This is what Amazon's very first job ad looked like

A throwback photo of the time when Amazon went public 25 years ago.

In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon, a virtual bookstore that would grow to become the world's biggest e-retailer. When he set out to realise his vision, who are the first people he looked for?

On August 22 that year, Jeff Bezos, who is now the world's second-richest person, posted a job advertisement for "extremely talented C/C++/Unix developers" to help pioneer commerce on the Internet.

Considering what Bezos was building, the job demands were high.

Jeff Bezos posted the first job ad for Amazon on this day in 1994: pic.twitter.com/BjRQSsXX9g

— Jon Erlichman (@JonErlichman) August 22, 2022

"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,"the posting said.

It required candidates to have a Bachelor's, Master's or doctorate degree in computer science.

"Top-notch communication skills are essential," Bezos wrote. "Familiarity with web servers and HTML would be helpful but is not necessary."

The posting said candidates should be willing to relocate to Seattle area, where Amazon was founded.

Bezos promised to cover moving costs of successful candidates and provide them equity ownership. "We are an equal opportunity employer," the posting said.

The job ad, shared on Twitter by TV personality Jon Erlichman, gathered over 9,000 likes.

"Nowadays all the stuff around the actual job description is longer than the job description itself," one user commented on his tweet.

Another wrote: "The meaningful equity ownership was probably indeed meaningful later on."

In the years since its foundation, Amazon grew tremendously, emerging as one of the five American tech giants alongside Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta.

But it has sparked criticism for its poor treatment of workers -- making them work in gruelling and unsafe conditions.