Amazon Tests

Careers at Amazon

For those interested in a career at Amazon opportunities are vast, both in terms of job function and location.

The company is made up of several business areas, further divided into teams. You may choose to work in artificial intelligence or data services as part of Amazon Alexa, machine learning or UX design for the Marketplace team, or fulfillment and robotics within the Amazon operations technology department, to name just a few.

There’s also plenty of opportunity across specialisms including:

• Legal
• Finance and accounting
• HR
• Marketing, PR and communications
• Supply chain and logistics
• IT
• Software development
• Customer service

Amazon also operates a number of subsidiaries in which job openings exist, including Audible, Amazon Fresh and IMDb.

Every team under the Amazon umbrella shares a commitment to excellence and a customer-centric approach. These values underpin the company’s culture and are a primary focus of the recruitment process.

Amazon’s unique company culture is based on a set of 14 ‘Leadership Principles’. These principles form the basis of every decision and every project undertaken.

They also make up the characteristics of the ideal Amazon employee. As such, you’ll be assessed against them throughout the application process.

Amazon’s Leadership Principles are:

• Customer Obsession
• Ownership
• Invent and Simplify
• Are Right, A Lot
• Learn and Be Curious
• Hire and Develop the Best
• Insist on the Highest Standards
• Think Big
• Bias for Action
• Frugality
• Earn Trust
• Dive Deep
• Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
• Deliver Results

While some of these principles are self explanatory, others are a little more complex in their nature. For example, bias for action, in Amazon terms, means it’s better to take calculated risks than be overly cautious with your decision making.

You’ll need to show these principles in action throughout your application, be it through past behaviour or as part of your Amazon assessment tests, so be sure you fully grasp the meaning of each before you start the process.

Online application form

To apply for an open position, you’ll need to set up an amazon.jobs account, create a profile with some basic information, upload your CV and, depending on the role, answer some relevant screening questions.

If you’re applying for a creative role and have existing work examples or an online portfolio, Amazon recommends you include links to these within your CV.

Telephone interview

Telephone interviews at Amazon consist of behavioural questions, with their basis rooted in its Leadership Principles.You’ll be asked about challenges you’ve faced in the past, and the approach you took to overcome them.

Questions typically focus on areas like team motivation, collaboration, problem-solving and risk. A key thing the hiring team looks for at this stage is data-based evidence, so be sure to include supporting information in your answers.

Amazon numerical reasoning tests

As part of the screening process, it’s likely you’ll be asked to complete a series of online assessments.These may be sent to you as part of your initial application, or at a later date.

The numerical reasoning test is designed to measure your confidence and ability concerning statistical information, and since Amazon is a data-driven company, these tests are a standard requirement for most roles.

You’ll be presented with a series of tables, charts and graphs, and will need to evaluate the data present to draw logical conclusions. All questions will have multiple-choice answers and will require only basic calculations, like working with percentages or conversions.

Though the processes aren’t overly complex, these tests are timed, so you’ll need to put in plenty of practice to develop both speed and accuracy.

Amazon verbal reasoning test

You may also be invited to sit a verbal reasoning test as part of your Amazon application. These measure your critical thinking skills, and your ability to interpret written information.

You’ll need to determine if a set of statements can be classified as true or false, based on a passage of supporting evidence. In some cases, there may be insufficient information within the text, in which case your answer would be ‘cannot say’.

Again, these tests are timed and require you to work quickly with precision, so practice is vital.