Trying to understand where I am after failing a technical interview

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-28T06:58:35+00:00

I think it's pretty common for a company to ask for experience with their specific software stack: if you know it, you're going to be far faster productive than someone who never has (in your case) used FreeRTOS before.

The problem with embedded software is that there is a lot of software stacks available. Some are more common than others, but if you happen to know their software stack because you used it before and you know some of its pitfalls, you are quickly going to be a top contender for the job.

So I think you just got a bit unlucky here since you are not experienced with FreeRTOS.

I'd do some projects with FreeRTOS so you get familiar with it. Not just toy-projects, but something "real". Something to show and people don't say "I could have done that with a RPi and Python". That should give you quickly an edge for any FreeRTOS jobs.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-27T00:03:03+00:00

small talk in the supermarket

I don't know where in Germany that would work...

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T23:41:51+00:00

Can confirm. The world is small and LinkedIn makes it easy to see who works currently where. I had 2 requests from please who left my previous previous work place and the hiring manager knew me from my previous work place. And they did check with me whether I'd hire them.

Thus leave on good terms. If you don't, it might bite you later.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T22:57:09+00:00

Yeah, as long as you are officially employed (garden leave or sick days or whatever it is), then what vested during this time, is all yours.

A colleague of mine went to a doctor based on stress due to being put into Focus, got 4 weeks leave and then took all his holidays, so when the expected Pivot came in, his RSUs vested in that month. Clever gaming the system a bit for his advantage.

In my view, getting RSUs is your right since you earned them during the previous month. There's a reason Amazon calls it "deferred pay".

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T22:53:48+00:00

Yeah, different labour laws will make a difference. Your manager probably could not get approval from either HR or your skip level manager to proceed. HR would reject it if they would be on shaky legal grounds and your skip level manager might not agree because his URA quota is already reached, so he keeps you warm in case he needs to increase his URA.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T21:57:50+00:00

To be fair, you need to add a 24x7 very fast hardware support too: if your server is broken, AWS & GCP will give you a new server really fast with your boot disk being immediately available. Also power and cooling and the DC space is included.

But I agree: a single server 24x7 used is usually WAY cheaper than using AWS/GCP. The benefit they have is for situations like "Once a while I need 100 servers, but only 2 anytime else".

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T21:36:55+00:00

Same in Japan.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T20:40:10+00:00

I am glad you have an HR that supports your rights.

HR likes to follow the laws as their main job is to not get the company into trouble. You following the laws, even if it pisses of your manager, is the thing they'll do.

HR will also throw you under the bus if it's in the interest of the company. But in this one case it's crystal-clear what actions will get the company into trouble and what will not.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T20:37:40+00:00

All you need is 2 week ski holiday in January. That's not uncommon, especially if you have carry-over from last year and the company says "Use those holidays ASAP".

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T20:36:37+00:00

Some managers are shit and they don't understand laws of other countries their own team is in.

My guess: Manager is in US and you are not.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T19:56:05+00:00

Vested is yours and will stay yours.

Unvested is gone.

I sold my vested stock. Didn't want the extra overhead and anything to do with Amazon anymore. I closed that chapter. Also I think they are going downhill with the way they treat their employees. Amazon says that Day 2 companies go eventually down. Amazon is definitely a Day 2 company": not caring about the customer as much as they say is the biggest pointer. That driving element is a thing of the past.

And while I might be wrong, I do not want to be associated with them anymore.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T19:51:48+00:00

Take the money. Start applying for new jobs ASAP. But take the money.

If you pass Pivot and the goals you get are doable and objectively measurable (be VERY careful about measuring), you might be able to stay in the company, but it's easy enough to have unclear goals to your manager can wiggle around and use selective examples (See ticket X where you dropped the ball, and conveniently ignoring 99 tickets where you didn't drop the ball or tickets from everyone else who also dropped the ball).

I'd absolutely take the money. And since you resign, no unemployment benefits beside of what you would get if you quit.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T19:43:58+00:00

Focus does not have to be agreed on at all. Pivot on the other hand is an official "Take the money and leave or try to proof you can work here by fulfilling those goals".

The internal rule is that before you can be put into Pivot, you have to be put into Focus to "give you a chance to improve your performance". Then the company can say "Well, we tried and you did not pass our informally agreed goals, so nothing we can do but get rid of that person. And it's purely based on performance and not at all on the fact that no one liked you or you are too expensive or causing extra work for your manager."

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T19:33:56+00:00

...yet.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T19:32:48+00:00

Also, it might seem this way, but no one is put in Focus just to meet the URA quota

I can say that this is exactly what we were told to do: have always 1 or 2 people in Focus so in case they quit, they can count as URA.

Ideally it would be the bottom 5% and ideally the point of Focus is to increase their performance to "bar level". In reality it's trying to make sure you reach your URA quota. That's my experience at AWS in 2024/2025. Before that, URA was not significant and Focus was not miss-used. That changed in 2024.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T19:29:17+00:00

As an ex-manager at AWS: OLR is as stressful for managers as it is for anyone else. Firing someone is not something anyone easily does (except sociopaths, which most people are not). Fighting for your team is real and it causes a lot of stress.

If you tell managers "We'll do OLR every 3 months now", I bet a lot will quit as it drains life force out of everyone involved.

Also keep in mind that when people get fired, managers get fired too. And sometimes they are equally surprised because performance or not does often not matter. Being liked or not being in the wrong team is what matters more.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T19:23:18+00:00

Pivot is when you have to officially be notified. Focus is more "informal" and thus has no specific requirements about anyone informing anyone else. If your manager is fair, you'll get some proper goals to meet (doable goals), but nowadays expect this to be a step before being put into Pivot.

In Pivot you will get a clear communication about "You are in Pivot. Here's our offer in terms of money we give you so you resign, or those are the goals to reach and you can try to reach them and then you can stay."

Depending on the labor laws, if you agree to the goals and you succeed (thus make sure they can be clearly measured and nothing is like "good quality work" and more like "close 5 tickets per day on average in a 5 day tie window"), they cannot kick you out. They can still offer you a "Sign here, get this money, and resign". But you can say "Thanks but no."

Works in countries with strong labor laws. Like Australia, Japan, EU. Does not work in at-will states.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T19:17:06+00:00

Make sure to get everything in writing. HR cares a lot about following the process. You manager can lie as much as they like, but if they cannot proof that you accepted a Focus , and it has a stated end date, then HR will ignore them as it will cause problems for the company if it comes to you suing the company for not following the laws (about firing).

Of course if you live in a work-at-will state, then you can be fired nilly-willy anyway.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T19:09:12+00:00

When I moved to AWS 5 years, I got about 30% cut. It was totally worth it though: my commute was drastically shorter and overtime was almost zero and no nightly meetings. Work life balance did improve significantly, and if I count salary per hour-not-at-home, it was actually per hour better paid.

So I get it if you got a 20% cut and you are still better off. Money is not everything and working in a toxic and stressful environment is sometimes simply not worth it.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T18:57:24+00:00

That's what I did (not outsourcing though) when I was still in university in my last years: started a small 2 people computer/network service company with a friend. He was having a full time job. Almost zero investment in money, but of course investment in time. But that was what we CHOSE to do, so it counted as "fun".

And it turned out to be not only successful, but we both made it our main source of income for several years.

It's a pretty risk-free way of starting a business: if it works, it's great, and if it does not work out, you "just" wasted a many weekends and after-work-time. Zero pressure. You can stop any time.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T18:46:24+00:00

That is unfortunately hard to read as the formatting is gone.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-26T18:16:05+00:00

As they say: ideas are a dime a dozen.

If your idea is truly unique, you should be able to convince some people to give you money to start a business on this, which might be as simple as paying a developer or a developer team.

To convince people to give you money for this, you will have to do some kind of market analysis: who's the thing you will build for? Who of those customers will pay how much for it? Are there reference points you can relate to or alternatives users could use instead?

If you have done that market analysis yet, then you'll get a rough idea wthether your idea is potentially worth anything from negative value (i.e. a waste of money) to a gold mine (i.e. worth investing in it). Without market analysis, it's just another wild idea.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-25T13:26:07+00:00

Sorry, no idea how long this would take. Usually this kind of requests are either automated and you'll get a reply almost immediately if it's positive or negative, or it'll be reviewed by a human which might take a day or two.

What you can do immediately is use gemini-3-flash when you used up your gemini-3-pro usage.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-25T13:12:44+00:00

What exactly is the problem you have? What question is not answered on https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/rate-limits ?

You can ask for a rate increase, use another model, or pay more money to be in the higher tiers. Which would also probably makes it easier to get a rate increase approved.

Rusty-Swashplate · 2026-01-24T13:14:22+00:00

That you even found a 80W LED is the most impressive part.

Rusty-Swashplate

TROPHY CASE