I was contacted by a recruiter for a position with one of the teams at Amazon. Recruiter was really great to work with. The entire team, in fact, was great to work with throughout the process. They care a lot about your experience so if something is really bugging you, do not hesitate to politely express your thoughts and request assistance. Most of the time they'll do their best to accommodate your requests.
1. Recruiter reached out to see if I was interested in the role.
2. Setup 2 phone screens, which went really well. Very situational. All about your experience and ability to think critically about problem solving. How did you solve x,y,z? If you had to fix something at Amazon, what would it be? How would you fix it? Who would be the people to help you? How would you pick your team? What are the steps you take in Product Management?
3. In-person interviews on-site in Seattle. About 6-7 people back-to-back from morning to evening, including lunch. But again, all very nice. All very easy to work with. Take a lot of water breaks and bathroom breaks to compose yourself. Don't think that if I am a spartan I'll get the job... :)
3A. The bar raiser interview for Product Managers is very situational... Examples of questions:
- How do you define/decide if software is working?
- Tell me about a time that you started fixing something small and then realized it was much bigger... how did you solve that?
- And a lot of other tell me about a time...
3B. Take hints from interviewers. You need to listen VERY carefully. If they say, "hey take a look at this. Feel free to click around anywhere..." then click EVERYwhere. Just do your best to make sure they know you're listening to them.
3C. Don't be afraid to state the obvious. If there's a part of the process in testing that you think and know from your experience is manual and is NOT the best answer but is how things are done, then state it. QA requires hands and sometimes not in the technical sense.
3D. Nothing too technical but be prepared to think analytically. Don't be afraid to use the blackboard. Get up there and talk them through what you're thinking. GO WITH YOUR GUT. It is almost always right. If you were selected to interview and passed the first 2 rounds, then you are almost at the finish line which means that at least 3 people believed you have what it takes. So showcase that. Don't second guess yourself!
Other tips:
- Know ALL the leadership principles and do your best to tell your stories in a way that reflects those principles. Don't be obvious as that will sound rehearsed. And if the leadership principles don't resonate then definitely reconsider applying.
- Ask a lot of questions and GOOD ones. Don't just ask questions for the sake of asking... and don't be afraid to ask more about the project or program. A lot of what Amazon does is "under the covers" and there are NDAs that candidates sign, so once you get in there, ask about the program, the project, the "why" or the "so what" to make sure you know what the project is like