5 ms·

No it wasn't. Source: I conducted +400 interviews for Amazon. We don't do weird or obscure tests. Your recruiter will explicitly tell you what to expect. It s

No it wasn't. Source: I conducted +400 interviews for Amazon. We don't do weird or obscure tests. Your recruiter will explicitly tell you what to expect. It sounds like a mistake.

inopinatus 4y ago
The second part of the story is I got hired, but not for the job I was going for. Instead, they asked me to manage the whole team. Note that this was in 2014 and outside of the US, so our experiences may vary. As a hiring manager at AWS I conducted similarly many interviews, and can speak to a few things. Firstly, there was plenty of latitude for me to include additional factors in the process, as long as the core elements were present (screening + loop + bar raiser). Recruiters weren't always wonderful at candidate communication, especially when going beyond that baseline. Other HMs certainly included variations and additional steps, so this would not have been without precedent. Finally, this particular team were largely former CTOs and tech CEOs/founders, so there was a relatively high degree of eccentricity and wilfulness present; several of my loop interviews were with these particularly unruly ICs†. So I could not so confidently rule it a mistake. —— † Rather memorably, after a solid meeting of minds over the topic of establishing robust SRE practices within public-sector institutions, one such interviewer ran out of the meeting room to fetch me a copy of his favourite book on the topic. This is the only time I received a book for free from Amazon.
- angarg12 4y ago
  If it was a while ago things might have been different. Not sure if you are around anymore but there is a continuous push for standardization. There is also a big emphasis on candidate experience lately. I also believe in adding a personal touch to the interview process, but I don't believe in mind games. To me this would fall in the same bucket as "let me mispronounce your name on purpose and see how you react" or "let's give the candidate the wrong directions and let them figure out the way". You could frame it the other way around, what if it goes wrong? at best you lose some valuable interview time and annoy the candidate, and doesn't tell you much about how good they will be at the job.
synicalx 4y ago
> We don't do weird or obscure tests. I beg to differ. The one and only time I've interviewed for an engineering role at AWS, I was told to be successful I would need to memorise a list of "management principles" handed down by none other than Bezos himself, all of which were meaningless generic platitudes that could have easily been copy pasted from anywhere. And sure enough, they quizzed me on them quite thoroughly during the interview process. Between that, the "Bar Raiser", the extremely long hiring process, and the people who interviewed me, I'd seen enough red flags to bail out before they'd sent me an offer.
- scubbo 4y ago
- angarg12 4y ago
  I suppose you mean the leadership principles. Yes, that feels cult-ish, but is part of the company culture. I personally like part of them, but that's a topic of its own. For the purpose of the interview, Leadership Principles are dressing for behavioral questions. Actually I think this reinforces my point: rather than generic behavioral rounds, you know which areas you'll be asked about. Also you shouldn't memorize them, but think about examples from your experience that match those. I'm curious about your last sentence though. Long hiring process are exhausting and I understand a bad experience, but why were the Bar Raiser and the interviewers a red flag?
  - tsukikage 4y ago
    Not the grandparent, but I'm encountering this particular part of the AWS interview structure right now, and trying to decide whether to bother continuing. The ask, AFAICT, seems to be for me to prepare a collection of glib little short stories I can recite on demand in response to a "tell me about a time when..." question from a small list of possibilities. Certainly I can do this; however, I am applying for a role as an engineer, not an actor or a storyteller. It is unclear what useful information this kind of prepared storytelling could possibly convey, and it is unclear whether, if this kind of activity is what the position actually entails to any great extent, I would want the position.
jethkl 4y ago
> weird or obscure tests. I'm a bit relieved to hear this: one of the weirdest professional experiences I have ever had was at an AWS interview. I've often wondered which parts of that day were a psych test or simply human error. Timing of the interview was shortly before the HQ2 announcement (2017 I think), and the interview was in the outskirts of DC. I was told specifically not to bring a phone, which I thought was odd, but I didn't think I'd need one for the day since I'd be on site. So, per the instructions, I left it in the hotel, walked to the site, and checked in at the front desk. Unfortunately, they texted me 15 minutes before the start time that the schedule had shifted 2h later. The front desk did not get the message. So I sat in the lobby, repeatedly checked in every so often, had polite conversations with a random assortment of people, drank some coffee, and waited. That was the best part of the day. Each part of the remainder of the actual interview process had a similar "this seems a bit off" feature.
- angarg12 4y ago
  That's unfortunate. The fact of the matter is that Amazon interviews thousands of engineers each month, so statistically there will be pretty bad experiences every now and then. I personally like to read candidates feedback every now and then and you can find some horror stories in there. Also unfortunately not everyone is a good interviewer and this can also impact your personal experience. If you'd like to share what those "this seems off" situations where I'd love to hear that.
  - jethkl 4y ago
    This is distant past for me, but I'll clarify two things: everyone that I encountered seemed quite sharp - it was a strong and interesting group. Next, my experience was personally unpleasant and parts of it still stick with me, but it was not horror-level. I also recognize it's a gigantic company, and chalk my day up to a bad match and statistical flukes. When I left the building that day, due to the late start and shifted schedule, the office was basically empty. I made it a few blocks on my walk back to the hotel when a thunderstorm rolled in. Lacking a phone and the option to return to the building to find a person, I ran. Didn't make it. I actually had forgotten about this part until I reflected back on it this morning. It was a fitting end.
rsanek 4y ago
It is impossible to know this for sure, especially at such a large company. It doesn't even have to actually be part of the official interview, it could have been something one of the interviewers decided to do unilaterally. OP will never really know.

No it wasn't. Source: I conducted +400 interviews for Amazon. We don't do weird or obscure tests. Your recruiter will explicitly tell you what to expect. It sounds like a mistake.

inopinatus 4y ago

The second part of the story is I got hired, but not for the job I was going for. Instead, they asked me to manage the whole team. Note that this was in 2014 and outside of the US, so our experiences may vary. As a hiring manager at AWS I conducted similarly many interviews, and can speak to a few things. Firstly, there was plenty of latitude for me to include additional factors in the process, as long as the core elements were present (screening + loop + bar raiser). Recruiters weren't always wonderful at candidate communication, especially when going beyond that baseline. Other HMs certainly included variations and additional steps, so this would not have been without precedent. Finally, this particular team were largely former CTOs and tech CEOs/founders, so there was a relatively high degree of eccentricity and wilfulness present; several of my loop interviews were with these particularly unruly ICs†. So I could not so confidently rule it a mistake. —— † Rather memorably, after a solid meeting of minds over the topic of establishing robust SRE practices within public-sector institutions, one such interviewer ran out of the meeting room to fetch me a copy of his favourite book on the topic. This is the only time I received a book for free from Amazon.

angarg12 4y ago
If it was a while ago things might have been different. Not sure if you are around anymore but there is a continuous push for standardization. There is also a big emphasis on candidate experience lately. I also believe in adding a personal touch to the interview process, but I don't believe in mind games. To me this would fall in the same bucket as "let me mispronounce your name on purpose and see how you react" or "let's give the candidate the wrong directions and let them figure out the way". You could frame it the other way around, what if it goes wrong? at best you lose some valuable interview time and annoy the candidate, and doesn't tell you much about how good they will be at the job.

synicalx 4y ago

> We don't do weird or obscure tests. I beg to differ. The one and only time I've interviewed for an engineering role at AWS, I was told to be successful I would need to memorise a list of "management principles" handed down by none other than Bezos himself, all of which were meaningless generic platitudes that could have easily been copy pasted from anywhere. And sure enough, they quizzed me on them quite thoroughly during the interview process. Between that, the "Bar Raiser", the extremely long hiring process, and the people who interviewed me, I'd seen enough red flags to bail out before they'd sent me an offer.

scubbo 4y ago
angarg12 4y ago
I suppose you mean the leadership principles. Yes, that feels cult-ish, but is part of the company culture. I personally like part of them, but that's a topic of its own. For the purpose of the interview, Leadership Principles are dressing for behavioral questions. Actually I think this reinforces my point: rather than generic behavioral rounds, you know which areas you'll be asked about. Also you shouldn't memorize them, but think about examples from your experience that match those. I'm curious about your last sentence though. Long hiring process are exhausting and I understand a bad experience, but why were the Bar Raiser and the interviewers a red flag?
- tsukikage 4y ago
  Not the grandparent, but I'm encountering this particular part of the AWS interview structure right now, and trying to decide whether to bother continuing. The ask, AFAICT, seems to be for me to prepare a collection of glib little short stories I can recite on demand in response to a "tell me about a time when..." question from a small list of possibilities. Certainly I can do this; however, I am applying for a role as an engineer, not an actor or a storyteller. It is unclear what useful information this kind of prepared storytelling could possibly convey, and it is unclear whether, if this kind of activity is what the position actually entails to any great extent, I would want the position.

jethkl 4y ago

> weird or obscure tests. I'm a bit relieved to hear this: one of the weirdest professional experiences I have ever had was at an AWS interview. I've often wondered which parts of that day were a psych test or simply human error. Timing of the interview was shortly before the HQ2 announcement (2017 I think), and the interview was in the outskirts of DC. I was told specifically not to bring a phone, which I thought was odd, but I didn't think I'd need one for the day since I'd be on site. So, per the instructions, I left it in the hotel, walked to the site, and checked in at the front desk. Unfortunately, they texted me 15 minutes before the start time that the schedule had shifted 2h later. The front desk did not get the message. So I sat in the lobby, repeatedly checked in every so often, had polite conversations with a random assortment of people, drank some coffee, and waited. That was the best part of the day. Each part of the remainder of the actual interview process had a similar "this seems a bit off" feature.

angarg12 4y ago
That's unfortunate. The fact of the matter is that Amazon interviews thousands of engineers each month, so statistically there will be pretty bad experiences every now and then. I personally like to read candidates feedback every now and then and you can find some horror stories in there. Also unfortunately not everyone is a good interviewer and this can also impact your personal experience. If you'd like to share what those "this seems off" situations where I'd love to hear that.
- jethkl 4y ago
  This is distant past for me, but I'll clarify two things: everyone that I encountered seemed quite sharp - it was a strong and interesting group. Next, my experience was personally unpleasant and parts of it still stick with me, but it was not horror-level. I also recognize it's a gigantic company, and chalk my day up to a bad match and statistical flukes. When I left the building that day, due to the late start and shifted schedule, the office was basically empty. I made it a few blocks on my walk back to the hotel when a thunderstorm rolled in. Lacking a phone and the option to return to the building to find a person, I ran. Didn't make it. I actually had forgotten about this part until I reflected back on it this morning. It was a fitting end.

rsanek 4y ago

It is impossible to know this for sure, especially at such a large company. It doesn't even have to actually be part of the official interview, it could have been something one of the interviewers decided to do unilaterally. OP will never really know.