A Day in the Life of an Amazon Software Engineer

I'm from Brazil, and out of all the content creators, you're the only one who shows the reality of working in the tech field. People usually romanticize it with coffee breaks and happy hours; nobody shows that sometimes the work can be stressful and lonely.

Being bored often means you’re good at what you’re doing.

hey, senior data engineer here. I see a lot of people telling you not to quit your job, but at the end of the day, you’re the one who has to show up and work with the same people every day. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s a terrible day... I get it. What I don’t agree with is how many people project a certain idea of success just because it’s a BIG TECH company. There’s a good chance you might actually be happier at a smaller company, working with fewer people and still playing an important role. Don’t romanticize labor, but also don’t stay in a shitty job just for the status. Trust yourself. Your career is just getting started 🙂

I wouldn't quit-- remember, boring and mundane is usually a sign your life is peaceful, and the spark you are looking for likely exists with your time outside of work. you seemed to have a lot of fun hanging out with your coworker during lunch, and facilitating more moments like this is essential to a satisfactory work-life balance. moments like this can get boring and lonely for sure, but interviewing and finding a position after the fact can be even worse without preparation. I hope things get more peaceful and fun on your end. I love these vlogs when I can see them.

As a cybersecurity leader - yes work will not always and most often will not feel fulfilling. Don’t allow that to make you stray from your purpose or success in life. And do not fall in the trap of leaving your career for social media. Majority go broke and cannot get back to where they were. Long term goals are more important than short term feelings. Also, at some point you may find it most suitable to leave big tech and you may find more fulfillment. For now slam your 401K to the maximum and invest. Your future self and your elderly self will thank you.

Your creativity that you had when you first started coding will get suppressed in a corporate structure. That is where having your personal projects help. Your creative juices can flow. Your first internship, which is consultancy, is the closest to that feeling other than starting your own startup. So take your amazon job as a blessing, go to office, do your best, learn, and at the end of the day have fun with your hobbies until your amazon job becomes your side hustle.

I left amazon in 2011. I had been there 4 years, and I was facing burnout. That was the absolute biggest mistake of my professional and possibly my entire life. I was so similar feeling fulfilled at first. Amazon was my first job after graduating Harvard, and for the first year I was so excited. I was a TPM, SDE Manager a Sr Product Manager. I was one of 3 product managers on the seller services team that had 80 SDEs, and I had to build the product roadmaps for the teams. I hope you can find peace and are able to stay there. The grass may seem greener outside Amazon, but I had forgotten how awesome it was to have high quality managers and work with other smart people.

After watching many of your videos and hear you talk about "burnout" problems and fear of getting fired (layoffs), there seems to be a pattern. You describe long working days, when you get home you go almost directly to sleep, so it appears your life is 100% work, it's okay when you are young to push hard when you have the energy for it, but it seems like you pushed a little too hard. Your free time, seems to be coffee dates with team members or friends at work (doing working hours) that means technically you are still at work even though it's "just" and lunchbreak. If I was you, I would: Make a week schedule (I know for sure that you have the software and skills to do so). In that week schedule you add blocks of "me - time" where you do something that is not work or computer related at all. it can be as simple as taking a long walk to clear your mind, notice and observe your surroundings while you walk, the people you pass, the seasons changes of the nature, the sounds, the smell of fresh air etc. When overloaded with work, don't try to run faster (it leads very fast to burnout) instead prioritize your tasks and ask for help if you have more tasks that you can handle (staying extra at work, getting burned out is not rewarded in any company at all (Trust me, I have many years of field experience in big companies). Don't be afraid to get fired, that fear totally destroys the happiness of going to work, the focus and output as well. *SPOILER* No job is secure at all, you can get fired any day at any moment. The key is to keep learning while you work and have full documentation of your skills, this is the key skill to land a new job fast and be attractive on the job marked, also don't be afraid to explore totally different areas outside the "Software Engineer" title.. it's just a title. I hope this helps just a little bit

'dreams are dreams' you seem to be happier creating your own thing, like that clothing app, that was so cool. A good job is important, don't just give that up. You can always look for something elsewhere whilst you're working and find perhaps a more interesting project, that feels more important to you.

Senior software engineer here, what you are feeling is completely normal. Most of us got into the field because we love the creativity; however, some of the stuff we create isn't that inspiring or interesting, sadly (I write travel software and maintain legacy systems, yuck.) The key is to master your area as much as you can, so when you progress and gain influence, you can choose the projects you work on. Hope this helps! (:

I’m a network engineer, and honestly, when you truly love what you do, it’s all you want to spend your time on. I actually discovered my passion for networking quite late, around 35. Before that, I was in core electronics. But once I made the shift, there was no looking back. I enjoy the daily challenges, and the constant learning keeps me engaged. I think you already have a sense of what you enjoy, which seems to be coding. Purpose usually takes a bit more time to become clear, and that’s completely fine. For now, just focus on the journey. You’re getting to work with smart people, and that itself is a big advantage. Make the most of it. Also, try to explore things outside your immediate field. That broader exposure helps you grow in ways that eventually feed back into your main work. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You’re still at an early stage, so there’s no rush to have everything figured out. Over time, you’ll naturally discover what drives you. And when that happens, work stops feeling like work. It becomes something more meaningful, something you actually want to get better at every day. All the best, and keep exploring.

Doing boring work is part of every job, even in the tech industry. Before becoming a Senior Cloud and Database Architect, I spent years in 2nd- and 3rd-level support, handling never-ending tickets and roughly a thousand changes and numerous mostly short-term projects every year. It was repetitive and often boring, but it taught me patience, endurance, and strong attention to detail. After a couple of years, I decided to move from operational support into project-based work, and that transition became a natural first step toward architecture. Now I have the freedom I always wanted — no tickets, no on-call duties, and more space to focus on design, strategy, and building the right solutions.

I just want to say that you are a great content creator. I watch many different "day in the life" videos of software engineers even though I'm a teacher, but your videos are very informative and relaxing. Even a non-tech person could catch what you're saying. It's also awesome that you are realistic about your job, and you don't just make it seem glamorous. Thank you for the awesome videos! :)

Dreams are dreams! Also in Vancouver tech. Love your videos. They are not just about making x amount of $$ or gaining whatever skill. Just pure engineer life and they echo a lot to me I think you have 3 options: 1. Work hard to get promotion and better projects (safe and the easiest) 2. Work hard to look for a better job while working on your current job (harder and riskier but still safe) 3. Work super hard to plan for a start-up. Quit when it takes off (high risk)

Welcome to the 9 to 5 life - burnt out, bored, feeling your life needs to be more That’s the reality for most people for the next 40-50 years of their lives. Unless you become your own boss and eventually gain financial freedom.

The fact is, big techs and other big companies are not gonna give fun and impactful stuff to junior engineers like yourself. Tedious routine stuff that seniors and principals don’t wanna do is going to you guys unfortunately. You’ve just gotta wait a couple of level bumps first. I know is a harsh reality check but it is what it is. Good days will eventually come

As another 25 YO tech girlie I definitely feel you and have lots of similar feelings. I think it's okay for a job to pay the bills, be "interesting enough", and help you save for the next thing! You aren't tied into one job forever

Seasonal depression is something that will hit you hard and make you doubt yourself to the max, make you wonder if things at work are worth it or not. there have been times I've wanted to walk off my job some days. I tell myself not everyday will be sunshine and rainbows, life will kick while you are down. You have to just be mentally stronger.

Girl… I feel for you. I don’t live in America or Canada, so I don’t know what the job market is like. But it sounds like you need a change. Use the job you have to your advantage - apply for other jobs while employed. When you find one that sparks something in you, then hand in your resignation. I would hate for you to jump into another job you don’t feel too much passion for because you’ve quit your Amazon job (for the same reason). Sending big hugs from afar. You can do this!

There will be days at work where you'll feel down and bored, but then other days you'll feel excited and happy. It's happened to many times at my job. I just it out and hope the better days out weigh the bad. Just recently at my job we are making some really exciting changes that have me pumped.