Mastering Amazon Interview Storytelling

Aug 20, 2024

Amazon & AWS Interview Preparation: Story Creation Strategy

Introduction

  • Presenter: Gigi, former Amazon Bar Raiser
  • Focus: Creating stories for Amazon and AWS interviews
  • Importance of understanding leadership principles

Number of Stories Needed

  • Range: 8 to 20 stories depending on role/level
  • Importance of understanding leadership principles to create effective stories

Understanding Leadership Principles

  • Key to creating stories is understanding Amazon's leadership principles
  • Check out part one of the video for tips on understanding these principles

The "Working Backwards" Strategy

  • Focus on relevant leadership principles
  • Use recruiter to identify key principles, or analyze job description
  • Option to reach out to Amazonians for insights
  • Day One Careers offers services to help identify principles

Breaking Down Leadership Principles

  • Leadership principles consist of "facets"
  • Example: Customer Obsession has four facets: coaching, challenging, anticipating, and championing
  • Use these facets to reflect on career history for relevant stories

Process of Story Creation

  1. Identify Relevant Stories
    • Reflect on career history over the past 3-5 years
    • Look for stories aligning with leadership facets
  2. Write Down Stories
    • Record with all details remembered
  3. Review and Revise
    • Check for other leadership principles in the story
    • Create alternate versions highlighting different principles
    • Repeat for all key leadership principles
  4. Use Memory and Old Documents
    • Reference emails and documents for story ideas

Conclusion

  • No preference data between "working backwards" and other strategy
  • Emphasizes personal preference in strategy choice
  • Encouragement to engage with content (thumbs up, comments)

Additional Resources

  • Free "Customer Obsession" taster course offered
  • Links provided in video description
  • More resources on Amazon interview preparation available

Action Items

  • Claim free course to improve Customer Obsession interview responses
  • Explore additional insights and advice on interview preparation

Make sure to follow the video and links for deeper insights and to access helpful resources for successful interview preparation.