I’ve Interviewed for Amazon—Here’s What Most Candidates Overlook

Over the past two years, I have interviewed candidates for entry-level software engineering positions. Being on the other side of the hiring process has taught me that interviews aren’t just about answering questions or writing code; they’re about providing enough data points to convince interviewers that you’re qualified for the role.

Interviewers are collecting data points.

It’s not lost on candidates that we will ask behavioral questions related to Amazon’s leadership principles. Amazon’s preparation materials recommend the candidate prepare a few stories per principle. What may be overlooked is why we ask behavioral questions. Behavioral questions tied to Amazon’s leadership principles allow interviewers to gather evidence about how candidates embody these values in real-life scenarios.

In Amazon’s 2024 blog post, I’m a recruiting manager at Amazon—here are 7 things I'd do differently if I could do my interview again, marketing manager Brittany Bunch wrote, “We encourage you to see interviews as a way to provide data points about yourself, and the more data points the better.”