Amazon.com Area Manager Interview Questions & Reviews
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Updated May 12, 2012 – Interview questions and reviews posted anonymously by interview candidates.
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Difficulty Rating [?] Based on 61 ratings 
“Average” Interview
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Interview Experience [?] Based on 61 ratings
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| 41–50 of 61 Amazon.com Interviews | Sort by |
Area Manager at Amazon.com
Posted Mar 1, 2011
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5.0
Very Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Feb 2011 in Phoenix, AZ (took 3 weeks)
The phone interview was straight forward and lasted about 45 mins to 1 hr. Basic questions of the behavioral variety. Overall the screener was very nice and made you feel comfortable.
The panel interview took about 5 hours for the whole thing. It was broken down into a math problem and then meeting with 3 different groups and/or individuals. You also had to send in ahead of time an answer to 4 different scenarios which you discussed during the panel review.
This interview was not comfortable and was designed to be a stressful interview to see if you can handle it. The interviewers would throw curve balls in the questions to see what you would do.
Most all the time they all kept saying that this place is stressful and "Amazon owns your soul" for 3 months of the year. Definitely they were trying to scare most people off.
Did not get an offer.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a Group/Panel Interview and a Skills Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Area Manager at Amazon.com
Posted Mar 4, 2011 — 0 of 2 people found this helpful
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Negative Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Feb 2011 in Las Vegas, NV (took 4 weeks)
The initial phase consisted of a phone interview from a recruiter in the Seattle office followed by another phone interview from an Operations manager located in the Las Vegas Office. I was then flown out to Phoenix, Arizona a day before the interview. The hotel and rental car was paid for because it was some pretty good driving. Also Amazon paid for any other travel related expenses. Anyway, the next day had to drive to the Amazon fulfillment center which was pretty new and still growing but was the biggest building I have ever been in. I have an industrial background so that says a lot. The interview started off with a two algebraic questions and was given a very short time to answer and I could tell all of the interviewees were stumbling! Next was a field trip of the building with an Area Manager and we were allowed to ask as many questions as we wanted. This was followed by three interviews with two of them consisting of two people and the last with one person (HR Manager). This company is all about culture and if they feel you don't fit in you will not be offered employment. What I found frustrating is that they keep asking you the same questions over and over again and its like how many times do you need to hear the same answers. If you are not answering the questions according to how they feel you should then the attitudes start to change. At the end of about 4 hours I was told that I would receive a call the next Tuesday which never came. I sent them an e-mail again expressing my interest in the job and received a call the next day stating that I had not been extended an offer. Now this is the kicker, I have years of experience managing a workforce and an environment ten times the stress any work day at Amazon could cause. I also possess a degree in Business Management but experience and education was not much of a concern. I even asked the HR Manager does Amazon encourage further learner (hence continuous personal growth and development) and her answer was no! What company doesn't not want to encourage further growth whether professionally or personally.....On top of this the day I flew home Amazon booked my flight so I had to sit in the airport for 4 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On an ending note, obviously none of the other candidates were offered the position because just a few weeks ago the re-posted the position on all of the major job sites. So I guess they feel its good business since to spend the resources in human hours and money going through candidate after candidate in order to find a perfect fit for their culture.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I Applied Online and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Area Manager at Amazon.com
Posted Feb 5, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Received and Declined Offer
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Interviewed Feb 2011 in Phoenix, AZ (took 2 weeks)
I'll post more information when I get time.. just wanted to get the most recent math problem on here for anyone getting ready to interview soon.
INBOUND FLOW QUESTION
You are in charge of the department that recieves the product to building and stows it to the bin where it is accessible by the next department. You have two options on how to recieve and stow the product.
Option One: You can recieve the product at 250uph and stow it at 100uph (units per labor hour). You must recieve it and stow it for the unit to count for the production. This process results in 1% error of units being stowed incorrectly. You can find and fox these errors at a rate of 20uph with what you believe is almost 100% accurancy.
Option Two: You recieve and stow the product in a one step vs two. The rate for this process is 80uph for recieve and stow. This process results in 1.5% error and you can fix these errors at 20uph with 100% accuracy.
1. Which option would you select to process today's unit and why?
2. Does your answer change if you are told you must fully process 100,000 units today? If yes, why?
3. Does your answer change if you are told you have 15 associates today and you must produce the maximim amount of units possible? If yes, why?
So, what they don't tell you (for those of you with zero warehouse exp) that Option one is a two step process, one peron has to recieve and one person has to stow. So, if you have 8 people, 2 have to recieve and 6 have to stow, etc. Good luck.
Reason for Declining
I have not heard back about an offer, again I will post more about questions, etc when I have time.
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a 1:1 Interview, a Presentation and a Skills Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
View Comments (3)
Inappropriate?
Area Manager at Amazon.com
Posted Feb 6, 2011 — 0 of 1 people found this helpful
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1.0
Very Easy Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Received and Declined Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 (took 2 weeks)
Submitted resume through Career Link at University. They contacted me. One 1:1 Behavioral interview followed directly by another 1:1 Case Study Interview
Interview Questions
Reason for Declining
Location, work hours
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview, a Group/Panel Interview and a Skills Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Area Manager at Amazon.com
Posted Jan 17, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Nov 2010 (took 4 days)
There were two people in the room asking me questions. It was intimidating at first, but I felt fairly confident. They asked questions that relate to the 5S and behavioral questions such as, "what would you do if someone came to work drunk?" Also, be sure to elaborate on your communication and leadership skills. Be Confident.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Area Manager at Amazon.com
Posted Jan 1, 2011
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 in Phoenix, AZ (took 1 week)
I contacted a military recruiter at Amazon.com through LinkedIn.com. He was excited about my background, and gave me the impression that I was a sure hire. I had a phone interview within 2 days of speaking with the Amazon recruiter, and progressed to the onsite panel interview. At the onsite interview, I was greated by a lady who gave me two problem scenarios to work through stating I had 20 minutes to complete them. After 50 minutes, I was taken on a walk-around tour of the warehouse by another supervisor. Following the walk-around, I was interviewed by two different supervisors. I had to present my solutions to the problem scenarios and answer typical questions. One week later I was contacted by another individual stating that they decided "to move forward with other qualified candidates such as myself".
Interview Questions
Other Details
The interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, a Presentation and a Skills Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Area Manager at Amazon.com
Posted Dec 22, 2010 — 2 of 2 people found this helpful
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2.0
Easy Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 in Reno, NV (took 2 weeks)
the interview started with the recruiter and she was basically intrested how I was a leader and my current/previous job. she was very laid back, talkative and appreciative during our conversation. Try to keep your answers short. they are looking for innovators in process management.
Interview Questions
Negotiation Details
I tried negotiating, it didnt work because it is an entry level position. GREAT benefits though, cant complian.
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview and a Group/Panel Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Area Manager at Amazon.com
Posted Nov 10, 2010 — 0 of 1 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Positive Experience
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Received and Accepted Offer
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Interviewed Nov 2010 in Phoenix, AZ (took a day)
It was easier than I thought. It took them less than 48 hours to decide and offer a job. The interview process was not that hard. Having leadership skills on my resume was most helpful. Go with at least 2-3 references and letter of recommendations.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a College or University and the interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview and a Phone Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Area Manager at Amazon.com
Posted Oct 14, 2010 — 3 of 3 people found this helpful
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3.0
Average Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 (took 3 weeks)
Submitted an application for the Area Manager position through the on Campus Career Site. Attended an Amazon info session on campus to try to get their attention that I applied for the position, which it did. I was also required to submit an application for the same position on the career website. Finally, I was invited for an on Campus interview. There were no second round interview (or it seems) and offer would be given a week after.
It was a 2 1:1 Interviews.
The first Interviewer was really outgoing and funny. He asked all the behavioral type questions, "innovative and creative thinking questions"
The second interviewer was a young guy but more serious (The type of guy that wants to hear his type of answers, not your unique answers) He asked tell me about yourself, background, work experience, and why your major. He asked to explain the math problem. Also asked a scenario question. I personally believe that I gave really good answers to the first interviewer, but as for the young guy he really didn't care what I said. For him it was more of a character fit, and not really consider what I had to offer.
As I everybody says, "Prepare and prepare some more" Research the company, history, acquisitions, services, and products. Their vision and mission statement. Secondly, look into employer's profiles. Within employer's profiles you get a feel for what type of culture is, the words and language that they use; pretty much giving you an idea of possible questions they will look for. Look into any related videos.
Innovation, Process Improvement, Ownership, Motivating your peers
Interview Questions
Why amazon? What made you interested in amazon? What grabbed your attention? What are you looking for?
Amazon invites a group of Six Sigma engineers/specialist from all places to look at your processes or areas. How you get them started what do you? Do go straight in and demonstrate the problem?
"Ok all these Six Sigma personnel have unique ideas" How do you bring them together, motivate them, bring those ideas to the table? How do you lead them and guide them through your process, what steps will you take from beginning to end?
Within you team you will have people that are focused in the afternoon activity, or are interested in getting paid and going home. How do you motivate them? How do you lead a team?
If yourself and your peers (other Area Managers) say for example 20 other Area Managers all have good ideas how do you go above them and demonstrate your process improvement idea? What type of communication approach or strategy do you use to convince your boss?
What type of improvements have you made at work?
What is you background, why did you choose your major?
Tell about your previous jobs?
Where do you see yourself in five years? (He didn't really care about what I said)
Please take 15 minutes to review this question and be prepared to present your answer to the panel.
You have an upstream Picking department that feeds two downstream packing departments: A and B.
75% of your Pick volume goes to department A, which has a packing rate of 150 units per labor hour (uph).
25% of the Pick volume goes to department B, which is for large items, and has a pack rate of 25 units per labor hour.
Your pickers pick both large and small items throughout the day at an overall average rate of 100 units per labor hour.
You have 25 people today for all 3 departments, and you absolutely must pack 7500 units in department A to meet a customer promise metric. How do you allocate labor to balance the flow in your department if you work a 10 hour shift? Do not assume breaks or lunches in your answer.
Department % of volume Rate (uph) People Daily volume
Pick 100% 100 ?? ??
Pack A 75% 150 ?? 7500
Pack B 25% 25 ?? ??
My solution.
Overall Volume * 75% = 7500
*.75 = 7500
= 7500/.75
Overall Volume = 10,000 = uph * hours * people
= 100 * 10 * people
= 1000
10 = people
Packing A: 7,500 = uph * hours * people
= 150 * 10 * people
= 1500
7500 / 1500 = people
5 = people
Packing B: 10,000 * 25% = 2500
2500 = uph * hours * people
= 25 * 10 * people
2500 = 250 * people
10 = people
Now cut uph on Packing Department A: from 150 to 125.
How much volume is packed during the first 5 hours? How much volume is packed during the second 5 hours on Packing Department A?
Your must meet the 10,000 overall volume and 75000 (Pack A) From which department do you move people? What is the overall output for each department after move?
How will you deal with Jennifer when she comes and complains? Will you tell your peer (other Area Manager)? How will you deal with this policy? What is the correct way of dealing with this policy? Is this fair for Chris and not Jennifer?
Other Details
The interview consisted of a 1:1 Interview.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
Area Manager at Amazon.com
Posted Oct 19, 2010
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4.0
Difficult Interview
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Overall Neutral Experience
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Interviewed and No Offer
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Interviewed Oct 2010 (took 4+ weeks)
So I was excited to hear back from Amazon when I applied for Area Manager. I did my due diligence and researched the company, visiting this site as well as others to prepare accordingly. Overall, the process and company were not exactly what I was expecting. Am I dissapointed I didn't get an offer? Yes. Are Amazon and its employees as intimidating as this site and others seem to imply? No.
Long story short, the interview was a valuable experience. I felt prepared and up to the task. This site is very good as for what you should expect. There was no excel test, there was a simple math problem (made hard by a curveball during the actual panel interview - the only reason I rate the overall as hard instead of easy), and finally, your basic interview questions you should be prepared to answer for any interview.
As for the warehouse and its employees, firstly, I was not impressed at all by their "state of the art" warehousing. Yes, it's big, maybe 5 football fields end to end. But it was sloppy. Frankly, we do a better, more sensible job warehousing items at my Mom and Pop shop.
The one employee I spent time with on the floor was very nice, yet wasn't exacly a genuis, so to speak. Since this Co. seems to stress the intelligence of its employees (and yours in getting a job), I must say I felt highly confident in comparison. If this person can do it, I know I can was my exact thought process at the time.The other folks on the floor were a good mix of young and old of all races, and neither looked happy nor sad to be there. In fact, I might have made eye contact with only one of the 20 I was in close contact with. The warehouse was typically drab, decent lighting, but again, the actual warehousing seemed a mess to me.
As for the upper management, my least favorable impression of the company comes from the Ops. Manager I would have been working for. This person was rude at first contact, largely dismissive of me throughout the process in general, and just didn't seem like a nice person at all (or one who would be fun to work for). The other 2 folks on the interview panel were seemingly nice and overtly neutral.
Looking back, it seems to me that Amazon is looking for a very specific type of personality and/or intelligence. Again, I wasn't intimidated by them or the job. By my standards I had a good interview. But based on what I saw, heard, and felt, perhaps it's a good thing I didn't make the grade. The actual experience was nowhere near what I was expecting, from the cell phone policy (nobody checked my phone at security) to the warehouse itself.
Interview Questions
Other Details
I got the interview through a Recruiter and the interview consisted of a Phone Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, a Presentation, a Skills Test and a Personality Test.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Inappropriate?
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