Eight Steps That Might Help You Get Hired at Amazon

💡 April 2024 Update: I have a Partner AI Technologist role on my team that you could apply for. If that interests you and you want some ideas for how to prepare for an interview, read on!

As a manager at Amazon Web Services, I talk to job candidates regularly. I also am hiring for a number of roles. So, I'd like to take a moment to share some thoughts on how to prepare for interviews at Amazon, based on my experience. I genuinely hope that my thoughts will create opportunities for us to connect and that I can play a part in helping you to find the right next opportunity in your career.

I. Read Amazon's Leadership Principles

Read Amazon's Leadership Principles. These are not just a set of ideas. They are a yardstick against which behavior at Amazon is measured. And that measurement starts with how Amazon hires.

As you prepare to interview at Amazon, read the Leadership Principles several times. As you do, ask whether any of them might resonate with you. Are you feeling like they encapsulate your professional identity? That's a good sign!

II. Identify examples from your career that showcase how you have embodied the traits characterized in each of Amazon’s Leadership Principles

Generate examples of where you demonstrated the Leadership Principles. The majority of examples should be from the last two to three years if possible. It is okay if some examples are from earlier in your career, but they should be particularly significant examples. Too many old examples may cast doubt on whether you have sustained execution as your career has progressed.

Identify at least a dozen examples. A few more than that would be better, in case some get eliminated in later steps. You need at least this many examples because you will have several interviewers in a loop and should strive to avoid reusing examples if possible. Sharing the same examples across multiple interviewers wastes opportunities you have to provide more data on why Amazon would be wise to hire you.

III. Prepare stories in STAR format

STAR format refers to a method of organizing your responses where you proceed in four related sections: Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Situation is the context of the story and the circumstances you faced. Task is the specific things that you were required to perform. Action is the steps you took to accomplish the Task. Result is the impact that you had, which should be framed in terms of the measurements of success that you or others identified.

I recommend creating a grid for each story that will help you get the story organized into STAR format.

Start by giving each story a short (<=5 word) title. Next, lay out a space for each of the sections of STAR. Write the specific details of the story that address each section in the corresponding space and practice telling the story using that organization.

This is an organizational tool. When you deliver your stories in your interviews, you don't need to call out STAR in your responses to questions (e.g., “The situation was . . . . The task was . . . .”). Just ensure that each section is a succinct and logically flowing paragraph of verbal response and take a second or two to pause between paragraphs in your delivery. It will be clear to the listener how you are organizing your thoughts.

It's normal to feel like STAR format is constricting. Perhaps it is. Notwithstanding, it is designed to help an interviewer's comprehension of your thoughts. Because of this, it will enhance your interviewers' ability to gather the most data on your leadership characteristics. That means you are more likely to make an effective case for for your hire if you use it.

Interviewers are human beings (meaning they are imperfect). They are doing their best to understand what you are telling them. They want to hire for their roles and usually start out hoping you will be a good fit.

Make their job easier and it will help you as well.

IV. Create a Leadership Principles Stories Matrix

I did this when I interviewed at Amazon.

Create a matrix to ensure that your stories speak to Amazon's Leadership Principles. Leadership Principles can run on the vertical axis and the story titles you created earlier can go across the horizontal axis. Place a check mark in each cell where you feel a story in the cell’s column speaks to the Leadership Principle in the cell’s row.

Eliminate any story that does not speak to at least two Leadership Principles. If you have more than twelve stories left, prioritize the ones that speak to the most leadership principles.

You will need to respond to questions during your interviews using these stories. Having stories that speak to multiple Leadership Principles gives you flexibility during your conversations. You won't be stuck trying to think of which single story addresses an interviewer's specific question. You won't be in trouble if you need to take a story you intended for another question. You will be more natural and conversational—and more relaxed.

Ensuring that each story speaks to multiple Leadership Principles also helps to ensure you have picked high quality examples that raise the bar. 

V. Revise each story so that you can get deeper into it in successive passes

You may be tempted to offer a full exposé in response to a question, but this would be a mistake. A story is a hand of cards you play across the entire length of time you are in a conversation. Laying out the whole hand at once can be overwhelming and can diminish its full potential.

If you play all your cards at once, you'll have nothing left for later in the game.

Create opportunities for your interviewers to ask follow-up questions. Give them things they’ll want to ask more about and be prepared with additional layers of STAR responses that elaborate on the initial story.

This way, you can succinctly tell a story (in two to three minutes) and address follow up questions with additional depth. Being prepared in this way keeps the interviews conversational, which means your interviewers are more engaged and are able to get more favorable data from your responses.

Rehearse all stories in your matrix (from Step IV).

VI. Anticipate follow-up questions as you prepare

If an interviewer asks you follow up questions, it can actually be a sign that they understood your story. Follow-ups are often a good thing.

Each follow-up question is an opportunity to provide more favorable data to an interviewer and add descriptive richness. Look at follow-up questions as currency: the more you obtain, the more opportunity you have. Make the most of each chance you have to strengthen the impression you make.

VII. Be a natural

Get natural with behavioral interview questions. Coming off as unprepared is a mistake, but so is coming off as over-rehearsed. Go further still. Be so rehearsed that you come across as natural.

Being a natural is the epitome of preparedness.

VIII. Good Luck and Next Steps

Give yourself an exciting challenge and apply to some roles. If you are a passionate technologist and a builder who embodies Amazon’s Leadership Principles, I want to speak with you.

In fact, here is a role on my team that you could apply for. [Updated Apr 2024]

Please Note: The above is not an official view of Amazon, but is my personal opinion.