I attended a networking event for a position in logistics and operations. About a month and a half later a logistics recruiter contacted me about a phone interview. However, she wouldn't tell me which logistics positions she was hiring for. Amazon logistics is growing faster than it can handle, so they are really looking for the right fit and the right skill sets. The phone interview was hard to set up, as my recruiter forgot about our scheduled time, and then didn't email me to re-schedule. I had to borderline nag her to set it up, which I thought was unprofessional and disorganized, especially since she was the one who reached out to me. That's pretty indicative of the company, if you ask me.
When the initial phone interview was finally solidified, she asked me about my past roles, what I wanted to do in five to ten years, what my greatest accomplishment was at my most recent role, and then spent about ten to fifteen minutes digging into the reasoning behind my answers (which is very typical of Amazon, so be prepared to defend your decisions and thought process.) After that, we discussed salary expectations--"on the conservative side"--and then she gave me some ideas of which roles I'd be a good fit for, mainly the PM role. She told me she would get back to me within a week with some job descriptions I'd be a fit for. Well, one week passed and I heard nothing, so then I kept pestering her. Turns out that the role I was most interested in, a Program Manager in Seattle, was no longer available. There were only roles open in the Midwest or East coast. I told the recruiter I could be flexible with location. Then, and only then, did she set up a second phone call with someone in a Midwest procurement center.
I was again very disappointed with how unprofessional and flaky this recruiter was. If I hadn't reached out to her several times, I would not have secured a second interview. At this point, I was losing interest in the position because 1) it was no longer in the location I desired and 2) the recruiter had horrible communication skills. When I finally spoke to someone in procurement, it was a very quick 30-minute phone call, mainly behavioral based and then he told me he had to go because of a meeting. Again, very unprofessional. I wasn't disappointed when I was rejected one week later, even though I thought I did fine.
For this position, it sounded like I would be leading a team in a warehouse, which is definitely not something I'm interested in doing. If you interview for this position, read the job description very carefully and do NOT take abuse from recruiters. I clearly was interested and qualified for the job, but felt like I was deliberately being kept on the back burner. Getting interviews should not feel like pulling teeth, especially when HR is the one who makes the first move. Stop taking people for granted, Amazon; you're not THAT special of a company.
