Deepak Talluri

From: Anirudh Sankhla

Sent: 24 March 2020 03:37
To: Deepak Talluri
Subject: Fwd: Amazon LAUNCH interview advice

Get Outlook for Android

From: David Morris <dmorris@london.edu>

Sent: Thursday, February 6, 2020 3:56:22 PM
To: List Suppressed Mail List <list.suppressed@london.edu>
Subject: Amazon LAUNCH interview advice

Further to the Amazon LAUNCH interviews next week I have enclosed further details below that may help with the
interview (sorry for the delay sending this out, I have only just received the shortlist!)

These will be 2 x 30-min and will be behavioural / competency based. The interviews will be structured around
Amazon’s Leadership Principles (http://www.amazon.jobs/principles) so make sure you have stories that cover
these. Each interviewer will have 4/5 principles they will assess you against – you will not know which ones these are
(do not try to guess)

Try to answer using the star format - https://www.amazon.jobs/en/landing_pages/in-person-interview

Dress code for the interviews is smart casual (smart jeans/trousers and shirt/jumper – no suits)

The 2nd round interviews (this is the decision round) will be held on 13 February – they will communicate to
candidates outcomes of round 1 on the 12th Feb (keep you phone on as they may call and check emails including
junk folders). The 2nd round will be 2 x 45mins interviews with the same format as day 1.

If you know there are certain times you cannot do on the 13th maybe email Amazon after the first round to thank
them for the interview and to let them know your availability.

Feedback from candidates in the past is that the interviews can sometimes be hard to build a rapport with the
interviewer – do not take this personally! the interviews are quick (30-mins), they have lots to interview in a small
amount of time, and it can be hard to build rapport on video interviews.

Don’t forget they are looking to convert interns into permanent hires – this is a program and not stand alone
projects (if they think you are sponsored they may ask you)

Some tips / example questions are listed below:

1. What is the greatest achievement in your career to date? What did you learn from this experience?
2. What did you like most/least about your previous role?
3. What do you like to do outside of work?
4. Tell me about a situation in which you had to solve a complex problem.
5. Tell me a time when you took a risk that did not pay off
6. Tell me a time when you took ownership of a situation that had a big impact
7. Example of a time when you put forward a new idea and you met resistance
8. What is your biggest accomplishment and why?
9. Give me an example of a situation when you took a calculated risk? What was the outcome?
10. Example of a time when you worked by exceptionally tight deadlines
11. Give me an example of a time when you worked beyond your responsibilities?
1
12. Tell me about a task that you worked on which involved heavy data analysis
13. Example of a task when you had to analyse data from different sources
14. Give me an example of a time when you had to make a decision with limited information.
15. Tell me a time at work that you did a non-business related task that was outside of your core responsibilities? i.e.
recruitment, mentoring, etc
16. Tell me about a time where you joined a team and had to earn their trust and respect. How did you do it?
17. Tell me about a time where you worked in a team with low productivity, how did you fix it?
18. Tell me about a time where you joined a team and had to earn their trust and respect. How did you do it?
19.) Tell me about a time when you made an activity out of your responsibility and what was the outcome?
20.) Tell me about a time when you took a calculated risk, what as the result?
21.) Tell me about a time when you had to take a decision without consulting your manager.
22.) Tell me about a time when you committed to something and realised you wouldn’t achieve? Did you stick with
the commitment or flex it?
23.) Tell me about a time when you took ownership of a complex situation, and made a difference.
24.) Tell me about a time when you received a bad feedback, how did you react?

You will not get any technical / coding questions as they are not hiring for technical roles

Case type interview examples (it is down to the interviewers discretion if you get a case:
1. What elements would you consider if you were to launch a grocery store in the UK?
2. Our DVD profitability is dwindling. Help me figure out why
3. Do you think that we should sell fresh products?
4. What would you do if you were in charge of launching a fresh flower delivery service?
5. If you were tasked with launching a new service in the UK, how would you price it?
6. We currently don’t allow retailers to sell the product X on their e-commerce platform, just in brick-and-mortar
stores. Should we change this and allow them to do so or not? Why?
7. Would you recommend giving a % discount on product x during Mothers’ Day sales? How would you evaluate
this?

Good resources (both heavily referred to by Amazon):

Amazons Leadership Principles:

http://www.amazon.jobs/principles

Jeff Bezos’s 1997 Letter to shareholders: http://media.corporate-

ir.net/media_files/irol/97/97664/reports/Shareholderletter97.pdf

David Morris | Head of Technology & Media Careers | Careers

London Business School | Regent's Park | London NW1 4SA | UK
D: +44 (0)20 7000 7432 | T: +44 (0)20 7000 7000
E: dmorris@london.edu | W: www.london.edu
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