SWE Full-time Role Start Date Negotiation
I recently got a full-time new grad SWE offer from Amazon. I'm obviously really happy about getting this offer because of the all the things that are going on with the tech job market. The only issue is that the range of start dates they gave me is April-June, and this conflicts with my schedule because I actually signed a offer to intern at another company this summer. I've reached out to Amazon and they've said that I would "need to select a start date in Quarter 2 if possible." Does anyone have any advice on how I can push my start date back?
![Mid-Level Software Engineer [SDE 2] at Amazon company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Famazon_logo.jpg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Dff5f2302-08be-43bc-b7b1-d381ba508d99&w=48&q=75){kind=logo}
Discussion
(3 comments)- 2
15 hours agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroIs the internship with OpenAI or something? Because if not, it's probably best to just drop it and go with Amazon. If you're worried about the Amazon offer being rescinded, you can just keep the internship and let them know that you can't make it after your Amazon job has started.
If you really want both, you can try to frame it as a mutual benefit stating that the internship will make you even more skilled and prepared to hit the ground running at Amazon. Just keep expectations low as you're asking to start in August/September, and tech companies aren't keen at making accommodations for junior engineers for obvious reasons.
Congrats on the offer! Very impressive in this economy.
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12 hours agoSoftware Engineering Intern [OP]Taro CommunityThanks Alex! To clarify, this internship would be at a pre-IPO unicorn. I think I would enjoy the work more and have more growth opportunities at this company if I were to work there full time. However, it’s definitely risky because I need to get the return offer.
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13 hours agoMentor Coach for SWEs | Former Staff Software engineerLike Alex said, internship <<< Amazon as you don't know if it'll convert to an offer. But Amazon's culture is also notorious for PIP. You don't want to renege your internship offer only to be in trouble at Amazon! (The intent is not to scare you but lay out all the possibilities for a more informed decision.)
I'd think about where you have the best chances to succeed long term and go with that. If you manage to fit in both and get a full time offer after the internship, you'll be in a better position to decide.
If Amazon doesn't budge, is April the soonest you're available to work at either place? If not, would it make sense to ask Amazon to have you start sooner (in lieu of forgoing the internship altogether—and as a bargaining chip for reneging on your internship offer and choosing Amazon behind the scenes).
