Amazon Manager Interview Questions
& Process

A really intense process. HR were very supportive and encouraging. The loop (5 interviews in a row) is one of the most intense processes I have gone through. Preparation is super key and it can be pretty draining – there are lots of online resources to get ready. I really recommend using any resources you can.

The role was based in Colombia but it was to lead a team mainly focused on the Brazil market, so both Portuguese and English were required. First, there was a phone screen interview to assess Portuguese and English fluency. The next step had four interviews, each one with a different Operations Manager (one level above the position I was applying for). Each interview focused on one of Amazon's Leadership Principles and had 2-3 behavioral questions that I was expected to answer using the STAR format. HR sent a guideline before the interviews to help prepare.

Amazon has the worst interview process I’ve seen in my 30 years of professional experience. I applied online in Feb 2025. About a month later, I got an email invite to do an assessment that would evaluate how I’d handle “on-the-job” situations and capture my preferred working style. This overcomplicated (and more than hour-long) exercise started with mock emails from my boss. My “manager” asked me to attend simulated meetings and give recorded verbal responses to requests from stakeholders in those meetings. There were objections, people with attitude problems, etc. It also had task prioritization exercises. To me, the exercise left no room for any “what if?” scenarios, like there was only one right way to handle things. Plus, the simulation had NOTHING to do with the type of work I’d actually be doing. A week later, a recruiter contacted me via email. She asked me to answer a bunch of general questions: non-competes, prior experience with Amazon, expected total compensation, etc. I also got a multi-page worksheet to fill out with detailed questions about my work history, like exact numbers of project types completed, size of teams managed, familiarity with certain methodologies. It just kept going and took me almost a full business day to finish. In what world do applicants keep detailed records of everything they’ve done in their careers? Another week went by and I was told the hiring manager wanted to interview me. I went through scheduling and the interview was set for two weeks later. I was told to expect STAR questions and that Amazon loves to tie everything to their “Leadership Principles,” so I should study them and connect my experience to how it fits those Principles. There are 16 of them. On interview day, the hiring manager jumped right into a barrage of questions with no small talk. HR wasn’t kidding about the STAR format and the Leadership Principles. You’re expected not only to give canned examples for “Tell me about a time…” questions, but also to make sure they map to the Principles. It made me feel like they don’t care at all about team fit, your personality, or any of the things that matter just as much as experience. By the end, I didn’t even want the job. Four days later I got the “thanks for your interest” rejection. I’ve never had to put in so much pointless work for an interview. The weirdest part was that the only actual live conversation I had with a human was the call with the hiring manager. Apply at your own risk!