Landing an interview with Amazon might feel like one of the most exciting — and intimidating — things to happen to you. Amazon, like most organizations, puts a lot of effort into hiring the right fit for their open positions. As CEO Jeff Bezos once shared, “Id rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person.”
It says a lot if your resume got past the gatekeepers and into the hands of an Amazon hiring manager. Now, take a deep breath and get prepped for your interview.
Onsite Interview
The on-site is the final stage youâll go through in your journey towards cracking the Engineering Manager interview at Amazon. Amazonâs onsite will include 5-6 rounds that overall will take one whole day. Each interview will be for about an hour. Theyâll be conducted by several different people. Theyâll usually be other SDMs, but can sometimes also include a hiring manager/HR representative or even a Software Engineer.Â
Amazon also has a concept of bar raisers, who are assigned to interviews to make sure each new hire is better than at least 50% of their workforce. You will not know who is the bar raiser for your interview, but your job is to also show in what ways you are better than 50% of their workforce. Expect structured interviews. They may not initiate a lot of back and forth.Â
1. Leadership:
2. System design:Â
3. Coding:Â
Writing Assignment
Before the onsite interview, you may (or may not) get a written assignment that tests your communication skills and will help direct some of your onsite interview. For example, you could be asked to write about a past achievement, and behavioral questions could be asked based on what you write.Â
If youâre given choices, choose the question that helps you align yourself authentically with the leadership principles. Also, since youâre expected to be a leader, donât overstate your contributions at the expense of your team.
Video Screening
There will be one or two calls with a hiring manager along with an engineer for 45-60 minutes. Expect questions that assess you based on leadership principles, questions about your work experience, and questions related to people management. Expect multiple follow-up questions, be ready with detailed answers for anything in your resume relevant to the role.Â
Their goal is to check how you think, what tradeoffs you choose to make. You may also be asked a system design question in this interview, although it will not be focused on that. So prepare for system design early for a more robust preparation.