J'ai postulé en ligne. J'ai passé un entretien chez Amazon (Poznań, Greater Poland) en mars 2014
Entretien
Applied Online for a position advertised in October 2013. I was contacted by Amazon in the beginning of March 2014 to schedule telephone interview. Telephone interview lasted around 40 minutes and was conducted by Systems Engineer. Questions covered: windows os troubleshooting and networking (how to check ip address, how to promote a DC, how to join a pc to domain, how to query AD for info, troubleshooting scenario); cisco (theoretical questions about OSI model and which device works on what level, routing protocols, IOS commands how to add port to vlan, what is VPN, spanning tree, cdp command) and linux (how to navigate file structure, how to configure and troubleshoot networking, where are the logs and how to get info from them).
I was asked to come for a in person interview and I was meeting 4 people individually for 45 minute sessions. 2 persons were from operations background (operations manager and regional operations manager) and two It (IT manager and regional IT manager) The sessions were more of a "get the feeling of the person" and only IT manager (not from the Polish site) was asking technical questions. He went deep into the IOS and network design (switch stacking, spanning tree protocol, routing protocols IOS commands) Operations guy wanted me to describe how i would implement a change on the shop flop of a fulfilment centre.
I was told i would be hearing from Amazon within 2 weeks. After 2 weeks a lady called me to walk me through my interview process for junior IT. I told her that I have already conducted interviews and she apologized for an apparent "error in the system" Than she asked me how much i would like to earn (even though she called me with regards to another position) I told her 9k gross PLN. She told me someone would contact me with feedback regarding my application. Next day i got an online survey regarding my interview experience and that was the last thing i heard from Amazon. The posicion was since then advertised again so I assume I did not get the job. The lack of feedback was suprising to me I would expect Amazon to be more serious.
TL;DR:
+ no HR BS you talk only with tech people
+ interesting questions and interviewers know what are they talking about
- the length of the process
- absolutely no feedback
- Had an assessment round with 2 DSA medium questions
- Had a debugging round based on the technical skills mentioned in the job description
- Had a DSA round which I was asked to explain my approach clearly
Initial call with recruiter, to talk about interest in role and background. Then technical interview with hiring manager to go over coding comeptancy and then technical depth in area. Finally, some time at the end for questions to the manager
Application & Recruiter Screen
After you apply (or are referred):
A recruiter phone call (20–30 min)
Covers:
Your background and experience
Role fit and location
Basic behavioral questions
Compensation expectations (sometimes)
✅ Tip: Be ready to explain your resume clearly and concisely.
2. Phone / Virtual Screen
This is usually 1–2 interviews:
45–60 minutes each
Mix of:
Behavioral (Leadership Principles)
Role-specific questions (technical, ops, analytics, etc.)
For tech roles, this may include:
Coding or system design
SQL / data questions
Case-style problems
✅ Tip: Use the STAR method and include metrics.
3. Onsite / Virtual Loop Interview
This is the main interview stage (often virtual now):
4–6 back-to-back interviews
Each interviewer focuses on:
1–2 Leadership Principles
Deep dives into your past experiences
Includes a Bar Raiser interviewer
Possible formats:
Behavioral interviews
Technical or case interviews
Written exercise (for some roles)
✅ Tip: Expect follow-up questions and challenges to your answers.
4. Bar Raiser Interview
Conducted by a trained interviewer outside the hiring team
Focuses on:
Long-term potential
Leadership Principles alignment
Hiring bar consistency
They may push harder and probe deeper than others.
5. Hiring Decision (Debrief)
Interviewers meet to discuss feedback
Decision is based on:
Leadership Principles
Role competency
Overall hire bar
You typically hear back within a few days to two we
Questions d'entretien [1]
Question 1
Ownership / Deliver Results
Tell me about a time you took ownership of a problem that wasn’t yours.
Tell me about a time you delivered results under a tight deadline.
Describe a time you had to make a decision without all the information.