Amazon Interview Method and Questions

Amazon employs an intense highly consistent interview process. The Amazon Job
Principles are the basis of the process. The key is answering the questions within the
Amazon STAR framework.

STAR - Situation, Task, Action, Results

The STAR framework is intended to keep answers clear and brief.

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Customer Obsession
Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and
keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over
customers.

The Leadership Principles are often addressed by the interviewer as questions like, ‘Tell
me about a time when you demonstrated Customer Obsession’? I had prepared 3
answers for each principal. Here is one of my answers.

SITUATION
While Acting VP Product at Altitude Digital, I had an opportunity to express customer
obsession where both time and information were limited.

Through daily reporting analysis I identified an account that had significant untapped
potential. The account was RockYou (RY). RY’s total ad spend was above $10,000
per day and we were only being given access to $100s of ad trading dollars per day.

TASK
Working with the Altitude sales rep we came up with a plan to do an onsite visit with the
client.

Through pre meeting analysis I discovered that there was a technical issues with how
they were using the solution of one of our larger competitors. Our goal was to leverage
that information and attempt to gain more of RY’s business.

ACTION
The actual meeting with RY was expected to be a small group of technical operators
from RY. Instead, we were faced with a much larger group that included the CEO.

After explaining to the RY group our findings related to their setup of our competitor the
RY CEO asked what the quickest fix to the problem was.
I decided to make a risk adjusted judgement call. I personally offered to help RY fix the
issues they were having with our competitor’s solution in exchange for RY giving us
more of their business in return. Their CEO agreed to the deal.

RESULTS
I was able to help them with the issues caused by our competitor, and within a month
RY gave us a significantly higher share of their business. From there we quickly
became one of RY’s primary tech providers. Ultimately our business with RY increased
from a few hundred dollars per day to several thousand dollars per day, nearly a 10X lift
in revenue.

** I only wrote a few long version stories like the one above to help me get used to the
STAR framework. In most cases I just wrote some bullets to remind me of the STAR
highlights of the given story.

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Ownership
Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for
short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own
team. They never say “that’s not my job".

Invent and Simplify

Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find
ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and
are not limited by “not invented here". As we do new things, we accept that we may be
misunderstood for long periods of time.

Are Right, A Lot

Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek
diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.

Learn and Be Curious

Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are
curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.

Hire and Develop the Best

Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize
exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders
develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of
our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.

Insist on the Highest Standards

Leaders have relentlessly high standards - many people may think these standards are
unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to
deliver high quality products, services and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do
not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

Think Big
Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold
direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to
serve customers.

Bias for Action

Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need
extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.

Frugality
Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and
invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size or fixed
expense.

Earn Trust
Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally
self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe
their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their
teams against the best.

Dive Deep
Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are
skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even
when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are
tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is
determined, they commit wholly.

Deliver Results
Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality
and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.

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Why do you want to work for AWS and why now??

This will 100% come up from every interviewer at Amazon. The answer you give needs
to be rock solid and consistent. It can change as you research the company, but you
need to explain what drove your change.

Failure
Not a principal from Amazon, but always a question. Tell me about a time when you
failed at something? Best course is to have a few STAR framed answers that are
actually tough challenges you faced ​and then overcame​. No one actually wants to hear
a true failure to flop story, they even told me that!!

Risk Taking - recognizing and acting on easily reversible decisions

Again not exactly one of the leadership principles. But it is written about and will come
up. The idea is that some decisions are easily reversed if they go wrong. And for those
decisions one should not elaborate the process of making the choice, that would be a
waste of time. Better to take the action quickly and then if needed reverse out. Always
capture data and learn.

Day One
This comes up a lot. It’s a cornerstone of Jeff Bezos philosophy. It is the opposite of a
‘me too’ philosophy. Best to see the links below and hear/read it from Jeff Bezos
directly.

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I was given a LOT of links and things to read / watch. Here are a few that I think best
capture the philosophy and methods:

Jeff Bezos on the Amazon Job Principles and ‘Day 1’:

https://youtu.be/xWjOqzz7fEU?t=396

Jeff Bezos 2016 Letter to Shareholders:

https://blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/2016-letter-to-shareholders

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Here are some of the specific questions I was asked to answer. I think they help
provide context to the job principals. I actually had to answer about 3X this many
questions in writing! And many people at AWS actually read all of my answers! Kinda
crazy!!

BTW - I did not get an offer:(

After the on-site I was given a soft rejection. At AWS that means you are still in their
go-to candidate pool, but this job is not what they see as a good fit. I learned a lot from
their process and appreciate that.

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Learn and be curious
You will be asked about your knowledge of AWS services and whether you have an
account. I don’t recommend providing incorrect information as this will go against
“earning trust” rather than saying you have not.
We may ask you about something you have learnt recently (could be technology), he
will want you to zero in on specifics. How do you stay update on news, information etc.
Q: How did you hear about this role at AWS?
Q: Are you actively looking? Why AWS?
Q: What’s your awareness of AWS services? Do you have an account?
Q: Give me an example of learning a new technology on your own? / Q: What did you
learn that was new to you?
Q: Tell me of a time when you took on work outside of your comfort area and found it
rewarding?
Q: Tell me about a time when you didn’t know what to do next or how to solve a
challenging problem?
Q: Questions for me?​ Do always ask questions to each interviewer to gain their
perspective.

Bias for action / Are right a lot

Q: Give me an example of a calculated risk that you have taken where speed was
critical. What was the situation and how did you handle it? What steps did you take to
mitigate the risk? What was the outcome?
Q: Give an example of a creative idea you had that proved really difficult to implement.
What was the idea and what made it difficult to implement? Was it successful?
Q: Give me an example of how you have changed the direction or view of a specific
function/department and helped them embrace a new way of thinking? Why was a
change needed?
Q: Tell me about a time you took a big risk – what was the risk, how did you decide to
do it and what was the outcome? What were the implications internally? How did that go
down? What would you do differently in the future?
Q: Tell me about a big concept or idea / Tell me about big idea that drove substantial
revenue growth?
Q: Tell me about a time you came up with the vision for a (team, product, strategic
initiative) when there wasn’t a guiding vision. What was it? How did you gain buy-in and
drive execution? (Manager)

Customer obsession and Earning Trust.

Make sure to cite prioritization of understanding customer needs, of getting the input
from team members about those customers and taking rapid action to better meet those
needs.
Earn trust ​- ​be clear on expectations and good communication approaches,
thoughtfulness, strategic insights and specifics to back up points. Make sure not to
come across too strong/sales focused and be self-critical (we love an example or 2 of
what you would have done differently)
Q: What did you do with first 90 days when joining …..?
Q: Tell me about a time when you had a plan for what to propose to customers, and
changed the approach after deep dive with customer.
Q - Give me an example of your most difficult customer interaction and how you worked
through it. What was the outcome?
Q: Tell me about a time when you drove an innovation solution or program for
customers
Q - Give me an example of a time you used customer feedback to drive improvement or
innovation. What was the situation and what action did you take?
Q: Tell me about a time when you needed support from someone who was actively
resisting the direction you wanted to proceed with.
Q - Building trust can be difficult to achieve at times. Tell me about how you have
effectively built trusting working relationships with others on your team.
Q: Tell me about a time when you needed support from someone who was actively
resisting the direction you wanted to proceed with.
Q - Tell me about a time when you had to balance the needs of the customer vs. the
needs of the business. How did you manage this situation?

Deliver results / Ownership

Do provide 4 or so examples showing your functional expertise around early / late
stage, mature startups & built programs at scale. Do talk through results, your creative
problem solving skills and not afraid to go outside your comfort zone with learning new
skills and how you go about earning internal and external trust. Do exhibit other LPs
such as Learn and Be Curious, Deep Dive, Think Big, Customer Obsession, Invent &
Simplify. Make sure to have positive energy, really emphasize how you like to tackle
something (start with a blank slate with something you know nothing about and go solve
the problem). We like candidates who have worked in a diverse set of functional roles
which gives you the well-rounded expertise needed to successful.

Q: Why AWS / Why now? We are all about Customers, cloud & innovation! Show your
research and personal / professional interest.
Q: Tell me about a time when you took on something significant outside your area of
responsibility. Why was it important? What was the outcome?
Q: Give me an example of a time when you didn't think you were going to meet the
commitments you promised. How did you identify the risk and communicate it to
stakeholders? What was the outcome?
Q: Tell me about a time you made a hard decision to sacrifice short term gain for a
longer term goal.
Q: ​Tell me about a time you (and your team if Manager) were driving toward a goal and
were more than half way to the objective when you realized it may not be the best or
right goal or may have unintended consequences. What was the situation and what did
you do? We want to make sure you are achieving the right result versus driving goal for
sake of goal achievement. Think of an example of taking a hit on goal attainment to
achieve the right result / long term versus short term thinking.
FUQ: How did you convince the engineers / sales / management etc. to align to achieve
the right results?
Q: Tell me about a time where you not only met a goal but considerably exceeded
expectations. How were you able to do it? What challenges did you have to
overcome?
Q: Tell me about a goal that you set that took a long time to achieve or that you are still
working towards. How do you keep focused on the goal given the other priorities you
have?
Q: Tell me about a time you had significant, unanticipated obstacles to overcome in
achieving a key goal. Were you eventually successful?

Deep Dive & High Standards

Show that you can deep dive into products, including validation of the methods,
examination of the costs, and a competitive analysis of how this was being used in the
industry. Demonstrate the capability to fully understand a potential solution, and then to
check that the methodology could be extended. Talk through the metrics for measuring
success, solid techniques for identifying and helping both underperformers and high
potential employees improve, and be honest about any areas where you could have
done better. Do have a good example on correcting a miss the correction you took to hit
the goal, get around potential restrictions, to demonstrate your commitment to Do More.
Q: Why do you want to work at Amazon?
Q: Can you tell me about a specific metric you have used to identify a need for a
change in your department/project? Did you create the metric or was it already
available? How did this and other information influence the change?
FUQ: How did you come up with these metrics? What metrics did you propose?
FUQ: How useful were these? How did you measure success?
Q: Tell me a time when you were handed a project/scenario with Vague requirements -
where you had to dig several layers deep and do course correction. What one specific
thing did you learn from this situation? How did you course correct? Could this have
been avoided? Has this changed your process in any way?
Q: Tell me a time about something that was not a part of your job but you did it as a
learning? What was the biggest thing you learnt out of this?

Q: Can you tell me about a time when a team member was not being as productive as
you needed? What was the situation? What did you do? What was the result?
FUQ: What was the outcome?
Q: How do you seek out feedback on your team’s performance? Give a specific
example of how you used feedback you received on your team to drive improvement.
Q: Give me an example of a goal you’ve had where you wish you had done better. What
was the goal and how could you have improved on it?
Q: What do you respect most in a leader?
Q: What characteristic about yourself is most frequently misinterpreted by others?
Q: If you could have any Superpower, what would it be and how would you use it?
Have backbone - Disagree and Commit
Q: Tell me about a time when you have worked to improve the quality of a product /
service / solution? How did you do your analysis? Were people convinced?
Q: Tell me about a decision you made in the last year or two that you would change if
you could. What decision and why would you choose that one to change?
Q: Tell me about a time when you have had to compromise your standards in order to
achieve a goal?
Q: Many times it is important to be hard headed about a decision you are making,
particularly when others don't like it. Give me an example of a time when you stuck by a
decision even though it was not popular with others.
Q: Give me an example of insisting on a great outcome instead of a “good” outcome.
Q: Give me an example of disagreeing with the wider group?
Q: Tell me about a time you had to disagree with a customer. How did you think about it
and approach the customer? Who was the audience you had to deliver the message to?
What was the situation/outcome?

Deliver results / Think Big - ​You will be asked about a topic and keep asking
questions around this topic, to see if you can provide specific details, metrics etc. Test
how hands on you have been and willing to give details.
This important as we prefer hands on leaders who talk at a high level and can dive into
the detail – what you were measuring, was it successful and why this measurement was
a success etc. Someone who can navigate the partner landscape would be ideal in this
role – have the analytical experience of data points of 1000’s of customers.
Think Big – do think of a similar example where you reduced overhead + improved
customer delight + accelerated the project by introducing radical Invent and Simplify
tactics that your well-established Integrations team initially resisted.
Q: Tell me about a time you looked at a key process that was working well and
questioned whether it was still the right one? What assumptions were you questioning
and why? Did you end up making a change to the process?
Q: Give an example of a mission or goal you didn’t think was achievable. What was it
and how did you help your team try to achieve it. Were you successful in the end?
FUQ: How? What markets and what products?
FUQ: How did you translate that to growth plan? (roadmaps, sales plan by region,
investment on spending plan
Q: How do you ensure you are focusing on the right deliverables when you have several
competing priorities? Tell me about a time when you did not effectively manage your
projects and something fell through the cracks.
Q: Give me an example of a radical approach you proposed to solve a big problem.
What was the problem and why did you feel it required a completely different way of
thinking about it? Was your approach successful?
Q: Tell me about time you were working on an initiative or goal and saw an opportunity
to do something much bigger than the initial focus.
Q: Tell me about a time you came up with the vision for a (team, product, strategic
initiative) when there wasn’t a guiding vision. What was it? How did you gain buy-in and
drive execution?
Q: Tell me about a time when you took on something significant outside your area of
responsibility. Why was it important? What was the outcome? (we like candidates who
exposure themselves to Marketing strategy, sponsor of project and then take over the
work etc.)
Q: Give me an example of a time when you didn't think you were going to meet the
commitments you promised. How did you identify the risk and communicate it to
stakeholders? What was the outcome?
Q: Give me an example of a time when you were able to deliver an important project
under a tight deadline. What sacrifices did you have to make to meet the deadline? How
did they impact the final deliverables?

Bias for action / Invent and simplify

Q: Can you describe an example of a complex requirement at a customer, how did you
address? What were the results?
FUQ: What was your role?
FUQ: Did you manage a team? Engineering, product management etc?
FUQ: How did you develop the g-t-m effort?
Q: Do you have an example of when you did not have perfect data to make a decision,
what did you do, what was the result?
Q: What do you consider significant achievements in your time at …. What were
significant projects?
Q: What do you think can be areas for AWS to transform the industry? Think of long /
short term examples to talk through.
Q: Give an example of a creative idea you had that proved really difficult to implement.
What was the idea and what made it difficult to implement? Was it successful?
Q: Tell me about a time you took a big risk – what was the risk, how did you decide to
do it and what was the outcome? What were the implications internally? How did that go
down? What would you do differently in the future?
Q: Radical approach you proposed to solve a big problem.

FUQ: Did everyone get on board?

FUQ: Why did you feel it required a completely different way of thinking about it?

FUQ: Other options considered?

FUQ: Was your approach successful?

FUQ: How did you measure value?