Pros
1. Tremendous amount of ownership - you find a problem and want to fix it, by all means go ahead - no one will say hey that's not your job! 2. Extremely fast paced - a multi billion dollar company growing at such a fast pace - there is always enough and more to do. you have to draw your own boundaries else the work is so exciting that it can suck you in. 3. Rapid career progression - for folks who do well (top tier performers), there is plentiful opportunity for rapid career advancement. The company is growing so fast that it needs all the leaders it can get - so top performers can grow very rapidly with the company. 4. The 14 Amazon leadership principles is not just something we put on the wall, it is something we live every day by, people are evaluated on these and any amazonian who has spent more than 2-3 years in the company begins to speak a language embedded with leadership principles. This is really cool - you do what you say and you say what you do!
Cons
Related to point no. 2 above, the work can be so engrossing at times that one tends to get sucked in and your work life balance can go for a toss if you are not careful. You have to draw your own boundaries - what needs to happen now vs. what can wait till tomorrow. There is always enough and more super-exciting things to do. The culture is also very competitive (in a positive way) and Amazon has a very high hiring bar, so you are always being pushed (not necessarily by your manager but on your own) as you are comparing yourself with other super-high performers and get the drive to do more. So you have to establish your own boundaries of work-life balance!