I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Sep 2014
Interview
Very professional and organized process. Recruiting people are great. First a phone call from the recruiter. Second a 30 min interview with a director, pretty high level, and then another interview with a TPM which is more detailed.
I was then invited to travel to the HQ in Seattle for a marathon of 5 interviews, with TPMs and Directors, four of them 1:1 and one 2:1.
You can tell they interview a lot of people, some interviewers tried to show some interest others were in auto-pilot mode, asking the same questions and getting the same answers for the hundredth time can sure be boring.
In the end, all folks very professional, doing their job, but I did miss some small talk, non-scripted talk, maybe 5 minutes after each interview, where you get to know the people better. I left with the impression that I talked to 6 machines that were programmed to ask questions and drilling them down to the core.
From the Glassdoor reviews I learned that only one in four candidates who come to this stage get an offer letter, so I already knew my chances were slim. Anyways I flew over to gain experience and improve my interview game. Also I got to know the company and it's people, on which I don't think I would fit in.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Can not specify a question due to NDA, but there are many questions about past projects and request to solution some problem. Nothing too exotic, however on interview #4 or #5 I confess I got sick and tired of talking the same things over and over. Incidentally the more important interviews are the last ones, maybe on purpose :) But at that point I already knew I did not want to be an Amazonian.
I applied online. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA)
Interview
Amazon is a big name and work wise you may have great exposure. You may think you have all good reasons to work for this company which is doing great financially and leading way technologically. Those were the reason I went after Amazon. Just to end up in sadness and frustration.
The recruiter part is very standard , it followed by hiring manager interviewing for 1 hr. Apparently I cleared that and was excited. I got called in for on site interview and 4-7 persons were to interview.
The hiring manager took the first one. His boss second , peer Dev manager, Product manager , and again two Dev managers- one was just shadowing.
I believe they were testing me on the amazon leadership values that recruiter had emailed . I had plenty of example on those to offer. The level of questions went up , up and up. I was also asked to write code, draw architecture, , situational questions. etc.
Over all expect a lot of questions on Amz's values and architecture.
The interview went well in my opinion. My self I am a manager of one department and didn't sense any discomfort or wrong track. Of course until I received the call of "Thank you "
Amazon is a great company if you want exposure. But the interview process is too much to deal with.
Amazon does have a high employee churn,
Sadly, when I asked for some feedback I was told that they don't share any. If there is an HR person on this blog -- dude look into this. People are successful out side Amazon too. You are hurting and spending a lot of energy on finding people.
Amz seems to look one person to substitute 5 different roles.
Atleast provide feedback
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
What is that you don't want to do ? It was an interesting question because all we think a lot about what we want to do.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon
Interview
The experience was positive. Had 2 over the phone interviews. The first call was from the person who used to have this position and had moved on to a new team. She was very nice and we had a good conversation for an hour. Second call was with a development manager that works with the team. The second interviewer was more authoritative and kept me on my heals the entire interview. I knew I wasn't on my a game during that interview.
The HR recruiter was pleasant and responsive
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
How are your ensuring security on s mobile device?