I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon in Jan 2017
Interview
CV Screening.
First Step: You are invited to complete some numerical tests on SHL.
Second Step: With an excel file and recording the screen, complete the tasks you are asked. Basically Dynamic Tables, VLOOK-UP and finally some SQL questions. Apart from these questions, other behavioral ones (following always the STAR and mentioning Amazon's principles). Asked which departments I was interested in.
Last step: 2x30min telephone interviews with the supposed Hiring Managers. There was no possibility at all to extend this 30min. Basically CV, behavioral questions. I was not interested in the position the first one presented me, and the second HM wasn't interested in me at all -he couldn't even describe the position-. This was the last stage.
Had an horrible selection process; not speaking with HR at any moment (just by email).
The interview process includes a SQL test, an initial recruiter call, and a final five-round loop featuring technical questions and discussions focused on Amazon leadership principles with different team members.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
They asked a key question focused on both technical depth and culture fit: how you apply your skills to solve real problems, along with examples demonstrating alignment with Amazon’s leadership principles.
I applied online. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA)
Interview
Interviewed for Business Analyst role at Amazon and honestly the process felt exhausting and impersonal.
The interviewers seemed far more focused on checking boxes against the 14 Leadership Principles than actually understanding the candidate or having a genuine conversation. Almost every question was another version of a STAR behavioral scenario, even when it barely related to the actual role.
The process felt extremely rehearsed and rigid. There was little effort to make the candidate feel comfortable or valued, and it often felt like they had already decided the outcome before the interview even started.
Technical and analytical depth barely mattered compared to how perfectly you could package stories into Amazon’s preferred format. If you don’t have polished STAR stories memorized for every possible situation, the process can feel unnecessarily difficult and draining.
Overall, one of the most mentally exhausting interview experiences I’ve had.
The basic STAR format, but the team was not clear about what they were looking for. The recruiter was not very responsive and took a long time to schedule the calls