Amazon Leadership Principles Interview Questions: 50+ Examples with Answers (2026 Guide)

Amazon interviews are different from every other tech company.

While Google focuses on "Googleyness" and Meta emphasizes "moving fast," Amazon has built their entire interview process around 16 Leadership Principles.

These aren't just corporate values on a poster. They're the exact criteria used to evaluate every candidate.

Here's what makes Amazon interviews unique:

• Every interviewer is assigned 2-3 Leadership Principles to assess
• Your answers are scored against these specific principles
• A "Bar Raiser" (specially trained interviewer) can veto any hire
• Behavioral questions make up 50%+ of the interview weight

If you don't understand the Leadership Principles, you won't get the job. Period.

This guide will teach you every principle, give you 50+ real interview questions, and show you exactly how to answer them.

How Amazon Interviews Work

Before diving into the principles, understand the interview structure:

The Amazon Interview Process

1. Recruiter Screen (30 min)

• Basic qualification check
• Salary expectations
• Role fit assessment

2. Phone/Video Screen (45-60 min)

• 1-2 technical questions (for technical roles)
• 2-3 behavioral questions (Leadership Principles)
• Usually covers 2-3 principles

3. On-site/Virtual Loop (4-6 hours)

• 4-6 back-to-back interviews
• Each interviewer assigned 2-3 Leadership Principles
• Mix of technical and behavioral
• One interviewer is the "Bar Raiser"

4. Debrief

• All interviewers meet to discuss
• Each principle is scored
• Bar Raiser has veto power
• Consensus required for offer

The Bar Raiser

Amazon's secret weapon for maintaining hiring quality.

What they are:

• Specially trained interviewers (not from your team)
• Objective third party in the process
• Focused purely on whether you "raise the bar"

What they do:

• Can veto ANY candidate, regardless of other feedback
• Ensure hiring standards don't drop over time
• Ask probing follow-up questions

How to impress them:

• Be specific with examples (they'll dig deep)
• Show genuine alignment with principles (not just rehearsed answers)
• Demonstrate you'd be in the top 50% of people in that role

How Principles Are Evaluated

Each interviewer scores you on their assigned principles:

• Strong Hire: Clear evidence of principle with impact
• Hire: Good evidence of principle
• No Hire: Insufficient evidence
• Strong No Hire: Evidence against the principle

You need "Hire" or better on ALL principles to get an offer.

One "No Hire" on any principle can kill your candidacy.

The 16 Amazon Leadership Principles (With Interview Questions)

1. Customer Obsession

Definition: Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

What Amazon looks for:

• Decisions driven by customer needs, not internal politics
• Going beyond requirements to delight customers
• Understanding customer pain points deeply
• Willingness to sacrifice short-term metrics for customer trust

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you went above and beyond for a customer.
2. Describe a situation where you had to balance customer needs with business constraints.
3. Give an example of when you used customer feedback to drive a decision.
4. Tell me about a time you had to say no to a customer. How did you handle it?
5. Describe when you identified an unmet customer need.

Example Answer (STAR Method):

Question: "Tell me about a time you went above and beyond for a customer."

S: "At my previous company, a major enterprise client was experiencing critical data sync issues right before their quarterly board meeting. They needed accurate reports within 48 hours, and our standard support process would take 5-7 days."

T: "As the account's technical lead, I needed to either escalate through normal channels (which wouldn't meet the deadline) or find an alternative solution to help this customer who'd been with us for 3 years."

A: "I pulled together an emergency team of two engineers over the weekend. I personally analyzed their data logs and identified that the sync issue was caused by a recent API change we'd made. I wrote a custom script to reconcile their historical data, tested it in a sandbox environment, and deployed it Sunday night. I also set up a direct Slack channel with their CTO to provide real-time updates."

R: "We delivered clean data 18 hours before their board meeting. The client's CEO sent a thank-you email to our CEO, and they upgraded to our enterprise plus tier the following month—a $200K ARR increase. More importantly, we identified the API issue that was affecting other customers and fixed it company-wide."

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2. Ownership

Definition: Leaders are owners. They think long term and don't sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say "that's not my job."

What Amazon looks for:

• Taking responsibility beyond your role
• Thinking about company-wide impact
• Long-term thinking over quick wins
• Accountability for outcomes (not just activities)

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you took on something outside your job description.
2. Describe a situation where you saw a problem and fixed it without being asked.
3. Give an example of when you thought about long-term implications of a decision.
4. Tell me about a time you took responsibility for a failure.
5. Describe when you had to make a decision that affected teams beyond your own.

Example Answer:

Question: "Tell me about a time you saw a problem and fixed it without being asked."

S: "I was a mid-level engineer on the payments team when I noticed our error monitoring dashboard was showing a gradual increase in failed transactions—about 0.5% increase over 3 months. It wasn't my team's direct responsibility; it was infrastructure-related."

T: "I could have just reported it and moved on, but I realized this was costing us approximately $50K/month in failed transactions and creating customer frustration."

A: "I spent two evenings analyzing the error patterns and traced the issue to a memory leak in our third-party payment processor integration. I documented my findings, proposed a fix, and presented it to both my manager and the infrastructure team lead. When they agreed it was worth pursuing, I volunteered to implement the fix during off-hours to minimize risk, even though it wasn't technically my responsibility."

R: "The fix reduced failed transactions by 0.4%, recovering approximately $40K/month in revenue. The infrastructure team adopted my monitoring approach for other integrations, and I was recognized in our all-hands for 'thinking like an owner.'"

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3. Invent and Simplify

Definition: Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by "not invented here." As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.

What Amazon looks for:

• Creative problem-solving
• Simplifying complex processes
• Challenging status quo
• Willingness to try new approaches despite skepticism

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you invented a new way to do something.
2. Describe a situation where you simplified a complex process.
3. Give an example of when you challenged conventional thinking.
4. Tell me about a time you brought an idea from outside your industry.
5. Describe when you took a risk on a new approach that others doubted.

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4. Are Right, A Lot

Definition: Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.

What Amazon looks for:

• Track record of good decisions
• Seeking input from others
• Changing your mind with new data
• Balancing conviction with humility

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you made a decision with incomplete information.
2. Describe a situation where you changed your mind based on new data.
3. Give an example of when you sought out perspectives different from your own.
4. Tell me about a time your judgment was proven right despite initial pushback.
5. Describe when you were wrong and how you handled it.

Example Answer:

Question: "Tell me about a time you changed your mind based on new data."

S: "I was leading a product redesign and was convinced we needed to rebuild our mobile app from scratch using React Native to improve development speed. I'd used it successfully before and advocated strongly for this approach."

T: "Before committing our team to a 6-month rebuild, I needed to validate this was the right technical decision, not just my preference."

A: "I set up a 2-week spike where two engineers built the same feature in both our current native approach and React Native. I also reached out to three companies who had made similar migrations to understand their experience. The data surprised me: our native apps were actually 40% faster, and two of the three companies reported significant performance issues post-migration. I presented this data to the team and recommended we stay native, despite my initial position."

R: "We stayed with native development and instead focused on improving our code-sharing practices between iOS and Android. Six months later, we shipped 30% more features than projected. My team told me they appreciated that I let data override my opinion—it built trust."

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5. Learn and Be Curious

Definition: Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.

What Amazon looks for:

• Continuous self-improvement
• Curiosity about new domains
• Learning from failures
• Seeking feedback proactively

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about something new you learned recently and how you applied it.
2. Describe a time you stepped outside your comfort zone to learn something.
3. Give an example of when you sought feedback to improve.
4. Tell me about a failure and what you learned from it.
5. Describe how you stay current in your field.

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6. Hire and Develop the Best

Definition: Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others.

What Amazon looks for:

• High hiring standards
• Developing team members
• Recognizing and promoting talent
• Coaching and mentoring

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about the best hire you ever made. What made them great?
2. Describe a time you developed someone on your team.
3. Give an example of when you had to give difficult feedback.
4. Tell me about a time you recognized someone deserved a bigger opportunity.
5. Describe when you had to let someone go or manage them out.

Example Answer:

Question: "Tell me about a time you developed someone on your team."

S: "I inherited a junior engineer, Sarah, who had been on a performance improvement plan. Her previous manager had flagged her for slow delivery and lack of initiative."

T: "I needed to either help her improve to meet expectations or make a difficult decision about her future on the team."

A: "I started by understanding her perspective—turns out she felt unclear on expectations and overwhelmed by our codebase. I set up weekly 1-on-1s focused on her development, not just status updates. I paired her with a senior engineer on a specific project to build confidence. I broke down her goals into smaller milestones with clear success criteria. When she struggled with system design, I enrolled her in a course and discussed her learnings each week. I also gave her increasing ownership—starting with bug fixes, then small features, then a full project."

R: "Within 6 months, Sarah was off the PIP and performing at expectations. Within a year, she was one of our most reliable engineers and mentoring new hires herself. She told me that having clear expectations and structured support changed everything. She's now a senior engineer at the company."

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7. Insist on the Highest Standards

Definition: Leaders have relentlessly high standards—many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

What Amazon looks for:

• High personal standards
• Not accepting "good enough"
• Quality focus
• Attention to detail

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you refused to compromise on quality.
2. Describe a situation where you raised the bar for your team.
3. Give an example of when you caught a defect others missed.
4. Tell me about a time you pushed back on a deadline to maintain quality.
5. Describe when your high standards created friction with others.

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8. Think Big

Definition: Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.

What Amazon looks for:

• Ambitious vision
• Long-term thinking
• Challenging constraints
• Inspiring others

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about the biggest idea you've championed.
2. Describe a time you thought beyond the immediate problem.
3. Give an example of when you challenged an artificial constraint.
4. Tell me about a vision you created that inspired your team.
5. Describe when you saw an opportunity others missed.

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9. Bias for Action

Definition: Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.

What Amazon looks for:

• Moving quickly on decisions
• Not over-analyzing
• Comfortable with calculated risk
• Action over perfection

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you made a quick decision with limited information.
2. Describe a situation where you took a calculated risk.
3. Give an example of when you chose speed over perfection.
4. Tell me about a time you unblocked a stalled project.
5. Describe when you acted without waiting for permission.

Example Answer:

Question: "Tell me about a time you made a quick decision with limited information."

S: "During a product launch, our main API started returning errors at 3x the normal rate. This was happening during our biggest sales event of the year, with millions in potential revenue at stake."

T: "As the on-call engineer, I had to decide quickly: roll back the recent deployment (losing new features customers expected) or attempt a live fix (risking further instability)."

A: "I had about 10 minutes of data. I could see the errors correlated with our deployment, but I couldn't fully diagnose the root cause. I made a framework decision: since the deployment was reversible and the downside of continued errors was massive (both revenue and customer trust), I initiated the rollback. I communicated my decision to the team immediately with my reasoning: 'Reversible decision, high downside risk, acting now.' The rollback took 8 minutes."

R: "Service stabilized immediately. We later found the issue was a database query that worked in staging but not at production scale. My quick decision prevented an estimated $300K in lost sales. In the post-mortem, my manager highlighted my 'bias for action' as the right call—we could always redeploy after fixing the issue, but we couldn't recover lost customer trust."

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10. Frugality

Definition: Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.

What Amazon looks for:

• Resourcefulness
• Doing more with less
• Questioning unnecessary spending
• Creative solutions within constraints

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you accomplished something with limited resources.
2. Describe a situation where you found a creative way to save money.
3. Give an example of when you challenged unnecessary spending.
4. Tell me about a time you delivered results with a smaller team/budget.
5. Describe when constraints led you to a better solution.

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11. Earn Trust

Definition: Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team's body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.

What Amazon looks for:

• Building trust with others
• Honest self-assessment
• Admitting mistakes
• Respectful disagreement

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you had to earn someone's trust.
2. Describe a situation where you admitted a mistake publicly.
3. Give an example of when you received difficult feedback and acted on it.
4. Tell me about a time you gave honest feedback that was hard to hear.
5. Describe when you rebuilt trust after it was broken.

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12. Dive Deep

Definition: Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.

What Amazon looks for:

• Attention to details
• Getting hands dirty
• Not relying only on reports
• Questioning data

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you dove deep to uncover the root cause of a problem.
2. Describe a situation where you found that data didn't match reality.
3. Give an example of when you did work "below your level."
4. Tell me about a time your attention to detail prevented a problem.
5. Describe when you questioned a metric everyone else accepted.

Example Answer:

Question: "Tell me about a time you dove deep to uncover the root cause of a problem."

S: "Our customer support team reported that complaint tickets had increased 40% over 3 months, but our product metrics showed no degradation in service quality."

T: "As product manager, I needed to understand this disconnect—either our metrics were wrong, or there was something else going on."

A: "I didn't just look at dashboards. I spent two days reading 200+ individual support tickets personally. I categorized each one by issue type and created a new taxonomy because our existing categories were too broad. I also sat with three support agents to understand their workflow and watch them handle real tickets. What I discovered: 60% of the increased tickets were about a single feature that our metrics showed as 'working correctly'—but users were confused by the UI, leading to user error that our system counted as 'successful transactions.'"

R: "We redesigned the UI for that feature, adding clearer confirmation steps. Support tickets decreased by 35% within 6 weeks. I also implemented a new ticket categorization system that gave us better visibility. The key insight: our metrics measured technical success, not customer success—a blind spot I wouldn't have found without diving deep into the actual tickets."

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13. Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

Definition: Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.

What Amazon looks for:

• Speaking up when you disagree
• Respectful pushback
• Commitment after decision is made
• Not being a pushover

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager.
2. Describe a situation where you pushed back on a decision.
3. Give an example of when you committed to a decision you disagreed with.
4. Tell me about a time you stood alone in your opinion.
5. Describe when you changed the direction of a project by speaking up.

Example Answer:

Question: "Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager."

S: "My manager wanted to ship a new pricing feature before the end of quarter to hit a revenue target. I believed the feature had a critical UX flaw that would confuse customers and increase support burden."

T: "I needed to either convince my manager to delay (risking our quarterly goal) or find an alternative solution."

A: "I first validated my concern by running a small user test with 5 customers—4 of them were confused by the pricing display. I scheduled a 1-on-1 with my manager and presented my data, not just my opinion. I said, 'I disagree with shipping this version, and here's why.' I also proposed an alternative: ship a simplified version that addressed the core use case without the confusing element, then iterate. I made clear I would support whatever decision she made, but I wanted her to have this data first."

R: "She appreciated that I came with data and a solution, not just complaints. We shipped the simplified version, hit our quarterly target, and iterated on the full feature the next quarter. The simplified version actually had 20% higher adoption than projected. She later told me she valued that I spoke up—it prevented what could have been a costly mistake."

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14. Deliver Results

Definition: Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.

What Amazon looks for:

• Track record of delivery
• Overcoming obstacles
• Results orientation
• Accountability

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about your most significant professional accomplishment.
2. Describe a time you delivered results despite major obstacles.
3. Give an example of when you exceeded expectations.
4. Tell me about a time you had to reprioritize to deliver a critical result.
5. Describe when you turned around a failing project.

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15. Strive to be Earth's Best Employer

Definition: Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what's next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees' personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.

What Amazon looks for:

• Creating positive work environment
• Developing others
• Empathy and support
• Team wellbeing

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you improved the work environment for your team.
2. Describe how you've supported a team member's growth.
3. Give an example of when you helped someone struggling.
4. Tell me about a time you made work more enjoyable for others.
5. Describe when you prioritized team wellbeing over short-term results.

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16. Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility

Definition: We started in a garage, but we're not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them.

What Amazon looks for:

• Awareness of broader impact
• Sustainability thinking
• Community contribution
• Ethical decision-making

Interview Questions:

1. Tell me about a time you considered the broader impact of a decision.
2. Describe a situation where you improved something for future teams.
3. Give an example of when you advocated for a responsible approach.
4. Tell me about a time you left something better than you found it.
5. Describe when you considered environmental or social impact in a project.

How to Prepare Your Answers

Build Your Story Bank

Prepare 2-3 stories for each Leadership Principle. That's 32-48 stories total.

Sound like a lot? Here's the shortcut: Most strong stories demonstrate multiple principles.

For example, a story about fixing a critical bug might show:

• Customer Obsession (you cared about user impact)
• Ownership (it wasn't your code but you fixed it)
• Bias for Action (you acted quickly)
• Deliver Results (you shipped the fix)

Prepare 15-20 strong stories that you can adapt to different principles.

Use the STAR Method

Amazon interviewers are trained to evaluate STAR answers:

S - Situation: Brief context (2-3 sentences) T - Task: Your specific responsibility A - Action: What YOU did (use "I", not "we") R - Result: Quantified outcome

Keep answers to 2-3 minutes. Amazon interviewers will ask follow-ups if they want more detail.

Practice with the "Probe" Questions

Amazon interviewers are trained to dig deeper:

• "What did YOU specifically do?"
• "What was the quantified impact?"
• "What would you do differently?"
• "Who else was involved?"
• "What did you learn?"

Practice answering these follow-ups. They're testing whether your stories are real.

Map Your Stories to Principles

Create a grid:

Story	LP 1	LP 2	LP 3	LP 4	...
Bug fix during launch	Customer Obsession	Ownership	Bias for Action
Team conflict resolution	Earn Trust	Have Backbone
Process improvement	Invent and Simplify	Frugality	Dive Deep

Make sure every principle has at least 2 strong stories.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake #1: Using "We" Instead of "I"

Bad: "We decided to rebuild the system." Good: "I proposed rebuilding the system. My specific contribution was..."

Amazon wants to know what YOU did, not what your team did.

Mistake #2: Vague Results

Bad: "It went well and people were happy." Good: "We reduced latency by 40%, which increased conversion by 12%, generating $500K additional annual revenue."

Quantify everything. Numbers make stories credible.

Mistake #3: Not Knowing the Principles

Interviewers can tell if you're randomly mentioning principles versus genuinely understanding them.

Don't say: "This shows Customer Obsession because I focused on the customer." Do: Actually demonstrate customer-focused thinking in your actions.

Mistake #4: Only Positive Stories

Amazon wants to see self-awareness. Include stories about:

• Failures and what you learned
• Times you were wrong and changed your mind
• Conflicts and how you resolved them

Mistake #5: Memorizing Scripts

Interviewers ask follow-up questions specifically to test if stories are real. If you've memorized a script, you'll stumble.

Know your stories deeply, but don't memorize exact words.

Day-of Interview Tips

Before the Interview

• Review the 16 principles one more time
• Have your story grid ready for quick reference
• Prepare questions about the team and role
• Research recent Amazon news and initiatives

During the Interview

• Ask clarifying questions if needed
• Take a breath before answering (5 seconds to think is fine)
• Use "I" throughout your answers
• Watch for interviewer cues (nodding = keep going, checking notes = wrap up)
• End answers with clear results

For Each Question

1. Identify which principle(s) they're testing
2. Pick your best story for that principle
3. Deliver using STAR format
4. Include specific metrics
5. Wait for follow-ups

Questions to Ask Interviewers

• "How does this team embody [specific principle]?"
• "What's the biggest challenge this team is tackling?"
• "How do you measure success in this role?"
• "What does the path to impact look like in the first 90 days?"

Practice Makes Perfect

Amazon interviews are predictable. The same 16 principles, the same STAR format, the same follow-up questions.

This predictability is your advantage.

Candidates who practice extensively outperform candidates who "wing it" by a massive margin.

How to Practice

Week 1-2: Story Development

• Write out 15-20 strong stories
• Map each story to Leadership Principles
• Add specific metrics and outcomes

Week 2-3: Verbal Practice

• Practice each story out loud
• Time yourself (2-3 minutes per story)
• Practice follow-up questions

Week 3-4: Mock Interviews

• Do full mock interviews (4-5 questions each)
• Get feedback on your delivery
• Identify and strengthen weak areas

Practice with AI

Interview Whisper's AI can help you:

• Practice Leadership Principle questions
• Get instant feedback on STAR structure
• Identify missing elements in your answers
• Build confidence through repetition

Practice Amazon Interview Questions with AI →

Your Amazon Interview Checklist

Before applying:

• Understand all 16 Leadership Principles
• Prepare 15-20 strong stories
• Map stories to principles (2+ per principle)
• Add quantified results to every story

Before the interview:

• Practice stories out loud
• Do 3+ mock interviews
• Research the specific team/role
• Prepare questions to ask

During the interview:

• Use STAR format for every answer
• Say "I" not "we"
• Include specific metrics
• Connect answers to Leadership Principles

After the interview:

• Send thank-you notes (optional but nice)
• Note questions you were asked (for future reference)
• Reflect on what went well/could improve

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Final Thoughts

Amazon's Leadership Principles interview is rigorous, but it's also fair and predictable.

They're not trying to trick you. They're testing whether you genuinely embody these principles through your past actions.

The candidates who get offers:

• Know the principles deeply
• Have strong stories with metrics
• Practice until delivery is natural
• Show genuine alignment with Amazon's culture

The candidates who don't:

• Wing it without preparation
• Give vague, generic answers
• Use "we" instead of "I"
• Don't quantify results

You now have everything you need to prepare.

The question is: Will you put in the work?

Start practicing today. Your Amazon offer is waiting.

Start Practicing Amazon Interview Questions →

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