Amazon job posting by Jeff Bezos from 1994 is perfect example of how startups should hire first employees
Amazon is one of the top tech giants with more than 16 lakh employees worldwide. The company hires a lot of new talent every year and is definitely on the list of dream companies to work for many aspiring techies. But, have you ever thought of how Amazon hired its first employees?
Amazon was founded in 1994 and nearly 30 years after it was initially launched online, one of the very first help wanted ads created by Jeff Bezos has gone viral online.
Bezos, the founder of the e-commerce giant, posted for the job opening on August 22, 1994, and wrote, “Well-capitalized start-up seeks extremely talented C/C++/Unix developers to help pioneer commerce on the Internet.”
“You must have experience designing and building large and complex (yet maintainable) systems, and you should be able to do so in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible,” he further added.
The screenshot of this job posting from 28 years ago was shared online by Jon Erlichman, who is a journalist by profession.
The job posting by one of the richest men further read, “You should have a BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or the equivalent. Top-notch communication skills are essential. Familiarity with web servers and HTML would be helpful but is not necessary.”
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Highlighting the expectations from the prospective employee, he also mentioned that he or she should also “expect talented, motivated, intense, and interesting co-workers.”
The company also added that they would help cover the moving costs of the employee as they have to move to Seattle for work. “Your compensation will include meaningful equity ownership,” the posting further added.
The job description further provided a mailing and email address for submitting the job application.
Bezos also specifically mentioned Amazon offering equal opportunity to everyone and quoted, “We are an equal opportunity employer”.
He ended the job ad with a motivating quote from the pioneering computer scientist Alan Kay stating: “It’s easier to invent the future than to predict it.”
No doubt the person hired for the job definitely got a chance to grow and become wealthy. Even he or didn’t have an idea of what the future had for the company.
For the unversed, the foundation of Amazon was laid by Jeff Bezos in Nov. 1994. The company initially started the business of selling books online and later expanded into selling computer games and music.
With steady growth and after entering 2000, the company stepped into selling consumer electronics, video games, software, home improvement items, toys, and more. Bezos also founded Amazon Web Services in the mid-2000 and got the company into the world of tech.
In around four decades, Amazon acquired a market capitalization of $1.37 trillion and became the fifth most valuable organization on the globe after Apple, Saudi Aramco, Microsoft, and Alphabet Inc. The founder, Jeff Bezos became the third richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $158.2 billion, as reported by Forbes.
In 2021, after exactly 27 years Jeff Bezos stepped down as the CEO of Amazon after delegating responsibilities to his longtime assistant Andy Jassy. However, he will continue to hold his position as the company’s executive chairman.
