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My Realistic 9–5 as a Software Engineer at Amazon

60.0K views· 2,326 likes· 16:01· Mar 18, 2026

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Be kind to yourself this year. Using Zocdoc is FREE - visit https://zocdoc.com/sarahli to find and instantly book an appointment with a top-rated, in-network doctor today. Thank you to Zocdoc for sponsoring this video. Socials 💫 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahli.mp3/ Discord: https://discord.gg/NVZhrYzS Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sarahli.mp3 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahli2001/ Email: ytubesarah@gmail.com come spend a day with me as a software engineer at amazon during my on-call week ☁️ in this vlog, i’m taking you through a realistic work day that starts with a 4am page, morning standup, ticket investigations, my 1:1 with my manager, working from a coffee shop, and ending the day with peer reviews and way too much mental exhaustion. i also talk a bit about what on-call is actually like, how i deal with the stress of it, and my thoughts on layoffs, ai, and the future of working in tech. 📍 Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:32 Oncall Reports 3:30 Cafe + Lunch 4:00 Health 5:27 Should You Study Computer Science? 7:50 Coffee + Cafe Work 8:30 Oncall Week 10:20 Layoffs in Tech 12:10 Office Presents 13:15 Annual Reviews and Promotions 14:55 Dinner timeee Music by Wabi Sabi - iced coffee - https://thmatc.co/?l=2536A185 Music by Naomi - Paper Wrap - https://thmatc.co/?l=9BB947D5 Music by Naomi - Individualism - https://thmatc.co/?l=9E2091EB subscribers 73k :)

About This Video

Hi, I’m Sarah, and in this vlog I’m taking you through a realistic 9–5 as a software engineer at Amazon—except it’s on-call week, so it starts with a 4am page. I bring you along for standup, ticket investigations, and the on-call report I have to write at the end of my shift (root cause, action items, key findings). On-call still stresses me out because I run into problems I’ve never seen basically every shift, but I’m learning to stop spiraling and treat every alert like a new category I’m learning—just one more thing than I knew yesterday. I also share the little systems that help me, like writing down what I tried/what failed/what worked on pen and paper so it actually sticks. I also talk honestly about the heavier stuff that’s been making on-call feel extra loud lately: uncertainty at work, layoffs, and how AI is changing the field. I share what my mom (30 years in tech) told me about layoffs and how it helped me shift from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset. And because stress has been bleeding into my health, I share what I’m doing to take it more seriously (and why I like tools that remove friction when you’re trying to get help). The day ends with coffee shop work, a quick office gift exchange, and the annual peer review process—aka the corporate report card that makes me anxious every single year.

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