Viral Photo Shows First Ever Job Listing For Amazon Posted By Jeff Bezos

This week in 1994, Jeff Bezos published a job listing for Amazon's first hire. Back then, Mr Bezos was a little-known entrepreneur who quit his well-paying job to start an e-commerce company, one described in the advertisement as a "well-capitalised Seattle start-up". 

The ad resurfaced on Twitter on Monday. According to the screenshot of the job listing on Usenet, a pre-internet message board, Mr Bezos was looking for "extremely talented" software developers to "help pioneer commerce on the internet". He wrote that candidates should be able to build large, complex systems "in about one-third the time that most competent people think possible". 

I'd file this under ‘pretty solid email' - i saw this tweet out here somewhere and saved the photo -this was Jeff Bezos' first job posting for Amazon on this day in 1994! pic.twitter.com/03Zoi34oDU

— krista pappas ✌ (@pappas) August 22, 2022

The job listing read, "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."

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It added that candidates should "expect talented, motivated, intense and interesting co-workers". Specific coding languages were also listed, ones like C++ and Unix. Soft skills were highlighted, too. "Top-notch communication skills are essential," the posting read.

Mr Bezos was looking for people with either a BS, MS or PhD in computer science or an equivalent field. "Familiarity with web servers and HTML would be helpful but is not necessary," he wrote. Mr Bezos also added that in exchange, the selected candidate would get "meaningful equity ownership". 

"We are an equal opportunity employer," the Amazon founder said. He ended the listing with a famous quote from computer scientist Alan Kay, which read, "It's easier to invent the future than to predict it". 

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Less than a year after this job listing was posted, Amazon started selling books online, making the first steps toward becoming the e-commerce giant it is today.