensive interview he had ever had. He was going to work for the WAN aggregation group though so it could be different.

Raywire86

I'm having a good experience interviewing for a position for AWS data centers. I'm being flown this Monday for my on-site interviews. Not sure how your position's progression will play out, but for me this is what happened so far:

1. Contacted by recruiter 2 days after submitting app on Amazon's site.
2. Phone interview with manager. Went fine, learned about the position, very professional. Lasted 1 hour, mostly focused on technical skill and background.
2. 2 Days later recruiter emailed me and scheduled a second phone interview.
3. Spoke to a member of the team. Very professional as well and talked for about 45 minutes. He asked good questions and assessed my personality somewhat.
4. 4 days later scheduled for in-person interviews (at this point I was handed off to a higher level recruiter) and they were very clear and provided a full itinerary. They scheduled one last phone call to clear up details regarding compensation (this is where I had to submit my expected pay.)
5. 3rd phone interaction went great, enjoyed speaking to the recruiter. Really relaxed me about the in-persons (basically she told me if I got this far, they want me to succeed). On-site is 5 people about an hour each, possibly during lunch. She said dont believe horror stories on internet regarding this stage - just show passion and be honest and that's all they are looking for; "hazing" or anything weird like that is not the point of the on-site.

I'm looking forward to it! Hope this time line helps you with your experience and good luck! I found Amazon AWS to be very professional to interview with.

Jackace

If you don't mind me asking how technical do the questions get? My co-worker who left said it was very technical but never really gave any examples or defined what that meant. By the time I knew he was talking with them he had already taken the job and I don't think he was able to discuss anything in more detail.

the_Grinch

Congrats and good luck!

coffeeluvr

Good Luck!!

ptilsen

Good luck! Be sure to share the experience with the rest of us, even if it doesn't work out.

darkerz

Update for everyone out there;

I was so sure I bombed it, I couldn't answer 40% of the questions but told them up front and what I did know & how I'd research it.

Sure enough, I got a call this morning - it looks like it's time for another round.

networker050184

Good luck!

ptilsen

darkerz wrote: »

I was so sure I bombed it, I couldn't answer 40% of the questions but told them up front and what I did know & how I'd research it.

Most reasonable technical interviewers care that you know enough background information to be able to find the solution, not that you know every single answer off-hand. There are some positions that might legitimately call for that, but "network engineer" is probably too general. So I'm sure you did fine. Good luck with the next round, and keep us updated!

cgrimaldo

Sweet man...Good luck!

chanakyajupudi

Good Luck !

coffeeluvr

Good luck with the next round!! Sounds like you are doing great so far!!!

f0rgiv3n

You got this! Keep us updated on how it all goes

MrAgent

The in person interviews are way more intense. I had an in person interview in July. It was a full day of interviews. I only had 2 people out of 6 that asked technical questions. They really want to see how you mesh in their culture.

Raywire86

Just to chime in myself - my in-persons went very well for me and the accommodations (hotel/rental car) they made for me were more than sufficient. They really went out of their way to provide a professional experience.

Had 5 interviews. While I signed an NDA regarding the content, I can't go into detail - but I will say that it was thorough and reasonable. Everyone I met was easy to speak with. I didn't feel as though anybody was trying to be intimidating or anything like that. My advice would be to study the basics of the position, then approach the in-persons with a happy, focused attitude. Effortless communication seemed like a common trait in everyone i met there, so that's probably a key thing they are looking for.

FYI I was notified this morning (one and half weeks after in-persons) that I will be receiving an offer shortly.

Good luck! I've had a great experience so far, so you should keep positive about everything if you're in this process!

Spaced

Congrats Raywire86!! Good luck to Darkerz - sounds like you are nearly in! Raywire - would you mind sharing how many years of experience you have in IT and networking in particular - same question for Darkerz (if you don't mind).

Thank you!

Snow.bros

Wow this must be a really professional job that holds an important position so good luck on your journey!!!!!!!

the_Grinch

Congrats!

coffeeluvr

@Raywire86....Congratz!!

cyberguypr

Congrats on an great opportunity!

darkerz

Raywire86 wrote: »

Just to chime in myself - my in-persons went very well for me and the accommodations (hotel/rental car) they made for me were more than sufficient. They really went out of their way to provide a professional experience.

Had 5 interviews. While I signed an NDA regarding the content, I can't go into detail - but I will say that it was thorough and reasonable. Everyone I met was easy to speak with. I didn't feel as though anybody was trying to be intimidating or anything like that. My advice would be to study the basics of the position, then approach the in-persons with a happy, focused attitude. Effortless communication seemed like a common trait in everyone i met there, so that's probably a key thing they are looking for.

FYI I was notified this morning (one and half weeks after in-persons) that I will be receiving an offer shortly.

Good luck! I've had a great experience so far, so you should keep positive about everything if you're in this process!

'

Congrats man, it's awesome to see success from people on this forum.

Quick update, a local 'Redmond competitor has taken interest in me (flattering or creepy? You decide), apparently a competitor to AWS.

A little overwhelming, here is the description;


Title - Network Implementations Engineer, Lead

1. Excellent network administration and troubleshooting skills.
2. Good Understanding of TCP/IP, Routing protocols, Load balancing concepts
3. Knowledge and experience in VTP and other switching technologies
4. Ability to understand the design and provide suggestion for improvements
5. Knowledge and experience on firewall devices from different vendors like Cisco and Juniper
6. Hands-on experience on networking devices from different vendors like Cisco, F5 and Juniper.
7. Good Knowledge and experience on iBGP & EBGP
8. Hands on experience on Cisco Nexus 7K,5K switches & routers 72XX and 76XX
9. Good knowledge and experience on F5 LTM/GTM Load balancers
10. Good Knowledge and hands on Experience on Juniper MX serious routers
11. Good Knowledge and hands on Experience on Juniper SRX & ISG Firewalls
12. Excellent analytical and organizational skills and the ability to work with multiple geographically dispersed teams
13. Excellent listening skills & ability to communicate clearly and fluently in English
14. Flexibility to work in shifts for 24x7 support
15. Strong team player with a constructive perspective and commitment to the success of the business
16. Ability to work on multiple concurrent tasks with conflicting priorities

Pretty much, the group that has serious networking issues from the Redmond based companies multitude of lab & dev environments from the first and second line network engineers escalate these to us (!!!) for advanced troubleshooting, implementation, mac'd work, deployments and testing of new hardware, new protocols, new topology and new code specifications.

From a purely Networking, advancement and hands on perspective, both are amazing.

...

More to come, but let's just say the CCNP studies and keeping at it 2-4 hours a day, while it's fresh in your mind, it gives you a serious edge against the folks who don't prepare for interviews outside of their day to day.

Loading up GNS3 all weekend, going to crush every lab I can find on the web, document everything and break things - fix them on purpose.

darkerz

Update for anyone with the time of day;


I accepted the verbal offer from Microsoft as a Network Implementation Engineer, I will be receiving a formal offer letter next week. (Look at my post history, I've been trying to "get in" for years)

Better pay, closer to home, better benefits and quite honestly - more interesting technology and work. Troubleshooting and setting up Nexus 2k, 5k and 7k systems will be a daily "chore", and "wait until I see the interesting stuff", said the interviewer (Who is direct to that team) *drolls*

So...



AAAAAAAAAAAH!

It's happening!

*Orders CCNP / CCIE books in anticipation*

coffeeluvr

@darkerz...Congratulations!!! Sounds like this is what you had hoped for & now it is reality!! Good luck with the new job!!!!

atorven

Congratulations darkerz

it_consultant

darkerz wrote: »

Update for anyone with the time of day;


I accepted the verbal offer from Microsoft as a Network Implementation Engineer, I will be receiving a formal offer letter next week. (Look at my post history, I've been trying to "get in" for years)

Better pay, closer to home, better benefits and quite honestly - more interesting technology and work. Troubleshooting and setting up Nexus 2k, 5k and 7k systems will be a daily "chore", and "wait until I see the interesting stuff", said the interviewer (Who is direct to that team) *drolls*

So...



AAAAAAAAAAAH!

It's happening!

*Orders CCNP / CCIE books in anticipation*

Working for MS will be a HUGE boost to your career! I am (with probably a few people here) pretty jealous.

the_Grinch

Congrats! Let me just say I have enjoyed reading everyone's experiences with moving up in their careers!

MrAgent

Congrats!

phoeneous

darkerz wrote: »

'

Title - Network Implementations Engineer, Lead

1. Excellent network administration and troubleshooting skills.
2. Good Understanding of TCP/IP, Routing protocols, Load balancing concepts
3. Knowledge and experience in VTP and other switching technologies
4. Ability to understand the design and provide suggestion for improvements
5. Knowledge and experience on firewall devices from different vendors like Cisco and Juniper
6. Hands-on experience on networking devices from different vendors like Cisco, F5 and Juniper.
7. Good Knowledge and experience on iBGP & EBGP
8. Hands on experience on Cisco Nexus 7K,5K switches & routers 72XX and 76XX
9. Good knowledge and experience on F5 LTM/GTM Load balancers
10. Good Knowledge and hands on Experience on Juniper MX serious routers
11. Good Knowledge and hands on Experience on Juniper SRX & ISG Firewalls
12. Excellent analytical and organizational skills and the ability to work with multiple geographically dispersed teams
13. Excellent listening skills & ability to communicate clearly and fluently in English
14. Flexibility to work in shifts for 24x7 support
15. Strong team player with a constructive perspective and commitment to the success of the business
16. Ability to work on multiple concurrent tasks with conflicting priorities

Pretty much, the group that has serious networking issues from the Redmond based co

Just curious, how much experience do you have with the above listed?

Raywire86

Congrats man!!

cyberguypr

Awesome. This worked out beautiful.