Must-prep Amazon Interview Questions

author profile pic · 6 min

The most commonly asked Amazon interview questions can be situational and behavioral. Prepfully has elaborated on the five must-prepare questions commonly asked by Amazon interviewers, along with concise and impactful methodologies and examples of answering them.

Must prepare Amazon interview questions

Getting an interview call from Amazon can be an intimidating experience!

As the former CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, once said, "I'd rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person." So, it means a lot that your resume went past all the checks and tests to reach the hands of the hiring manager at Amazon. Have you finally been called for an interview? What is the next best thing to do then? Well, prepare for the interview, of course.

Amazon tends to put a lot of effort into including people in its family. It is best to check Amazon interview questions beforehand to get placed in this leading e-commerce giant.

Relevant Guides

A Brief Look at Amazon's Interview Process

The Amazon interview process is thorough, rigorous, and demands a good understanding of their leadership principles and culture. The interview process typically consists of three rounds:

  1. A Preliminary Phone Screen: It is conducted over the phone with a recruiter looking to assess your candidature and determine if you meet the basic requirements for the position.
  2. Onsite Interview: If you ace the phone screen, you will be called in for an onsite interview which generally spans a full day. During this round, both your technical, behavioral, and leadership skills are tested by 2 or more interviewers to determine if you are a good fit for Amazon's culture. 
  3. Final Round: Also known as the "bar raiser", this round is designed to test your ability to think critically and to assess whether you have what it takes to be a "bar raiser" at Amazon.

Note: There may be additional interviews with senior leadership or position-specific subject matter experts depending on the job you are applying for as well as the location.

Watch these videos

5 Must Prepare Amazon Interview Questions

When it comes to Amazon interview questions, they tend to be more situational and behavioral. So, it is vital to ensure that you understand these questions well. Don't worry! Prepfully has listed some of the most commonly asked questions in an Amazon interview. We'd recommend investing extra effort into preparing for these.

1. What is a difficult piece of feedback that you have received? When did you receive it, and how did you handle it?

For Amazon, trust is an essential factor, and this is one of the few questions which is asked to ensure whether the candidate can be trusted with criticism or not. To answer this question, you can share a piece of feedback that was particularly difficult to digest. It would help if you also focused on the person who gave the feedback and how you managed the input to turn it into positive results. Believe it or not, this will surely help build some trust between you and the company.

Read these articles
How to answer behavioral interview questions

CAR Framework is a methodology that provides a systematic and potent framework to answer behavioral questions impactfully. CAR or Challenge, Action, and Result Framework is one of the best methods to use for compelling storytelling and can be helpful in landing you that job at Amazon. Here is how it works:

  • Challenge- When facing the respective question, you can talk about the role or job description you had in your previous company and what was the negative feedback you received.
  • Action- Explain the step you took regarding the feedback you received and how well you handled it. Make sure you sound confident and elaborate on your activities.
  • Result- Keeping the action in mind, you need to provide facts related to the outcome. Here, you can also describe how your efforts helped to gain positive feedback and deliver a successful result.

2. Tell me something about you that isn't present on your resume.

Amazon interviewers tend to ask this question to almost every single candidate. Expecting them to mention something that isn't really in the resume helps the recruiters analyze the person's creative thinking ability. 

This trait is very much appreciated at Amazon; hence be prepared to tackle this question. To answer this question, you need to quickly think of the first thing that comes to your mind. One of the best interview tips is to think of something that makes you stand out from the crowd and try to elaborate on that. 

For example, you could talk about a strength such as public speaking or creative analysis. You could also mention a few intangible strengths and personal qualities that might be hard to find in the resume. 

3. How good are you at making bold decisions during a difficult situation?

Amazon is one such company that values ownership and responsible decision-making skills. As an employee, you are expected to come up with bold ideas or take responsibility in difficult situations. 

You will be tested; on how good you are if placed in a challenging situation. While answering this question, you can best show how actively you can roll up your sleeves and present your ideas to make out-of-the-box decisions. Moreover, highlight examples from your previous job when you took the responsibility of making decisions, the challenges you faced, and how you overcame them.

4. Where do you see your greatest accomplishment? Why?

The main objective behind asking this question is to assess whether the candidate can match the Amazon Leadership Principles or not. For this question, the interviewers determine whether you can develop and adequately articulate a bold vision. 

This doesn't necessarily mean that you will have to answer it perfectly, but you should be able to show your significant thinking. You need to understand what an accomplishment is to you! Make sure that you have a few examples of specific times when you thought uniquely and came up with innovative solutions that helped you grow in your professional career.

5. I want to hear about a time when you had to work together on a project with a coworker you didn't like.

Now, this is a tricky question to answer for sure. However, the interviewer asks this question to analyze the value of teamwork in the candidate and other cases where the candidate can show some backbone. 

To tackle this question, you must ensure you are direct in your approach. Tell the interviewer your experience and how you managed to complete the project despite having a different opinion. This will reflect upon your leadership, people management, and teamwork skills.

Conclusion

An important tip while answering Amazon interview questions is to keep things relevant to the job while sounding as authentic and sincere as possible. Share your strengths with the interview board, and you might land your dream role in the e-commerce giant Amazon.