I applied online. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Amazon (Londres, Inglaterra) in Feb 2015
Interview
One of the most bizarre interview formats I have ever seen. I had two one-hour phone interviews, followed by half a day of five one-hour interviews onsite.
All seven interview sessions were based on competency questions, to assess you against the 14 leadership principles at Amazon. None of the interviews were a technical/experience based interview.
There's a massive loophole here - just be really glib on answering the competency questions (e.g. tell me about a time when you had difficulties with your manager...), dropping in key phrases from the 14 leadership principles, and you should sail through.
Me? I'm not so good trying to remember 20+ examples off the top of my head (that's right, I was encouraged to give different examples in each of the interviews, and average of 3-4 questions each interview).
HR was also not very good. Took forever to follow up with me on interview scheduling, I had to chase. In addition, the rejection was via email instead of a phone call, which I thought was really impersonal. They also don't provide any feedback post-interviews.
My advice: the interview process says alot about the type of people they have internally and that they hire. Do you really want to work at a place where the only barrier to entry is how glib you are with your competency answers?
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when you didn't have all the data you needed to make a decision but you had to make a decision quick.
The interview process involved various steps but wasn’t too taxing. You had to meet various people and chat to them about your experience. There wasn’t a task to complete or anything so that was a blessing!
After 8 interviews they told me they were inclined to hire me but just with a lower position. They said that they would have checked if possible and if not they would have made sure to find a position for me in the company. Well, they just ghosted me
All is about OLP. You should prepare about 10 episodes and assume OLPs you might be assigned, and associate with the episodes that match to OLP. It would be better to use different episodes for each interviewer, but you can use same ones.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Please tell me an episode that you have difficult challenges but you found the solution and overcame the issue.