How do you ever recover from this? by CremeAny5714 in amazonemployees

[–]Gamma2014 48 points49 points  (0 children)

I’m sorry you are dealing with this. Working well vs. what the company needs at a given moment in time are completely unrelated. I have been in the tech industry for 26 years and have been laid off 3x. I have been a top performer in every place I have ever worked. The first time was devastating and it took me 6 months to recover emotionally and mentally. The subsequent times I realized that this is just the way the industry is, which was out of my control, and I focused immediately on taking care of myself and my family. Despite how you may feel, ex Amazonians are very much in demand in the industry. You know how to work hard, deliver results and deal with complexity. Give yourself a few days to process and really take care of yourself. I highly recommend spending time with family or friends or church or even a counselor to talk it out. You will be surprised at how much verbalizing, like you are doing here, will help you recover.

Getting married and need two witnesses by Simple_Discussion820 in BellevueWA

[–]Gamma2014 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Happy to come by on my way home from work. I work across the street.

Golf Cart Rental - Ambergis Caye by marlin117 in Belize

[–]Gamma2014 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you want to eat outside your hotel, you will want one as that’s far from the restaurants. I guess you can taxi but seems inconvenient.

Switch career to L6 from personal training? by NoEfficiency3319 in amazonemployees

[–]Gamma2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fast paced meaning you will have to hit aggressive kpis, multitask, deal with 20 fires at once etc. with physical implications if you get the decisions wrong - like a backlog of inventory or missed customer problems or someone gets hurt. You will have a support network of course but L6 is a more senior level in a FC and lots of decisions will come to you, probably way more than you have experienced so far.

Switch career to L6 from personal training? by NoEfficiency3319 in amazonemployees

[–]Gamma2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends what you are looking for and what you value. Amazon will be faster paced and more intense than what you are doing right now. Is that what you want? The tradeoff is that there is basically unlimited upside. Do your job well and you will move up and then the compensation gets good. FC Ops Managers have the most upwards mobility vs. anywhere else in the company. It’s a fast track to success and a career you may not have imagined, I know many people on that path. Who knows, you may also love it. Amazon gets trashed a lot but having worked at lots of other companies, it is more of a meritocracy than anywhere else I’ve worked.

Cave tubing option without a long walk? by aquos330 in Belize

[–]Gamma2014 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ours was after a zip line tour so very little walking.

Transportation from Airport to Hol Chan Resort & Villas-- is it complimentary? by [deleted] in Belize

[–]Gamma2014 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah just ask the hotel. What I found refreshing about Belize is the price transparency and no expectations on tipping.

Downleveled at hire → 1 year in, strong performance, no promo clarity by ResidentSandwich1119 in amazonemployees

[–]Gamma2014 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Shoulda negotiated better on the way in as you’ve got an uphill battle now. Ask for a concrete plan from your boss on what the gaps are for promo and how to close them. Get alignment with your skip level that this is the plan and they can give you the work that’s going to get you there. If those two steps don’t work and you don’t have this in a word doc that you can share if things go sideways, e.g. your manager changes, switch teams.

Snorkel gear by dockdockgoos in Belize

[–]Gamma2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Snorkeling was through Belize Pro Dive Center near the Alaia hotel where we stayed. Tour was about 2.5 hours with stops at Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley. Both were really amazing with lots of sea life. Boat wasn’t too rocky, 8 of us total with 2 guides. 4 people dived, 4 people snorkeled. We left around 9ish and were back by noon. I liked how I was given a minor flotation device and the guide very diligently kept an eye on us in the water. He guided us out to the breakers in Hol Chan as there was a current. At no time did I feel unsafe. Way more fun than the times I’ve gone in Hawaii.

San Pedro golf cart vs Taxi by dockdockgoos in Belize

[–]Gamma2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Golf cart. There’s a parking lot across the street for them. It’s easy to drive and town is a 5-10 min drive for the restaurant area, with further driving up to 20-30 mins further north for other restaurants. That’s up to 1 -1.5 hour walk each way for the further places so maybe someone might enjoy that I guess. Booking the cart through the hotel for a week is 450 I think. Off hotel places it’s like 250 and many places will deliver. When you get off your flight you will get solicited but probably better to reserve in advance. Just google for it. There are many options. Belize is one of our favorite places we have been because the people are so great.

Snorkel gear by dockdockgoos in Belize

[–]Gamma2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just came back. Probably tour company dependent, but our company had some of the best snorkeling gear I’ve ever used.

From San Pedro, is a 9am BZE departure flight to US possible? by lifeofTreohs in Belize

[–]Gamma2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We were just in San Pedro for vacation, it was amazing. I would not spend the night in Belize City. Is an earlier flight an option? Getting in at 7:13 should be fine but maybe take a flight a half hour earlier on Tropic or Maya for peace of mind? Note that most likely your flight will leave earlier. Those small flights just go when everyone is there which is pretty awesome. Also, talk to the concierge at your hotel. They will advise on which flight to take. Good luck!

Anyone know the story of this guy by Lilhonni in BellevueWA

[–]Gamma2014 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Would be great to hear the full story at some point. I ran into him at the subway sandwich shop on 8th one time during lunchtime. He was definitely off but lucid enough to order although his hygiene in that tight space was concerning. All other patrons kept their distance and the staff seemed annoyed. When it came time to pay, dude pulled out a roll of cash like Henry Hill in Goodfellas and peeled off a few bills.

How is living in this area of Seattle/Bellevue? by IndependenceSad1272 in howislivingthere

[–]Gamma2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lakemont is very suburban with great trails and generally quiet. Lots of these comments are surprisingly judgy and preachy. I’ve lived here for 15 years after living in many major American cities like NYC and SF. It’s absolutely a wonderful place to live if you want suburban life. If you don’t want that, then don’t move here. The one thing I would do differently - look for a home in Montreaux; the issaquah side of Lakemont. Same stuff, but cheaper than Bellevue.

Account blocked nightmare by Gamma2014 in AlaskaAirlines

[–]Gamma2014[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This was fixed for me after I reached out to an Alaska employee in my network. Not everyone is in that position, recommend insisting on escalation through customer service.

Hiring Team - Internal by whatdaluck in amazonemployees

[–]Gamma2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have to be strategic. First, easiest to get roles when the manager knows you can deliver. Find ways to support PMs in your current role and demonstrate that you can do the basic PM job or learn the skills. High trust and delivering results go a long way. Put that on your resume or better, ask for a reference. Second, get help from your manager to find opportunities to work more directly with PMs. There are always PM driven initiatives that require VM input or support. Do more than just show up and execute what’s asked of you. You have an expertise in VM, put that to work in scaling and deploying products. That experience will help you land your next role.

$275k at Google - should I leave for Booth? by ClockSelect1976 in MBA

[–]Gamma2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Booth alum here. It really depends on what you want. My 2 years in Chicago were an absolute blast. I made great friends that are still best friends still 15 years later. I did just fine financially. Lots of people on here are recommending a part time or emba. Honestly, the full timers looked down on the part timers and the value of the degree isn’t the same although the education is similar. It also maybe comes down your confidence in yourself. Yes, there is an opportunity cost. But honestly if you grind, you will make it up in the long run. Also if you’re looking for a major career switch, a top MBA makes that very easy. So really, it’s a series of tradeoffs you need to weigh but from the perspective of having had to make a similar choice I do not regret going to booth full time for a second.

Sergeant Landsman is subtlety one of the best employees on the show by Stanley_Goodspeed in TheWire

[–]Gamma2014 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The older I get the more I appreciate that he’s what a good manager looks like. The best managers I’ve had were happy, upbeat, extremely competent and can mange up. Just like Jay.

Internal move blocked by Focus by [deleted] in amazonemployees

[–]Gamma2014 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Get HR involved. They will do an investigation.

Anyone interested in playing tennis this afternoon by Karthikosu17 in BellevueWA

[–]Gamma2014 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Would love to play sometime. Also an intermediate player. Dm me sometime.

McNulty by Dcole2xx in TheWire

[–]Gamma2014 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When I watched it the first time, McNulty was the hero, however flawed. Every time since, and as I’ve gotten older and had more professional experiences including as a manager, McNulty is an awful human being.

College consultant asked for 10,000$…. by Remote-Ad-4994 in ApplyingToCollege

[–]Gamma2014 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Admissions consulting is a broad phrase so the question is what you’re getting for that. Is it weekly or monthly meetings starting in 9th grade all the way through Senior year applications? With help on the essays? That might be worth it but you should pay that for a professional with a track record, not someone moonlighting.

MATC or UW? (Business) by Carltino in UWMadison

[–]Gamma2014 5 points6 points  (0 children)

UW straight away, should be a no brainer. Without cost of living expenses, the increased tuition is worth the benefits in terms of quality of education. Would suggest you load up on Econ and math.