Amazon.com Senior Product Manager Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – I received initial communication from a recruiter that arranged a phone call with the hiring manager. I had a 45min interview with the hiring manager. Later I was called in for a whole day of interviews. During this period, HR called me and informed me the type of the interview and what the interviewers are looking in the interviewee. Mostly be prepared for STAR stories around Amazon leadership principles. This happened pretty fast in two days. I was flown in the following week.

I did not know who I was meeting, but the whole day was filled with 45minute interviews with 5-6 interviewers.

Most of the interview is straightforward. Questions are situational, behavioral and leadership oriented.

Interview Details – I was contacted by a recruiter for a position with one of the teams at Amazon. Recruiter was really great to work with. The entire team, in fact, was great to work with throughout the process. They care a lot about your experience so if something is really bugging you, do not hesitate to politely express your thoughts and request assistance. Most of the time they'll do their best to accommodate your requests.

1. Recruiter reached out to see if I was interested in the role.
2. Setup 2 phone screens, which went really well. Very situational. All about your experience and ability to think critically about problem solving. How did you solve x,y,z? If you had to fix something at Amazon, what would it be? How would you fix it? Who would be the people to help you? How would you pick your team? What are the steps you take in Product Management?
3. In-person interviews on-site in Seattle. About 6-7 people back-to-back from morning to evening, including lunch. But again, all very nice. All very easy to work with. Take a lot of water breaks and bathroom breaks to compose yourself. Don't think that if I am a spartan I'll get the job... :)
3A. The bar raiser interview for Product Managers is very situational... Examples of questions:
- How do you define/decide if software is working?
- Tell me about a time that you started fixing something small and then realized it was much bigger... how did you solve that?
- And a lot of other tell me about a time...
3B. Take hints from interviewers. You need to listen VERY carefully. If they say, "hey take a look at this. Feel free to click around anywhere..." then click EVERYwhere. Just do your best to make sure they know you're listening to them.
3C. Don't be afraid to state the obvious. If there's a part of the process in testing that you think and know from your experience is manual and is NOT the best answer but is how things are done, then state it. QA requires hands and sometimes not in the technical sense.
3D. Nothing too technical but be prepared to think analytically. Don't be afraid to use the blackboard. Get up there and talk them through what you're thinking. GO WITH YOUR GUT. It is almost always right. If you were selected to interview and passed the first 2 rounds, then you are almost at the finish line which means that at least 3 people believed you have what it takes. So showcase that. Don't second guess yourself!

Other tips:
- Know ALL the leadership principles and do your best to tell your stories in a way that reflects those principles. Don't be obvious as that will sound rehearsed. And if the leadership principles don't resonate then definitely reconsider applying.
- Ask a lot of questions and GOOD ones. Don't just ask questions for the sake of asking... and don't be afraid to ask more about the project or program. A lot of what Amazon does is "under the covers" and there are NDAs that candidates sign, so once you get in there, ask about the program, the project, the "why" or the "so what" to make sure you know what the project is like

Interview Details – The interview process is fairly straight forward. There are two phone screen interviews and then an on-site interview with 6-7 people in the loop. The question are mainly related to individual leadership principle listed on the website. Best to pick each principle and have case examples to show that you either excel in it or have the ability to demonstrate strong performance. Everyone in the loop gives a yay or a nay and based on that the Hiring Manager and the Senior Most Person on the loop make the decision to hire the person.

Negotiation Details – Typically you get one back and forth for negotiations. If you are in the retail leadership development program then you have way no negotiate, outside it is fair game. They will low ball you so much for maximum cash bonus in Year 1 and Year 2. Also ask for sign-on bonus, move-in bonus.

Interview Details – I had applied via Amazon.com's website. Several weeks later I was contacted by the hiring manager to confirm that I am truly interested in the position. He then had someone in HR arrange a 1 hour telephone interview with him. The interview was probably 50/50 questions relating directly to the position and questions relating to my skills/methods as a product manager. Although I felt that I had answered the questions well, I could tell that he lost his enthusiasm with my candidacy by the end of the interview.

Interview Details – There are two rounds. Two interviewers in the first round and four interviewers in the second round. First round is phone interview and second round is face-to-face interview.

Interview Details – First round: I had a couple of 30min phone interviews with product managers. I have been asked general questions such as "why Amazon" and "Why product management". In the first interview I had a mini-case question and in the second one I was given a market sizing question.

Final round: I was invited to Seattle for a final round interview. I had 4 interview with different people, about 45 minutes each. I was asked lots of fit/personal experience questions: "tell me about a time you had to explain a technical issue to senior management", "what is your most significant career achievement", etc. Also some Amazon-specific questions: "what is your favorite Amazon product and why", "why Amazon" etc. Each interviewer also gave me at least one mini case, e.g. "how would you design an online billing system", "how would you change an Amazon webpage to increase sales".

Interview Details – 2 rounds. First round is on campus. Second round is at Amazon.

Interview Details – The HR team seems very prompt & driven by SLAs. They are quick to respond, set up interviews & turn back around with thumbs up or down. The interviewers tend to be a mix of hiring managers, peers/ team members & stakeholders. i am in the prelim stages of the interview process having completed a number of phone screens.

Interview Details – I'd like to respect the NDA that I signed so I can't dispense the details. However I can give an overview of the interview structure.

Phone Call 1 - Screening with the recruiter
Phone Call 2 - 45 mins interview with a very level Manager
Phone Call 3 - 45 mins interview with another manager

Flown to Seattle after 2 weeks.
6 back to back interview of 45 mins each.

Get an email from the Recruiter, that they had "very positive" feedback from the team, and that they want to discuss the next steps.

I call them, and am told that the entire team had very positive feedback but they had new developments. Thus, they are going ahead with an internal applicant.

Positives:
Loved the whole interview process. Right from the interviews till my logistics of travel - everything was handled in a very professional manner. Loved the interview panel - extremely pumped up and smart Amazonians. I was asked me a lot of brain teasing questions.

Negatives:
Be very careful. After all the energy you spend in going through interviews, the travels and so on, you might have gotten all the positive feedback form the interview panel, yet they might say they cant hire you because of "other" reasons.