ON THE DAY

What to expect

Each interview will focus on a small number of questions that start high-level, before digging into the specifics of your experience. Expect your interviewer to ask you follow up questions to your answers; this is standard in an Amazon interview.

You will have time to ask questions at the end of each interview, and we encourage you to ask whatever you'd like to know about Amazon work or culture.

Our dress code is casual. We encourage you to dress comfortably. We are interested in what you have to say, not what you are wearing.

You will meet with a number of Amazonians. This mix of interviewers may include managers and peers who make up the team, as well as colleagues from other teams.

One of your interviewers will be a Bar Raiser. Their role is to make sure that the interview process is impartial and objective, and to help Amazon raise the bar with every new hire. You will not be made aware of who the bar raiser is.

You will meet each interviewer separately and each interview session will last approximately 45-60 minutes. These conversations will be around your previous work experiences, and each interviewer will focus on 2-3 Leadership Principles.

We're very interested in what you're saying and want to make sure we accurately recall your answers when we get to the evaluation stage. Some of your interviewers therefore may be typing on laptops or taking notes during your interview.

What to expect
at your Onsite

The format of your Onsite may be slightly different for each candidate, depending on what role you’re applying for and where you’re being interviewed. Your recruiting team will give you all the specific information you need, including logistical elements, such as the conference call platform we use for virtual interviews.

While logistics vary from candidate to candidate, the interview elements of the Onsite will be the same, wherever you’re interviewing.

Tips for success: during interviews

At Amazon, we have interviewed many candidates and we want our all candidates to succeed. Here are some tips gathered from interviewers and recruiters, to help you to perform at your best during your Onsite interviews.

• Customer Obsession is at the heart of
everything we do, so it's always a good idea to think about who your customer is for every answer you give, and remember to talk about them. If you haven’t worked with retail customers before, think about who your customers are regardless of the scenario - they might be an internal stakeholder, a leader, your manager, or a client you’re working for.

• If you are asked a question, but not given enough information to solve the problem, ask clarifying questions to get the information that you need, so you don’t go straight into solutions which might take you down in the wrong direction.

If the information you want isn’t available, focus on how you would attempt to solve the problem given the limited information you have. Often at Amazon, we have to make quick decisions in the absence of all of the relevant data we’d like.

• When answering a behavioral-based question, be detailed and specific. Don't generalize about your skills or experience. Give a detailed account of one project and use data to support your answer.

• Whenever possible, give as much detail as
possible about your specific contributions
and what you owned. We love team players,
but our interviewers want to get a solid
understanding of what you were responsible for delivering.

• Frame your examples in relation to the Amazon Leadership Principles (LPs) and prepare 2-3 STAR examples for each LP.

• At Amazon, we find there are usually a
number of ways to approach solving any given problem. If you are attempting to solve a problem one way, and the
interviewer asks you to solve it a different way or hints you in an alternate direction,
please try to tackle it from a different angle; flexibility is key at Amazon.

• Consider “Why Amazon?” We aim to hire smart, thoughtful, customer-obsessed people and will often ask this question. We want to understand what inspired you to explore an opportunity with us, so we can get a better sense of who you are.

• Have examples that showcase how you’ve taken risks, succeeded, failed, and grown. Sharing where you have failed is NOT a negative in an Amazon interview! Failure is a necessary part of innovation. We understand that and believe in failing early and iterating until we get it right.

• When you’re answering questions, think out loud and talk things out with
your interviewers. Take us through the different ways you might solve a problem,
vocalize assumptions you're making, and try
to give us a glimpse of how your mind works through problems.

• Be honest. Don't embellish or omit any part of the story. The interviewer will find
out if your story is built on a weak foundation.

• We try to leave time for questions at the end of each interview, so do make use of this. It's an opportunity for you to interview us and find out more about our culture, our people and our work.

How familiar are you with the tips in this guide?

Very – I’ve heard most of them before.
Slightly – but I’ve learned some helpful information.
Not at all - this guide has given me lots of new information