Early March:
recruiter calls and says my profile looks good for a BIE role and will i be interested and willing to relocate?
rectuiters want you to succeed so listen to them. The questions you will see here are already availabe on the web so take it seriously and have compelling stories for all of them. use STAR method and practice with someone as much as you can. I say it again practice it with someone again and again and again. Quantify your result like saved cost by 50%, increased rev by $2M. think about all the possible questions your story may raise. They is looking for people with diverse experience than people who are super technical. you may be awesome in coding but if you dont have stories for all of the 14 LP (you can ignore frugalty and hiring the best if you are applying for entry/mid level) then it will be very difficult. Have good set of questions for the interiewers they love answering them.
My sql was little bit rusty I spent too much time in situation part. You should spend a lot of time in Action and use "I" not "We". I didnt have good answers for probing questions from the bar raiser so got a rejection
It was painful to go through the whole month of preparations and getting a rejection from Amazon but this experience made me dig through everything I have ever done and made me appreciate my own work. HRs were very helpful and the interviewers were very knowledgable, patient and helpful. Amazon wants only the best of the best. dont beat yourself up if you dont get it. Good luck!!
Phone screen 1:
Behavioral - Deep dive 1. Give me an example of when you used data to make a decision/solve a problem.?
2. Tell me about the most complex problem you’ve ever worked on.
SQL - sql( tested join, group by having, where , pivoting in sql , sub query with agreegate)
Phone screen 2:
Behavioral - Deliver result 1. a time where you not only met a goal but considerably exceeded expectations.
2. when you were able to deliver an important project under a tight deadline.
What are the variables you would consider when you are going to predict demand for a product?
Because of Corona the onsite interview was set up via Amazon chime. All in one day late march back to back with one 30 min break stay in well lit place and get a headphone with mic.
Virtual onsite 1: with BIE
SQL - tested on different join , group by having, where, aggregate and think about how you would find outliers) I did not do well in this one
Behavioral - Customer Obsession
1. a time you obsessed over giving very high-quality service to a customer?
2. How did you figure out how your customers are unhappy and what did you do about it?
Have backboan -
1. when you took an unpopular stance in a meeting with peers and your leader and you were the outlier
2. When do you decide to go along with the group decision even if you disagree?
Virtual onsite 2 : with BIE
SQL - SQL ( tested on different join, group by, lead , lag , where , aggregate)
Behavioral - Be curious
1. What’s the most innovative new idea that you have implemented?
2. What did you lean in the past years and how do you keep learning?
Invent and simplify
1. how did you solve a complex problem with simple fix 2.
Virtual onsite 3: hiring manager
Behavioral : Tell me about yourself 1. why this role 2. why amazon ?
Earn trust:
1. what was the critical piece of feedback you received?
2. when your decision was not liked by your team? what did you do about it?
ownership -
1. what did you do when you saw your team member was struggling?
Vitual onsite 4: bar raiser. had lot more follow up questions. think about all the possible questions your story might invoke.
Behavioral: Insist on highest standard:
1. you have been unsatisfied with the status quo. What did you do to change it? Were you successful?
2. time when you were dissatisfied with the quality of something at work and went out of your way to improve it.
Think big:
1. time you took a big risk and it failed. What did you learn? What would you do differently?
2. time you were working on an initiative or goal and saw an opportunity to do something much bigger than the initial focus.
Virtual onsite 5: Data scientist
Case: how would you find your demand going to be for a product when you dont have any history. what are the KPIs you would use to differentiate your product from your competitor. there was a campaign conducted by the marketing team and how would you find out if the campaign was successful?
1. Describe a situation where you made an important business decision without consulting your manager
2. a time when you took a calculated risk.
Have backboan
1. If your direct manager was instructing you to do something you disagreed with, how would you handle it?