After seven years as an executive recruiter on Amazon’s executive search team, I could spend almost as long explaining their well-honed interview process. Amazon has one of the best — if not the best — processes for determining cultural and technical fit, and I have found that most of the techniques I learned there have been applicable to my wide variety of clients today.
Amazon’s interview process isn’t a secret, and thanks to sites like Glassdoor you can learn more than you ever wanted to know about prepping for an interview there. Once you are scheduled to interview with someone at Amazon, they’ll send you a tome of information to help you prepare. Despite that — or maybe because of it — I still get calls from candidates who are daunted by Amazon’s interview process and need advice. Here are a few of the more popular tips, differentiated between Amazon-specific advice and advice that works in any interview (spoiler: most of them).
Interviewing for Cultural Fit
Amazon’s culture is singular and not for everyone. And that’s exactly how they want it. From its earliest days, Amazon established a set of culture-defining terms, called Leadership Principles, which act as a guide for overall decision-making, including whether a candidate would make a successful employee. (You can find these Leadership Principles here.) I highly recommend giving them a read even before you decide to apply to Amazon. If their Leadership Principles make sense to you, that’s a good sign the culture could be a good fit. If they don’t resonate, that’s a sign too.
Every interviewer is assessing for cultural fit whether they are doing it deliberately, subconsciously or both. Amazon has done its best to remove personal bias by defining what a good fit looks like and developing a tight internal process to ensure that every interviewer across every business is assessing candidates in the same way. So whether you are interviewing for a highly technical individual contributor role or an executive position, those Leadership Principles are your most important resource.
Most companies haven’t so clearly defined their culture, and therefore will not have a straight-forward or scalable process for interviewers to assess cultural fit; outside of Amazon you’ll have no cheat sheet to guide you. In situations where a company’s culture may not be so transparent, there are questions you can ask in the interview to help you determine if the environment is right for you. How do they celebrate success? How is performance measured? How are team-level decisions made? How is information communicated down and across the organization?
Don’t shy away from your mistakes
If you’ve been in the workforce awhile you might remember interview training that taught you to circumnavigate the “tell me about your weaknesses” request. Companies used this as a “gotcha” — as soon as they heard the weakness they’d use it against you. Some still do.
But more modern interview techniques teach us that it’s not your weaknesses or mistakes that define you; it’s how you use that mistake as an opportunity for growth. Amazon’s philosophy is that if you aren’t failing every so often, you aren’t taking enough risks. So when Amazon asks you to share a mistake, go ahead and share a doozy and make it a recent one (if you go too far back, they’ll call you on it). Really roll around in that discomfort, but be prepared for the more important follow-up. How quickly did you identify the mistake or weakness and course correct? How did your mistake affect future behavior? How did you grow as a result?
In your answer, Amazon is looking for: 1) Do you admit to personal mistakes or failures, or do you finger-point and blame others? 2) Are you self-aware? Are you able to identify your mistakes or areas of weakness and then grow, learn and adapt?
Most companies still ask a variation of the “weaknesses” question, but not all react as positively to mistakes as Amazon does. No matter the company, I would still counsel transparency on the topic by focusing on how you corrected the mistake (since, unlike Amazon, they may not ask that follow-up question).
Be crisp in your responses
Amazon isn’t big on small talk. They get right to the point and want you to do the same. If you have a tendency to ramble, do your best to conscientiously pause or ask for a moment while you think, and then present your answer. Don’t use 10 sentences to say what you can in one. Amazonians love data and details, but not if they are off-topic or so granular you lose the point. If you don’t have an answer or don’t know the answer, say so. If you don’t understand the question or aren’t sure what they’re after, ask. The worst thing you can do is try to fudge an answer.
Most companies have a much higher tolerance for chitchat than Amazon does, and most interviewers use that as a conscious or subconscious way to make a personal connection, which an interviewer will often associate with a positive cultural fit. Amazonians are direct almost to the point of what many would consider rude. Don’t take it personally. But if you don’t like that style of communication, it’s a good indication that Amazon’s culture may not be a good fit.
Don’t sweat the small stuff — like title, salary or benefits
You want to make sure the position you’re exploring with Amazon would be a logical next step for your career. However, because Amazon’s titles are deflated and ambiguous, that can be hard to determine. Likewise, with Amazon’s base salary capped at $160,000 and much of its employees’ compensation tied up in large stock awards, it’s tough to do an apples-to-apples comparison. So title and compensation — the two things most of us rely on as a foundational understanding of a position — are out the window with Amazon.
To determine whether the role is right for you, focus on the scope of the position instead of title or compensation. What are the key responsibilities and deliverables? What is the impact of your role on the greater organization? What does the team look like and what are they trying to solve?
No matter the title or level, you’ll wind up with far more responsibility and autonomy than you expected or even imagined. If you get precious about title or money right off the bat, not only will you do yourself a disservice, you will be flagged as a poor cultural fit. Most folks take a step back — if not several — in title when they join Amazon, but few take a step back in either compensation (once stock grants are taken into account) or scope of responsibility.
In most other situations, asking about title or seniority isn’t a big deal. But do steer clear of asking about money or benefits in all initial interview settings with Amazon.
Amazon is a very exciting place to learn, grow and find amazing mentors. Their interview process is not for the faint of heart, but it is well designed to help both them and you determine if the fit is right. Now go out there, think big, be curious and deliver results!