Amazon.com Product Development Interview Questions & Reviews

Interviewed Nov 2011 in Seattle, WA (took 6 months)

The "process" such as it is, can take a very long time. From the first contact with the first recruiter, there were a half-dozen phone interviews with 3 different teams, plus an on-site interview loop, with months-long intervening periods of silence. Don't expect to hear back from the recruiter unless/until they decide to go to the next step.

The interviews themselves are:

- Strangely secretive; for phone interviews, recruiters refused to gave last names of interviewers.

- Fairly straightforward, but challenging. Lots of scenario-based questions, e.g., "How would you approach ____________?" Expect extended questioning to see how deeply & thoroughly you can think through a topic.

- A tiring day's worth if you're called in for an on-site loop. Look for the "bar raiser", a person from outside the team whose job is to make sure you're an ideal fit for Amazon's culture. If you know someone who works there, ask in advance about Amazon's values (they're very specific) and prepare examples.