The company does things differently by helping candidates present the best version of themselves on the day of the interview. The Amazon interview process is fueled by a candidate-centric approach.
What is the best way to prepare for an Amazon interview?
Trick questions and brain teasers form an important part of most tech interviews. Though, Amazon is an exception.
The company does things differently by helping candidates present the best version of themselves on the day of the interview. The Amazon interview process is fueled by a candidate-centric approach.
To determine if you’re well suited for the job or not, Amazon asks a fair deal of questions centered around its work culture. The company puts its best foot forward and tries to help candidates as much as possible by providing the necessary resources and tools to aid in their Amazon interview preparation.
However, it is upon the candidate to use these resources wisely.
If you’re planning for an interview at Amazon, then the following 10 golden Amazon interview preparation tips must be on the top of your board!
10 Tips to Ace the Amazon Job Interview
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Practice the Behavioural Questions
Amazon is famous for asking questions that provide detailed insights into the behaviour of the candidate.
The interviewers will test you based on your past professional experiences, the challenges you faced at a previous internship or college project, and how well you handled the immense pressure associated with them.
To answer such questions you must read through the Amazon Leadership Principles. Also, try to link it with the roles and responsibilities of your desired job profile.
During your Amazon interview preparation, think of vital real-life examples that are related to the job profile and structure your future answer accordingly.
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Use the STAR Acronym to Structure Your Answers
Whether you’re in the middle of Google interview preparation or Amazon interview preparation, the Star acronym is a must-know for your job interview.
It refers to - Situation, Task, Action, and Results.
Structure your answer based on these subheadings to slowly unfold the details of a situation or case in front of the interviewer.
Remember that you have to weave a story with your words to impress the examiner and the STAR acronym lets you do this effortlessly!
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Dive Into the Depth of Your Answers
A big mistake committed by applicants during their job interview is not elaborating enough about the details of an answer.
To leave a lasting impression on the interviewer, it is recommended that you use a statistic or metric to support the facts and an example to elucidate every situation.
The interviewers are interested in knowing the numbers and how you can deliver impressive results for the company. Therefore, it is important for your research to shine through.
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Embrace Your Failures
Interviewers love applicants who are honest about their failures and have learnt to embrace them. Therefore, on the day of the interview, you must be prepared to iterate about your technical expertise by highlighting your growth curve.
You need to understand that failure is not to be feared as long as you can learn from your mistakes.
Taking risks is inevitable if you want to succeed in life and you need to communicate this to your interviewer in a positive manner.
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Understand What Makes Amazon Your Dream Company
While asking applicants ‘why Amazon’ may just be a mere formality for the interviewers, it is imperative that you understand the importance of this opportunity for your career.
Several candidates give a bland answer to questions based on future growth plans of the candidate. They simply state how working for an innovative large-scale business can fuel their growth trajectory.
However, interviewers are interested in finding out how and where Amazon fits in your long-term career goals. They want to hire candidates who think about comprehensive growth of the company and their careers together.
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Ask Clarification Questions
The interviewers at Amazon tend to ask a lot of questions to make the candidates feel comfortable with the board. Therefore, don’t hesitate to ask any clarification questions throughout the interview process.
If the question provided to you does not have the substantial information required to formulate an answer, then always ask the interviewer for more context.
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Pay Attention to Your Writing Skills
Now this may come as a shock to you but Amazon does not use any digital slide presentation formats such as PowerPoint in its team meetings.
Here, the team members write memos and read them at the very beginning of every meeting. Some of the key parameters included in these memos are goals, outcomes, tactics, and the future steps to be taken.
Therefore, throughout your preparation you need to learn how to articulate your thoughts on a blank sheet of paper in a written format.
This will in turn have a huge positive impact on your decision making skills.
To check your writing skills, the interviewers may ask you to write a sample based on the topic provided. However, this round is not a standard one and it totally depends on the job profile you’re interviewing for.
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Go Through the Leadership Principles
Amazon uses their leadership principles to assess valuable attributes of a candidate during an interview round. However, please remember that the company doesn’t want you to rote learn the leadership principles.
They want you to get inspired by them and check what values of the leadership principles resonate the most with you.
Therefore, before you interview for the company, spare some time to tie your interview stories and answers to the leadership principles.
Furthermore, also make it a habit to jot down the principles that you find to be the most inspiring.
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Read Up About Amazon’s Work Culture
Amazon’s work culture revolves around customer obsession. While you’re preparing for the technical coding parts of the interview, don’t forget to spare a few minutes of your timetable to research about the work culture and ethics of the company. This will help you determine whether or not Amazon is the right fit for you.
Conclusion
We hope that the above 9 tips help you analyse the bigger picture of the Amazon interview preparation and utilise the resources at your disposal efficiently.
While cracking an interview at one of the most desired global brands - Amazon might seem like a challenging task.
However, consistent hard work with a touch of smart work can yield you the desired results!
