Why are Amazon interviews so difficult?

The probing questions.

Where can I find questions?

List of common Amazon interview questions.

What is your favorite piece of advice for Amazon interviews?

The introclusion. It was taught to me by a director at Amazon. You need to treat all your interviewers as if they are busy executives who don’t have time to wait around for the punchline.

What is the best way to prepare for Amazon interviews?

List all your experiences and categorize them by leadership priniciple. We provide a helpful spreadsheet for preparing here.

What framework do you use to answer Amazon behavioral interview questions?

I like the S.T.A.R. framework. But, I modify it for questions with a negative prompt to always add a lesson learned in the end. That lesson learned should be something I have since applied in the real world.

How to I measure results in a S.T.A.R. question?

We talk about how to measure success in the results section of a behavioral interview here.

How do they write S.M.A.R.T. goals at Amazon?

Read more about S.M.A.R.T. goals in general here and how to write them yourself here.

How to handle failure stories in an interview?

Hint: it is about what and how you learn, not the failure itself. Read more here.

What about the weaknesses question?

Similar to failures, it is about the areas you know need improvement. Talk about where you are focused on improvement or for which you actively seek coaching.

What are the most important Amazon leadership principles for an interview?

All. They really do live and breathe the leadership principles at Amazon, but if you are pressed for time, focus on these four.

I get nervous before interviews, any tips or tricks that help you?

A famous Ted Talk on Power Poses seems to help a lot of candidates that I work with. Learn more here.

What is the difference between the phone screen and the onsite?

For Amazon, the phone screen is still behavioral in nature. There will most likely be a customer obsession question, but the additional questions depend on the role. Sometimes the other questions are role-specific (think AWS) or deep dive vs disagree and commit, depending on the manager's concerns about the demands of the role.

If they are considering you for two roles, or if the first interviewer wasn’t 100% sure of your performance, you might have to conduct an additional phone screen.

Don’t be fooled, the phone screens are much easier than the onsite. For the onsite, you can have 3 to 5 interviews in one day (pre-Covid it was 5 back-to-back interviews with no break). It is much more intense and there is a bar raiser.

What’s the deal with the bar raiser?

The bar raiser exists to make sure the team doesn’t bring in someone they love but who will not raise the bar for everyone around them. These interviewers have been trained extensively. They can make or break your chances of getting in.

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