I was asked to interview for a Program Manager Role in Amazon Payments by an Amazon recruiter.
The recruiter screened me. I cleared the first interview which focused on Amazon's Leadership Values. I had a wonderful discussion with that first interviewer. She told me all about her career trajectory and experiences at Amazon. I was scheduled for a second interview.
The second interview was scheduled. It was with someone who had only been in the payments team for 8 months. He was unprepared. Unprepared to host an interview and unprepared to interview someone.
Here's where it gets strange. Let me start with some of the advice that Amazon gives.
Amazon issues guidance to all candidates about interviewing on Cell phones. Have the Phone charged, be in a quiet spot with good service, etc. I did all that.
The person interviewing me calls me from his cell phone. He apologizes that the VoIP system has failed and he's decided to call me on his cell with a Bluetooth headset he admitted to being poor quality. It's a choppy line; from him cutting out completely, to sounding underwater, to momentarily sounding normal. In the course of the 50-minute interview, we play the Verizon Ad Game "Can you hear me now?", for 8 minutes.
The interview was the reverse of anything I've ever experienced.
I get to ask my questions first. Twenty minutes of me asking questions and getting answers. After I finish my questions, I proceed to answer his run of the mill questions from the Leadership Values Sample Questions. I've prepped for these questions. I have my answers in front of me. He asked me a follow-up question, not in the question bank, and I believe I answered him well. We talk next steps. We talk about he felt I had the payments and banking background. He even mentioned I asked some really good and relevant questions.
After the call, I call the recruiter. I Thank her for scheduling the calls. Let her know about the technical issues with his phone and Bluetooth headset. I'm told to expect a call by Friday for next steps. Was promised I would not be left hanging.
The next day at 7:00 am I get the generic rejection email not from the recruiter I was speaking with, but from a recruiter that was once in Chicago and now in Seattle.
I ask this recruiter for feedback - so far, no response.
I email the original recruiter. No response. So, I call. The number to the recruiter has been disconnected! I find the original recruiter on LinkedIn and let her know I’ve tried to follow up with her via the official Amazon channel, and explain why I have to resort to LinkedIn. I get a reply from her letting me know she was dismissed.
Is this how Amazon operates?
My Interviewer was unprepared and really didn’t care. He went against the Leadership Principles other Amazon employees claim the firm expects to live their professional career by.
My recruiter was dismissed. I’m left hanging with no real understanding as to what happened — neither an explanation for the rejection or feedback on my discussions.
Worse, I’ve seen the Job requisition closed, and then another reopened (with a different requisition number), by the senior recruiter who sent me that generic message.
I’ve interviewed with some really rude people, but never with an organization this crass, and rude.
If Amazon Management is serious about holding staff to its Leadership Values, it will investigate this matter. Don’t change your mind on me as a candidate, I don’t want to work for you anymore.
