An Amazon recruiting manager offers his 3 best tips for a successful job interview

The STAR method is a structured manner of responding to a behavioral-based interview question. For our interviews we recommend candidates format their responses using the STAR method to answer behavioral-based interview questions, incorporating examples representative of Amazon’s Leadership Principles. Consider your successes and failures in relation to the Leadership Principles. Your examples should showcase your expertise and how you’ve taken risks, succeeded, failed, and grown.

We value straightforward and clear communication. We use the STAR method as a framework for clear answers. It’s not something to memorize but rather a tool to communicate your strengths and experiences.

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Amazon is a data-driven company. When you answer interview questions, ensure your answer is well-structured, and provide examples using metrics or data if applicable. Reference recent situations whenever possible.

For example, your interviewer might ask: “Provide an example of a time you exceeded customer expectations.”

Below is how you might respond to this question using the STAR method and applying applicable data.

Situation: In 2020, I was a customer success manager at my previous company. In this role, I was in charge of successfully delivering software implementation to a $2 billion company, with 5,000 employees that operated in 36 countries.

Task: The challenge and task ahead of that year was to successfully implement, onboard, and train roughly 500 users, in all 36 countries of this company to use our product. Success would be measured in a monthly satisfaction survey, as well as a joint report to their executive leadership board once a quarter.

Action: This was not my first implementation, but the first of this scale. Knowing that, I formulated a plan to take these three actions. First, I created a customer feedback mechanism on a weekly basis. This was above and beyond because this was collected quarterly in the past. I also had the survey translated to 10 different languages, covering all 36 countries. Second, I wanted to make sure our users knew the “why” behind this change. I took the action of creating monthly office hours and twelve continued education sessions on the product. In fact, these sessions are now used as a standard practice for all future implementations, which there have been three of at this size. And third, a byproduct of the customer feedback actually revealed insights to other opportunities in their organization. I delivered these insights to the executive board in a thorough report, and they were delighted to hear the strengths and opportunities of their organization.

Result: As a result, the implementation was successfully delivered with a customer feedback score of 9.5 out of 10. The highest our company had ever seen. This new insight report opened another avenue of business with this customer that helped lead to doubling our business revenue.

We want to hear what you specifically accomplished and how you were able to deliver results on behalf of your customers. Be ready to describe the specific steps you took and how you contributed. Let us know what you actually did.