Amazon Interview Preparation: Storytelling and Leadership Principles

Introduction

Speaker: Gigi, an X-bar razor at Day One Careers.
Topic: Creating stories for Amazon interviews, also applicable to AWS interviews.
Structure: Likely a two-part series.

Range: 8 to 20 stories, depending on role and level.
Examples:
- Junior to mid-level software development engineer: ~8 stories.
- L8 finance director: 8-10 separate interviews, more stories needed.

Foundational Step: Understand Amazon's leadership principles thoroughly.
Methods to Learn Leadership Principles:
- Read and dissect descriptions of the principles.
- Take a course like Day One Careers' to deconstruct each principle.

Start with Your Resume (CV):
- Focus on critical projects and achievements from the last 3-5 years.
- Document:
  - How opportunities arose, involvement, goals, decisions made, problems faced, outcomes.
- Analysis:
  - Identify 1-2 dominant leadership principles in each story.
Mine Your Memory and Archives:
- Look for projects or episodes where your contribution was noteworthy.
- Follow the same documentation and analysis process.
Consult Colleagues:
- Ask colleagues about memorable projects or successes.
- Document and analyze as before.

Assess Stories: Identify which leadership principles are covered and where gaps exist.
Reflection: Understand which principles align with your strengths.
Story Selection:
- Choose strongest stories for repeated principles.
- Reframe stories to cover missing principles.

Determine Necessity: Decide if filling gaps is necessary.
- Ask recruiter for important principles for the role.
- Analyze job description for key principles.
- Reach out to current Amazonians in similar roles.
Filling Remaining Gaps:
- Stretch memory or look further back in career.
- Avoid stories from junior roles that lack complexity.

Next Steps: Proceed to part two for additional strategies.
Resources Offered:
- Free Day One Careers course on customer obsession.
- Additional content on Amazon interview preparation.