the questions were basic, how do you handle x, what did you do in situation y. The written exercise was taken verbatim from an antiqued amazon interview cycle:
Please answer any one of the following questions. Please try and limit your response to 2 pages and
submit it via a word doc or PDF. Feel free to use data, charts, or pictures to deliver your point, no
slides.
Please do not include any confidential information.
1. Topic 1: What is the most inventive or innovative thing you’ve done? It doesn’t have to be something
that’s patented. It could be a process change, product idea, a new metric or customer facing interface –
something that was your idea. It cannot be anything your current or previous employer would deem
confidential information. Please provide us with context to understand the invention/innovation. What
problem were you seeking to solve? Why was it important? What was the result? Why or how did it
make a difference and change things?
2. Topic 2: Most decisions are made with analysis, but some are judgment calls not susceptible to
analysis due to time or information constraints. Please write about a judgment call you’ve made recently
that couldn’t be analyzed. It can be a big or small one but should focus on a business issue. What was
the situation, the alternatives you considered and evaluated, and your decision-making process? Be sure
to explain why you chose the alternative you did relative to others considered.
Helpful Insights:
This writing exercise are a standard practice at CommerceIQ. A couple of tips to help guide you in this
process. First, when choosing your example, try to pick something as recent as possible and be as
specific as you can. Next, make sure to clearly answer each part of the question while also providing any
helpful context. Finally, don’t be afraid to discuss adversity as that is what can happen in real life.