Amazon Interview

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's be a rinse and repeat through all 5 interviews.

I can attest to this. You can use the same answers for most of the interviews.

+1 to rinse and repeat, but they told me I'd have to to have a different answer for each iteration of the question.

Different people - how would they know?? My DH didn't and he works there.

I was told interviewers compare notes after the loop and if you answered "how did you deal with a difficult person?" with the "Larla from marketing" response each time, you'd get dinged for "lack of a breadth of experience."

I can attest that just doesn't happen. Ever. They fill out a template form and send to HR.

We do it in my division, we always have a debrief.

+1

And interviewers do compare notes. There was a mention on a debrief I did about the candidate using the same JOB for each example. They would for sure ding you if you use the same situation for several questions (unless you are fresh out of school).

So 5 rounds of interviews with multiple candidates and after each interview everyone gets together to compare notes. Must be a very efficient place.

What’s amazing is they have rampant HIRE TO FIRE on top of that.

+100

https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/amazons-controversial-hire-to-fire-practice-reveals-a-brutal-truth-about-management.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's be a rinse and repeat through all 5 interviews.

I can attest to this. You can use the same answers for most of the interviews.

+1 to rinse and repeat, but they told me I'd have to to have a different answer for each iteration of the question.

Different people - how would they know?? My DH didn't and he works there.

I was told interviewers compare notes after the loop and if you answered "how did you deal with a difficult person?" with the "Larla from marketing" response each time, you'd get dinged for "lack of a breadth of experience."

I can attest that just doesn't happen. Ever. They fill out a template form and send to HR.

Are you a current Amazon employee? Because you are very, very wrong.

I am. I have interviewed many folks.

[Anonymous]

Amazon has leadership principals. Make sure you understand these. They are probably common sense, and regardless of how you feel about them - know them if you want the job.

For example, deadlines are important….. more important than adding the bells and whistles to a product. But customers are the most important. Speed matters. Frugality - Accomplish more with less. Taking risks are somewhere in there too

My favorite is “disagree and commit”. As a leader, if you make a decision go at it whole heartedly

Amazon is not all bad. A few groups give the company a bad rep. Also they pay a lot, if you are into that sort of thing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amazon has leadership principals. Make sure you understand these. They are probably common sense, and regardless of how you feel about them - know them if you want the job.

For example, deadlines are important….. more important than adding the bells and whistles to a product. But customers are the most important. Speed matters. Frugality - Accomplish more with less. Taking risks are somewhere in there too

My favorite is “disagree and commit”. As a leader, if you make a decision go at it whole heartedly

Amazon is not all bad. A few groups give the company a bad rep. Also they pay a lot, if you are into that sort of thing

One of the interviewers I had made a sarcastic comment about the LPs. "Please answer the questions using the LPs although I have my own opinion about some of them based on my extensive work experience." LOL

[Anonymous]

I found myself making shit up on the fly in my all day interview. It’s draining and towards the last interview, I was done with the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found myself making shit up on the fly in my all day interview. It’s draining and towards the last interview, I was done with the process.

+1

By the last interview I didn't even know what I was saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found myself making shit up on the fly in my all day interview. It’s draining and towards the last interview, I was done with the process.

+1

By the last interview I didn't even know what I was saying.

By the last interview I was like a drunk spattering words

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I found myself making shit up on the fly in my all day interview. It’s draining and towards the last interview, I was done with the process.

+1

By the last interview I didn't even know what I was saying.

By the last interview I was like a drunk spattering words

That's not a coincidence. The pace is super demanding at Amazon, so you have to be able to hold up under that level of questioning, meetings, preparation, etc.

[Anonymous]

a lot of times, these kind of interviews are crap shoot. It really doesn't tell much about an employee. They could be witty and quick with their responses but a poor executive and hence firing follows.

[Anonymous]

It's been around 8 days since my loop interview. I assume the odds of good news are unlikely at this point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's been around 8 days since my loop interview. I assume the odds of good news are unlikely at this point?

The goal is to debrief internally within five business days. Given the holidays/spring break, it might have been challenging to align calendars.

Hopefully, you’ll hear from the recruiter tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's been around 8 days since my loop interview. I assume the odds of good news are unlikely at this point?

The goal is to debrief internally within five business days. Given the holidays/spring break, it might have been challenging to align calendars.

Hopefully, you’ll hear from the recruiter tomorrow.

Agreed, that's how it works in my org. I wouldn't read anything positive or negative into it, most likely it's just that they didn't hold your debrief yet. Thursday and Friday were really slow last week with many people out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's be a rinse and repeat through all 5 interviews.

I can attest to this. You can use the same answers for most of the interviews.

+1 to rinse and repeat, but they told me I'd have to to have a different answer for each iteration of the question.

Different people - how would they know?? My DH didn't and he works there.

I was told interviewers compare notes after the loop and if you answered "how did you deal with a difficult person?" with the "Larla from marketing" response each time, you'd get dinged for "lack of a breadth of experience."

I can attest that just doesn't happen. Ever. They fill out a template form and send to HR.

We do it in my division, we always have a debrief.

+1

And interviewers do compare notes. There was a mention on a debrief I did about the candidate using the same JOB for each example. They would for sure ding you if you use the same situation for several questions (unless you are fresh out of school).

So 5 rounds of interviews with multiple candidates and after each interview everyone gets together to compare notes. Must be a very efficient place.

What’s amazing is they have rampant HIRE TO FIRE on top of that.

Every org in Amazon is different, but in my org we don't do hire to fire. It seems like this is more common in lower levels or at the warehouses. My org is primarily L5-L8's and we definitely don't go through the arduous process of bringing people on at that career point to fire. Those people may oversee others, however, at very entry level. Even if you say you need to cut by 10% through attrition or "layoffs" that's generally happening anyway on the lower levels. I worked at 2 Big4 firms and it was similar. 10% reduction of the massive numbers of 22 year olds is basically trimming the fat or they leave on their own for grad school or other jobs. I haven't seen anything obviously different at Amazon. There is also the 4 year pay schedule which contributes to attrition, so high functioning orgs generally don't need to hire and fire because there is natural turnover.

I am definitely NOT convinced it's the best model, but it's not as cut and dried as "hire to fire!"

[Anonymous]

Hear anything today, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's be a rinse and repeat through all 5 interviews.

I can attest to this. You can use the same answers for most of the interviews.

+1 to rinse and repeat, but they told me I'd have to to have a different answer for each iteration of the question.

Different people - how would they know?? My DH didn't and he works there.

I was told interviewers compare notes after the loop and if you answered "how did you deal with a difficult person?" with the "Larla from marketing" response each time, you'd get dinged for "lack of a breadth of experience."

I can attest that just doesn't happen. Ever. They fill out a template form and send to HR.

We do it in my division, we always have a debrief.

+1

And interviewers do compare notes. There was a mention on a debrief I did about the candidate using the same JOB for each example. They would for sure ding you if you use the same situation for several questions (unless you are fresh out of school).

So 5 rounds of interviews with multiple candidates and after each interview everyone gets together to compare notes. Must be a very efficient place.

What’s amazing is they have rampant HIRE TO FIRE on top of that.

Every org in Amazon is different, but in my org we don't do hire to fire. It seems like this is more common in lower levels or at the warehouses. My org is primarily L5-L8's and we definitely don't go through the arduous process of bringing people on at that career point to fire. Those people may oversee others, however, at very entry level. Even if you say you need to cut by 10% through attrition or "layoffs" that's generally happening anyway on the lower levels. I worked at 2 Big4 firms and it was similar. [b]10% reduction of the massive numbers of 22 year olds is basically trimming the fat [b]or they leave on their own for grad school or other jobs. I haven't seen anything obviously different at Amazon. There is also the 4 year pay schedule which contributes to attrition, so high functioning orgs generally don't need to hire and fire because there is natural turnover.

I am definitely NOT convinced it's the best model, but it's not as cut and dried as "hire to fire!"

Um, what? Re: the bolded. That is not well-advertised.