AMAZON Interview TIPS! (How to PASS a Job Interview with Amazon + Leadership Principles Training!)

hi there my name is richard mcmahon from the interview training company passmyinterview.com and in this tutorial i am going to give you my top seven amazon interview tips so if you have an interview coming up with the world's greatest company that is amazon make sure you stay tuned because i will help you to succeed and to achieve that goal this is what we are going to cover together i'm going to give you seven crucial amazon interview tips that will help you pass i have put a lot of work into this presentation so make sure you learn and understand all of the following seven tips i will tell you what i believe the amazon hiring manager is looking for from candidates who attend the interviews i will tell you how to stand out during your amazon interview and i will also tell you about further amazon interview training tutorials that you can get access to right here on youtube to help you succeed and just very quickly before we get going a very warm welcome to this amazon interview tips training presentation my name is richard mcmahon that is me there in the center of the screen the bald chap i am a former fire officer of 17 years during that time i worked in the recruitment department i have lots of experience of how to answer behavioral interview questions so make sure you watch this entire video please make sure you subscribe to my channel we have over 400 000 subscribers now right here on youtube and lots of you are passing your job interviews which is great news you can also connect with me on linkedin i've put my linkedin link in the description below the video and also make sure you give the video a thumbs up because that tells me you enjoy the content you find it useful and i will therefore make more for you and answer any questions that you have so you can put them in the comments section below amazon interview tip number one so we'll start off with a very basic tip but it is very important get yourself ready for the following list of general amazon interview questions now i'll put up a list in a second and these are the questions that i want you to prepare answers to because these are easy wins so if you prepare answers to the questions that are going to come right now you will gain confidence for the rest of your amazon interview and here's a list of the questions take a note of them first of all tell me about yourself so at the start of your interview you go into the amazon interview room or if you're having it via video they will say to you tell me about yourself this is your opportunity to shine and i will give you an example answer to that question tell me about yourself in a second the second question that i can pretty much guarantee will come up is why amazon and we have to give the hiring manager a unique answer remember the hiring manager has heard a thousand and one different answers to the why amazon interview question so we have to give them something that's unique and that stands out prepare your answer to the common question what are your strengths and weaknesses and when you do answer that make sure you align your strengths to the role that you are applying for and don't give a weakness that is a match for the job description and finally where do you see yourself in five years or sometimes during amazon interviews it is posed as what are your short-term and long-term career ambitions so how do we answer this question tell me about yourself well when you do answer the question tell me about yourself my advice is to include the following things in your answer number one start off and tell the interviewer the skills qualities and attributes you have that are a match for the role then give them one example of where you have excelled in your previous job number three then explain how you understand that your performance is directly linked to amazon's success so what i mean by that is everyone within the amazon team or department has to perform to a high standard in order for amazon to be successful and then number four tell the hiring manager how you are going to add value to amazon if they choose to hire you so let me give you an example answer to that first amazon interview question tell me about yourself and you'll notice on the screen there i have put up all of those four different elements and i will build my response around them and i recommend you consider doing the same here we go tell me about yourself i am a hard-working determined ambitious and professional team worker who over the years has built up extensive experience and transferable skills that are a match for this role at amazon for example in my last role i completed a difficult project with five other people that required us all to design and build a complex website now this was a difficult project because the client was constantly changing the specification however we persisted we focused on what the customer needed and we achieved everything to the exact detail and on time i understand everything i do here at amazon must be focused on the customer and my performance has to be exceptional for the team to succeed now if you hire me i will get up and running in the role quickly i will be a supportive team worker and i will bring a unique set of skills that will help amazon carry on delivering groundbreaking and transformational products and services for its customers so that would be my answer to that question tell me about yourself and i would sit down and practice that prior to attending my amazon interview you can see there how by building your answer around those four key areas you are able to come up with a unique response now of course the example that i have given there is based on a difficult project that i've been involved in so you could choose a project that you've been involved in that proves that you are focusing on the customer and i'll talk more about customer obsession in a little while and that's very important when preparing for your amazon interview let's move on to amazon interview number tip sorry number tip amazon interview tip number two think carefully how you are going to answer the why amazon interview question so they are going to say to you why do you want to work for amazon and of course remember the amazon hiring manager has heard a thousand different answers to this question most people will say i want to work for amazon because it's a great place to work you're a market leader you you know you create great products that doesn't really cut it we want to give them something they've not heard before something that is unique so to make your answer unique focus on the following four areas why amazon number one talk about the research you have carried out number two mention the leadership principles now i'm going to tell you about those in a second the leadership principles are basically the foundations that have enabled amazon to achieve the success that it has done and they are all focused on one thing which is the customer they do everything for the customer that's why they are so good the next thing to focus on when answering why amazon is how amazon has impacted in some way positively on your life you know have you used their products i mean my life has changed somewhat by using amazon products i use it in my business i use it in my daily life and they're brilliant products and then also tell them how amazon is a place that you can grow and develop let me give you an example of how i would answer the why am as an interview question and i'll build it around those four different areas before applying i spent a considerable amount of time researching amazon the products and services you sell how you are obsessed about the customer and what your plans are for the future now this will be an exciting place to work where i will get to be innovative creative and pushed and challenged to be the best i possibly can be now i also studied in detail your 14 leadership principles and i can now see why amazon has been so successful no other company in my opinion has the foundations amazon has the leadership principles are the bedrock for your success amazon has also impacted positively on both mine and my family's lives through the products you create and how you deliver them and literally the amazon echo has redefined the way we go about our daily lives at home i feel by working here i will get to contribute to the future success of amazon whilst at the same time working alongside lots of hugely talented and bright individuals so again you can see how by building your answer around those four different areas they can be prompts for you when you answer the y as an interview question you're then able to give a unique answer that the hiring manager won't have heard before and you have to obviously be genuine in your response and be positive as well amazon interview tip number three now regardless of the role you are being interviewed for make sure you read learn and understand the 14 amazon leadership principles now within the description below the video i've given you a link to the amazon website where these 14 leadership principles are my advice as i say is to read learn and understand them you have to also believe in them i'm going to tell you how you can prepare answers to the questions that we'll get asked at your amazon interview or some of the questions but you have to also believe in them it's all right saying to the hiring manager at amazon you know i am totally focused on the customer i am obsessed about the customer but you have to you have to genuinely believe in that for example i spend a lot of time creating these videos and i do them for free okay i spend a lot of time each day creating them because i want you to be successful genuinely and hopefully that comes across in how i deliver these presentations well that's how you have to be when you are believing in the customer when you work at amazon because amazon fully understands how critical the customer is to its success now you're going to get asked some questions about the leadership principles and the depth of the questions will be based on the role that you are being interviewed for whether it's a management position or i don't want to say a standard standard position at amazon a non-manager position they will vary but these are fundamental to amazon's success so let's have a look at these leadership principles and as i say you can learn more about them by accessing the link that i have put in the description below the video first one is customer obsession which is obviously amazon starts with the customer and then works backwards so if they are coming up with ideas for products and services they will always say to themselves what does this customer need what do they want how will they think about this product and how we how can we deliver what they really want ownership is about taking ownership for situations are you somebody who takes ownership are you prepared to learn grow and develop bias for action is somebody who gets things done like for example myself i'm very very good at getting things done i am a massive action taker when i worked in the fire service i had to be an action taker i couldn't turn up at a fire and say to somebody who was in on the top floor of a burning building and we'll come and get you in 10 minutes you know i had to do things there and then and taking action and having bias for action is a brilliant quality to have when working at amazon somebody who insists on the highest standards that's another one so are you somebody who would just do things for the sake of it to get them done or do you always insist on the highest standards another one is having backbone it's okay to disagree with your co-workers or managers at amazon but then you have to commit to the consensus what everyone agrees to do earn trust you know you earn trust by doing a good job and doing things right for the customer are right a lot so you make the right decisions you invent things you come up with different ideas but you are also capable of simplifying processes think big you know always think big for example one of my goals is to reach a million subscribers that's my goal and it has been for the last few years and i will work every day to achieve that by giving great free content out to you guys so you can pass your interviews that's thinking big so when you work at amazon have a goal you know can you come up with an idea for amazon that will literally transform the lives of their customers dive deep the only way that you will be able to solve problems and come up with solutions is if you dive deep into situations deliver results be somebody who will consistently deliver results hire and develop the best people learn and be curious so are you open to learning are you prepared to take on constructive feedback that somebody gives you and frugality be careful with money okay think about ways that you've been in an organization where you have gone well do we need to spend that money or is there a more cost effective way that we can do that that allows us to to add value within the organization so those are the are the amazon leadership principles the 14 of them and as i say i recommend you study and learn them so you will get asked questions based around them let me give you a few examples so questions around customer obsession and you can predict these questions when you read and learn the the leadership principles so one that i recommend that you prepare for is tell me a time when you experienced a challenging communication with a customer so if you had a situation where you were communicating with a customer they were being rude or confrontational for example how did you deal with that another customer obsession example question tell me a time when you went above and beyond what was expected for a customer let's have a look at another example leadership principle which is taking ownership tell me a time when you took responsibility for something that was outside of your remit tell me a time when you helped a work colleague who was having difficulty with a task because some people would think well i'm not going to get involved with that because it's outside of my remit so they want people who are willing to to step up and take take ownership so i still have more to run through with you and don't go anywhere because i'm not even halfway through these tips yet but i have got on amazon and amazon leadership principles interview questions and answers tutorial that is can be accessed by that link that's appeared in the top right hand corner make sure you bookmark that and you watch this after this video i have put that video again in the description below this video so make sure you do check that out because it will give you a great tutorial on the leadership principles amazon interview tip number four another really important one don't neglect this tip use the star technique when answering the behavioral interview questions that are focused on the leadership principle so what is the star technique it's a very simple format but it is highly effective and when i was working in the fire service in the recruitment training center and i was interviewing candidates to become firefighters i always hoped that they would use a star technique and the star technique is situation task action results so whenever you answer a question that is behavioral in nature tell me a time when you went above and beyond for a customer structure your answer in this format start off and tell the interviewer the situation you were in then tell them the tasks that you needed to do then go into detail about the action that you took and finish off with the results of your actions so it's situation task action result and i will give you an example of that in action in a second amazon tip number five so when you are answering any amazon behavioral interview question tell them a story okay it has to be a factual genuine story that you were in but this will help you to really drill down and meet the amazon leadership principle so let me give you an example of the star technique in action and of me telling a story when i answer the interview question tell me a time when you took responsibility for something that was outside of your your remit and this is that leadership principle ownership situation in my previous job it was late on a friday afternoon and the company website had just gone down for an unknown reason now the it department had already left for the weekend so we had nobody else in-house available to deal with it now we were due to run an important online sale on saturday that would run for the rest of the weekend and so it was vital the website got back up and running as soon as possible i volunteered to stay behind to get things sorted now i started off by trying to contact one of the it workers but none of them were picking up the phone i then tried phoning around a few local it companies in the area but again none were available due to the time of day it was on a friday finally i managed to find a professional outsourcer from the website upwork.com who agreed to analyze the problem and rectify it for me using the server details my manager had provided me with before he left the office now after three hours going backwards and forwards with the engineer on zoom he managed to identify and resolve the issue which was a great relief considering the sale was due to start the very next morning so there's a couple of really good things about that response number one it is story based so you are giving the interviewer a story of a situation that you were in you are using situation task action results and if you learn that star technique it's a good prompt for you when you respond to these interview questions and this is also a good answer because it shows that you are saying yes i will take ownership of this situation it's outside of my remit i have no idea how to solve this problem but i am determined and persistent to achieve a successful result and you'll see there that i've tried a few different options i've managed to find one and it has worked that's a really good example of how you might have met the amazon leadership principle of taking ownership amazon interview tip number six by the way i hope you are enjoying this video don't forget to subscribe connect with me on linkedin and please do hit the like button i would very much appreciate that amazon interview tip number six prepare for the following interview questions let me give you some interview questions i've carried out some research i've learned the amazon leadership principles and then i've come up with these questions that i believe might get asked during your interview so here we go customer obsession tell me a time when you were able to foresee a customer problem so you might have been in an organization and you might think oh that situation could lead to a problem for our customers let's resolve it the next one tell me a time when you had to say no to a customer have you ever been in a situation where a customer has been asking for something and you've had to say no i've had this in my business so a lot of the time people will say to me they'll contact me either on linkedin or on youtube and i say oh can you send me your interview questions and answers for free and i have to say no i'm really polite but at the end of the day of course i'm running a business and a lot of work goes into those templates so i have to charge a very small fee for them i mean they're only 4.99 or 7.99 but i have to say no and that's because you have to remember that amazon is running a business another example might be where a customer i i might run a coupon code discount for my customers and it runs for a 48-hour period a customer may contact me a week later and say richard can i have that coupon code and i have to say no because it's unfair on the other customers so that would be examples that i would give when i am answering the question tell me a time when you had to say no to a customer taking ownership tell me a time when you thought you were going to miss a project or a task deadline this is about taking ownership for situations where you think something is going to go wrong and then you act before it does go wrong tell me a time when you helped a co-worker with a difficult task so you don't just say well that's your responsibility you identify that there's a problem and you then get involved with it invent and simplify tell me a time when you were able to make something at work simpler and easier to use tell me a time where your idea had a positive impact on a team or an organization here's some more examples are right a lot tell me a time when you didn't have enough information to make an important decision tell me a time when you looked at things from a different angle to solve a problem learn and be curious tell me a time when you were unsure of what to do what was the situation and how did you make the right decision so that shows that you're you're curious and you want to learn tell me a time when someone challenged your point of view hire and develop the best tell me a time when you went out of your way to help someone in your team reach their full potential and tell me a time when you gave someone constructive feedback at work insist on the highest standards tell me a time when you insisted on doing something the right way so you might have been in a team meeting for example and somebody says oh we should take a shortcut and do this because it will save us money and you put your hand up and say no that's not right we have to insist on the highest standards because the company brand is at stake if we don't tell me a situation where you wish you'd have done things differently and that's where you reflect on your performance and think yeah we should have done things differently in that situation so obviously there are more uh leadership principles and if you do watch that video that i gave you the link to in the top right hand corner of this video it gives you some more questions and answers based around all the leadership principles amazon interview tip number seven this is a really good one use keywords and phrases that match the leadership qualities so if you read those leadership principles you should be able to think of how you can meet each and every one of them in your answers let me give you an example of what i mean by matching the leadership principles with phrases keywords and phrases that match them so customer obsession i would be saying something like i always focused on the customer when making decisions for the company i managed to build trust with the customer by making sure i delivered on my promises and i asked the customer questions that were designed to improve the service that we provided here's some more examples of leadership phrases you could use learn and be curious i asked my manager a number of questions because i wanted to learn more about how things were done i asked my manager for feedback on my performance because i wanted to improve i am currently reading the book extreme ownership by jocko willing to improve my workplace and leadership skills i think that's a good thing to think about with respect of the amazon leadership principle learn and be curious is what are you doing right now to improve yourself and by the way that book is a brilliant book um jocko willink is a former u.s navy seal and that book is about how the seals would take ownership for the situations that they were in to deliver consistent results another one that's based on think big i weighed up the options carefully and i felt the risk was worth taking because the company stood to benefit significantly if it paid off so if you're going to think big in an organization surely you have to take some sort of risk but you need to weigh up the options first and think about the consequences before you make your decision i spoke to the people in my team to try and establish a different way of approaching the task so that's involving other people within your team to reach a decision where you're trying to think big and achieve your goals frugality i had some spare time one afternoon and so i decided to go through the office expenditure list to see if i could find the company ways of saving money during the initial brief for the project we spent time assessing the expenditure to make sure what we were proposing was financially viable and amazon is very good at this so even though amazon obviously invests a huge amount of money in products and services it is not wasteful with that money okay so you have to prove during your interview that you can look after the the pennies or the sense if you like okay i hope you've enjoyed that next thing make sure you click that link in the top right hand corner of the video you can go through to my website pastmyinterview.com and you can download my 22 amazon leadership principles interview questions and answers it's a great little study guide that will help you prepare for any amazon job interview i hope you found those seven tips useful don't forget to check out my next video about amazon interviews right here um on youtube because it will help you to pass i've also put the links in the description below the video to everything that you need to further prepare for your amazon interview if you've got any questions put them in a comment section below the video please don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss out please also make sure you connect with me on linkedin and finally give the video a thumbs up please as you can see a lot of work goes into this a lot of time and effort and that tells me you enjoy the content thank you for watching and i wish you all the best for passing your amazon interview have a brilliant day thank you very much

Channel: CareerVidz

Views: 167,921

Keywords: amazon interview tips, amazon interview questions, amazon leadership principles, customer obsession, ownership, invent and simplify, bias for action, frugality, earn trust, dive deep, have backbone; disagree and commit, deliver results, are right a lot, amazon interview questions and answers, why amazon, How do I prepare for an Amazon interview?, What are the questions asked in Amazon interview, amazon interview process, How many rounds are there in Amazon interview

Id: 0jFjGkjdHl8

Length: 25min 15sec (1515 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 18 2020