Leadership Principles, STAR Method
Please note that this process may vary depending on your role. Visit Interviewing at Amazon for more information.
During the hiring process, you will have the opportunity to interact with several Amazonians. Although your recruiter will be your main point of contact during the process, here is a list of those contacts and how they assist in your interview journey. Please note that your individual experience may vary.
A sourcing recruiter may have reached out to you directly via LinkedIn Inmail, email, or another platform to gauge your interest in the role. Your main point of contact is your recruiter, who has identified you as a potential candidate for the position. The recruiting coordinator is responsible for scheduling your phone interview, interview preparation call and interview.
If selected, this will be your direct manager and in most cases, they will be able to answer specific questions about the role and the team.
In some businesses, recruiter business partners work alongside recruiters, sourcing recruiters, project managers, and hiring managers to place candidates into the most suitable roles.
This may include an Amazonian from an indirect team or your direct team during your interview loop.
We use our Leadership Principles every day, whether we're discussing ideas for new projects or deciding on the best approach to solving a problem. It is just one of the things that makes Amazon peculiar.
All candidates are evaluated based on our Leadership Principles. The best way to prepare is to consider how you’ve applied the Leadership Principles in your previous professional experience.
Here are some videos of our Leadership principles to get you started.
Our interviews are rooted in behavioral-based questions which ask about past situations or challenges you’ve faced and how you handled them, using Leadership Principles to guide the discussion. We avoid brain teasers (e.g., “How many windows are in Manhattan?”) as part of the interview process. We’ve researched this approach and have found that those types of questions are unreliable when it comes to predicting a candidate’s success at Amazon.
Tell me about a time when you were faced with a problem that had a number of possible solutions. What was the problem and how did you determine the course of action? What was the outcome of that choice?
When did you take a risk, make a mistake, or fail? How did you respond, and how did you grow from that experience?
Describe a time you took the lead on a project.
What did you do when you needed to motivate a group of individuals or promote collaboration on a particular project?
How have you leveraged data to develop a strategy?
Keep in mind, Amazon is a data-driven company. When you answer questions, your focus should be on the question asked, ensure your answer is well-structured and provide examples using metrics or data if applicable. Reference recent situations whenever possible.
The STAR method is a structured manner of responding to a behavioral-based interview question. Here’s what it looks like:
SSITUATIONDescribe the situation you were in, or the task you needed to do. Give enough detail for the interviewer to understand the complexities of the situation. This example can be from a previous job, school project, volunteer activity, or other relevant event.
TTASKWhat goal were you working toward? Describe it.
AAction
Describe the actions you took. Use an appropriate amount of detail. What steps did you take? What was your contribution? Let us know what you did, not what your team or group did. Use the word ‘I,’ not ‘we.’
RRESULT
Describe the outcome of your actions. Don’t be shy about taking credit for what you did. What happened? How did it end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn? Provide examples using metrics or data if applicable. Consider your successes and failures in relation to the Leadership Principles. Use examples that showcase your expertise and how you’ve taken risks, succeeded, failed, and grown. Keep in mind that some of our most successful programs have risen from the ashes of failed projects. Failure is a necessary part of innovation. We believe in failing early and persevering until we get it right.
