Looking for a Job at Amazon? Check Out These Tips and Resources First.

When going after a job at Amazon, one of the most common blunders applicants make is charging in blind, thinking that their resume and their good interview skills can speak for themselves. In short, they assume that the application or hiring process at Amazon is the same as anywhere else where you can just send in your details and hope that you fit the bill.

Getting a Job at Amazon Involves a Specific Hiring Process

This is because on top of meeting the minimum requirements for the job, every applicant is expected to take and pass the Amazon assessments, which is specifically designed and formulated to see if the candidate truly has the potential to be an effective and successful Amazon employee. You can find more details about the Amazon hiring process and the assessment at PrepTerminal.

Not only do you have to have a stellar resume, you will also need to excel in your Amazon assessment in every way possible so that you can stand out from the competition and land that job.

So, before you send in your resume, here are a few things that you should know about before applying at Amazon so that you can prepare yourself better!

There Will Be a Cognitive Test

Once you’ve sent in your application, you will be given an initial telephone interview.

The questions used here will typically consist of the conventional interview questions and nothing too serious will be discussed this early in the hiring process to save time and manpower.

Should everything go well with your interviewer, you will be sent an email from the company containing a link that will take you to a website where you can answer the online Amazon assessment test.

This online exam aims to know if you have the basic cognitive skills needed to be an Amazon employee, and will revolve around the subjects of:

• Verbal Reasoning
• Numerical Reasoning
• Logical Reasoning
• Spatial Reasoning

While the questions may vary from question bank to question bank, they do not stray too far from college-level difficulty at most.

Despite this, you should do your best to try and get a high, if not a perfect, score on it.

Why? The answer can be seen in the next point

Your Score Will Be Compared with Other Applicants’

If you managed to pass the online Amazon assessment and got invited to the next part of the hiring process, you can relax somewhat.

However, there is one thing that you should remember: In the case of you doing well in the on-site interview but the hiring manager sees that another candidate is on the same level as you, there is a high chance that the ‘tie-breaker’ will depend on which one got the higher score in the online test.

So if you got a mere passing score on the online Amazon test, it is very likely that other candidates with better scores will be given a higher priority or consideration.

This, in essence, is put into place by the company in order to uphold its brand of excellence and service.

Get Ready to Prove That You Are the Perfect Candidate for the Position

When you are invited to the on-site interview, you will be made to conduct a presentation of sorts in order to complete your Amazon assessment.

This presentation will involve you doing a role play exercise or case study where you will be put in the shoes of the job position that you are applying for and it will be your duty to resolve a conflict, misunderstanding, or problem that someone in that job encounters on a regular, if not daily, basis.

So, if you’re aiming for a tech-oriented position, you will be given a scenario in that field.

For those in customer service, you will typically be given a situation with an irate or angry customer due to their order being defective or damaged in transit, and you will be expected to come up with a way to resolve this despite them throwing insults or hateful words against you.

The same can be said for a sales position, in which case it is likely that you will be made to try and persuade one of the interviewers or hiring managers to buy a certain Amazon product or service.

For those applying for a managerial or supervisory position, the scenario will most likely be you having to deal with an employee, that’s either new or has been with Amazon for a number of years now, suddenly having terrible performance or has been coming late to work for a while now.

In order to do well in this part of the hiring process, you will need to show that you have the qualities that are expected of an Amazon employee in your presentation.

Be Ready to Take a Personality Test

Apart from the presentation and the cognitive test, you should also be prepared to take the Amazon assessment personality test, which is designed to see if you are someone that has the traits and qualities of an Amazon employee.

These traits will be focused on the core Amazon Leadership Principles.

So if you want to further solidify your chances of being hired, read up on the aforementioned principles, which are available on the Amazon website or through a quick search on the internet.

On the test proper, try to adjust your answers in the actual Amazon assessment personality test so that they are in line with the qualities listed in it.

However, you have to be careful because if you select too many extremely positive or neutral statements or responses, your application is likely to be classified by the test algorithm as ‘purposefully manipulated’ or ‘invalid’, and you will be rejected by the company even if you did well in the previous assessments.

This part of the exam is put into place so that the company can make sure that the candidate is someone that can easily adjust or adapt to the workplace culture of Amazon, preventing bad hires in the long run if they do not have the right mindset or work etiquette.

Featured Image: Bryan Angelo, Unsplash.