Raising the Bar: How to Prepare for the AWS Interview Process

Introduction

My name is Brian Kane and I manage a partner business development team (including managers and individual contributors) at AWS driving co-sell activities with our most strategic Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). Co-selling is when AWS and an ISV work together to generate and identify leads and potential customers, qualify opportunities and manage pipeline, and activate a sales motion leading the launch on an ISV solution with an end customer. 

I’ve welcomed 11 new hires on my team in 2021 and participated in over 150 interviews for these and other roles. These recommendations are based on these experiences, in addition to my own candidate experience. I interviewed unsuccessfully twice at Amazon/AWS prior to receiving an offer in June 2020 on the team I now manage. 

Disclaimers

1. Recommendations in this document are not official AWS guidance on our interview process and solely reflect the perspectives and opinions of the author, me!
2. Use your judgment to determine how to prepare using the resources recruiting provides you, official guidance provided by Amazon/AWS, and other available resources.
3. Be yourself! We celebrate diversity and want people to bring their full, authentic selves to the interview.
4. Your interview journey may look slightly different than below. The experience varies based on the type of role, level of role, etc. In particular, technical roles at Amazon/AWS have technical assessments, “whiteboarding” sessions, and other activities not listed below. 

Overview of the Interview process

1. Applying for a role – the first step is to officially apply for a role at AWS (link). Depending on the role, this might also include a technical assessment, non-technical assessment, or writing exercise. Tip – if you have someone in your network who works for AWS, ask them to refer you before you click apply (they will need your resume, email, and phone number to submit)
2. Recruiter phone screen – each role has an assigned Sourcing Recruiter (who works with you until the on-site loop is scheduled) who will ensure your compensation expectations can be met, provide you high-level information on the role, and ask you some high-level functional fit questions. Tip – ask the sourcing recruiting the top “must haves” the hiring team is looking for to make sure you’re a great fit.
3. Phone screens – most hiring teams opt for one or two phone screens, generally driven by the team’s most experienced interviewers. Each phone screen is usually 45-60 minutes long and is a Chime call (AWS’s messaging/videoconferencing solution). Expect anywhere from three to four behavioral interview (STAR format) questions. Tip – prepare your strongest three to five STAR examples for the phone screen. 
4. Client Lead Recruiter call – you will transition from the Sourcing Recruiter to the Client Lead Recruiter (CLR) once a decision to move to an on-site loop has been made. The CLR helps you prepare for the on-site loop and work with you through the offer phase.
5. Interview loops are usually constructed of four to five interviews, each 45-60 minutes long. More on this later!
6. Decision to hire (or not) – the interview panel meets and discusses your fit for Amazon, the right level to bring you in at, and the fit for the role. A decision to hire is based on your ability to raise the bar - be better than 50% of people at the seniority level for the type of role you interviewed for.
7. Offer (or not) – the Client Lead Recruiter will inform you of the hiring team’s decision. If the team is inclined to hire, an offer will be constructed for you. 
8. Getting ready for your first day – the Client Lead Recruiter and Hiring Manager will work with you to confirm job location, relocation (as applicable), your new hire IT selections, and more, working backwards from your agreed upon start date.

Who you will interview with

1. The Bar Raiser (BR) is an interviewer at Amazon/AWS who is brought into the hiring process to be an objective third party. By bringing in somebody who’s not associated with the team, the best long-term hiring decisions are made and we can ensure that the company is always serving, surprising, and innovating for customers. The role of the Bar Raiser is to be a steward of Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles. Link for more information on Bar Raisers.
2. The Hiring Manager (HM) ensures you are a functional and team fit, in addition to cultural fit. They identify the critical aspects of the role (leadership principles, functional skills) required for the role and make a high-judgement decision based on loop feedback to extend an offer, or not.
3. Interviewers are a mixture of peers, stakeholders, and other Amazonians who each independently assess the leadership principles they are assigned. All interviewers, including the BR and HM, will be at least the same level of seniority as the role you are interviewing for.
4. Shadows are a secondary interviewer who are training to become a “solo” interviewer. We strive for a consistent and calibrated candidate experience, so shadows allow less experienced interviewers to observe (generally not actively participate) in the interview.

Three things the Amazon/AWS interview process seeks to determine

Are you an Amazonian? At most companies, the decision to hire is focused on the candidate’s functional fit for the role they are applying to. Amazon/AWS is different - the interview loop is focused on your cultural fit, as measured by our Leadership Principles (LPs). We know that builders and entrepreneurs are frequently inspired by new ventures and we have a culture which celebrates you pursuing the areas you are passionate about without any internal gatekeeping. At Amazon/AWS, we encourage each employee to own their career and there is no minimum time in role required before transferring to another team. Having a consistent hiring bar ensures you will be successful at Amazon/AWS no matter what team you are on.

At what level of seniority do you raise the bar? We have relentlessly high standards in everything we do – including our hiring process. If you are deemed to be an Amazonian, we next determine at what level of seniority you are better than 50% of people in role. As an example, we expect a junior employee to drive impact with a singular project/partner/customer, while a mid-stage employee drives impact at a team level, and senior level role at the organizational level. At Amazon/AWS our Leadership Principles aren’t a poster on a wall – they are part of everyday life at the company. The interviewers you speak with are calibrated to assess our expectation of those LPs at the level of seniority you are applying to. 

Are you a fit for the role you’re applying to? For a Hiring Manager to extend an offer they need to see a fit for Amazon, level of seniority, and role. Every role is different so there is no hard rule here. For some roles I’ve hired, I am open to a candidate with core transferrable skills who requires coaching and mentorship in specific areas. Other times, the hiring team may have specific functional skills they deem as non-negotiable requirements and don’t want to set you up for failure if you don’t meet them. Tip: as you prepare your examples, prioritize examples which relate to the functional fit areas for the role. Read the Job Description carefully and ask the recruiters and Hiring Manager their “must haves”.

15 Tips for a Successful Interview

1. Familiarize yourself with AWS. Go to YouTube.com and watch the most recent re:Invent (our largest annual conference) keynote. This gives you an overview of where AWS is focused.
2. Dive Deep into a specific area of AWS which interests you (a set of services, a use case, a vertical). Read case studies, white papers, and materials related to this area. Often candidates “try to drink the ocean” and study dozens of the 200+ AWS services. Instead dive deep into an area you are passionate about. Tip: ask the hiring manager and recruiters what are the most relevant AWS native services for the role you are applying (e.g., High Performance Computing for a role focused on the Manufacturing Industry Vertical).
3. Learn and be curious! Ask people in your network who work at/with Amazon/AWS their experience. If you bring this into the loop you will earn bonus points. For example, “I spoke with my friend at partner x and they said their #1 frustration with AWS is x. What’s your thoughts?”
4. Prepare 15-20 STAR examples for the (virtual) on-site – use your interview preparation as a time to reflect on your recent experience and think through situations when you’ve been at your best. I don’t recommend preparing specific examples for specific Leadership Principles. Candidates who do this usually try to guess the Leadership Principle of the question being asked – and guess incorrectly. The result is an example that doesn’t answer the question being asked and answers the wrong LP. Instead think through examples, big and small, which demonstrate behavior ranging from exceeding results, failing to meet a commitment, coming up with a creative solution to a problem, making a decision using data, etc.
5. Actively listen to the interview question. During the interview, actively listen to the question asked and select the right story you’ve prepared which best matches it. Pause to collect your thoughts or ask the interviewer to repeat the question if needed. Focus on answering the question and then allow the interview to ask follow-up with questions to collect the information they need. Remember that the interviewer is rooting for you! They will continue to ask follow-up questions and/or ask a secondary question to get the data they need.
6. Only choose examples where it’s clear what actions you drove. Candidates often choose examples with the biggest results (e.g., a multi-year transformational initiative that grew sales from $100M to $500M), but it’s not clear what role they specifically had in realizing these outcomes. An example where you can articulate the specific actions YOU took (including through your team if you are a manager) and resulting impact is stronger than a more generic answer with greater impact.
7. I vs TEAM – the interviewer wants to know what activities YOU drove and the resulting outcomes. Don’t use the words “we” or “the team” outside of the situation (or sometimes results). This can be challenging for candidates who work for companies which culturally avoid taking individual credit. If this applies to you, then practicing your STAR examples is even more important. As you do so, catch yourself saying “we” or “the team” and revise your talk track.
8. Your examples should be concisely delivered – write out the STAR for each example and practice delivering it following the Situation, Task, Action, Result flow. Remember that the interviewer will ask follow-up questions to get the information needed. Your answer should be just long enough to provide enough detail for a complete STAR example – not too short and definitely not too long!
9. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE – dedicate the majority of your preparation time practicing your examples. Some ways you can do this: 1/write examples down and say them out loud; 2/record yourself on your phone’s selfie camera rehearsing them and watch the video to critique yourself; 3/make flash cards of samples questions, shuffle them up, and interview yourself. The more you practice, the calmer and more collected you will be in the interview. 
10. We want data! – at Amazon/AWS we strive to make data-driven decisions whenever we can. We expect candidates to provide data in their STAR example. The most impactful area is in the results (i.e. x went to y resulting in z). Approximate the data if you believe the information is confidential or you don’t remember (but be honest!). 
11. The hidden “R” - reflection – Amazon/AWS is a peculiar culture where each of us are expected to be humble. Even in our greatest successes, there was always something we could have done better. For every example you prepare, ask yourself: what could I have been done better or differently? What did I learn? How will I do (even) better next time?
12. Prioritize recent examples– ideally examples are within the last 5-7 years. The general rule is the longer ago, the stronger the example needs to be. There are exceptions (e.g., you’ve taken a break from work to care for a family member, go back to school, raise a family).
13. Be honest – avoid fabricating or stretching examples. The interviewer will ask multiple follow-up questions and an example which appears to be false is an Earn Trust flag (which is a big deal!).
14. Be professional – avoid using derogatory terms or overly negative labels (e.g., “I was working with a seller who was a total diva – they were coin operated and expected everything to be done for them”). If you’re hired, you will be representing the brand of AWS. Good candidates disqualify themselves (self-forced error) with missteps in this area.
15. Give context – remember that your interviewer (especially the Bar Raiser) doesn’t know your specific domain. If you use jargon or industry/technology specific terms make sure to provide context so your interviewer follows your examples.

In summary, the Amazon/AWS interview process is peculiar – just like the company itself! I personally love how fair, unbiased, and consistent the process strives to be. Amazon/AWS is hiring 10,000's of corporate jobs each year and this process allows us to hire a consistently high bar of talent. We also acknowledge that the process sometimes overlooks good candidates who don’t properly prepare. Take the time to prepare, in the right way, to make sure you’re not one of them! I hope you are able to join this amazing company. If you truly are a builder / entrepreneur, this is a magical place to be!