Applied as a Solutions Architect. Accepted the offer.
I passed 3 interview stages (1 - Phone screen, 2 - Phone Interview, 3 - Onsite full day Loop). The process is the same for most roles.
*** 1 - Phone screen
1 hour long. Short introduction, followed by 20-30 quick questions about technology. I had to answer each question in 2 to 3 sentences, in a precise way.
Last 20 minutes were dedicated to 2 behavioural questions ("tell me about the time you had a difficult customer..."), to be answered precisely in STAR format. I had a chance to ask a few questions back as well.
2 days later I was informed that I passed, and invited to next stage.
*** 2 - Phone interview
1:1 phone screen with a senior tech guy. Same format as first call, but now I was asked more complex questions ("how would you scale a 3-tier website, layer by layer?") and given 3-4 minutes to answer each scenario. I asked some clarifying questions too.
A few behavioural questions followed - key here is to be quick and precise with answers.
At the end, I was given 5 min to ask some questions about daily life at AWS.
2 days later I was invited to a full-day onsite Loop. I had 14 days to prepare myself, including a presentation about one of my projects (6-7 slides max).
*** 3 - Onsite full day Loop
Tough one. Fun one.
6 interviews (a full hour each) and a lunch in the middle.
At the end of every slot, I had 5 minutes to ask questions about life at AWS etc. I have received different perspectives and it was great.
Loop slot 1 - tech breadth. Questions were a mix of technical scenarios, short QnAs, and behavioural questions ("tell me about the time when you had to solve a complex problem on your own").
Loop slot 2 - tech depth. I was asked to whiteboard 5-6 different technical solutions from common tech areas. Some of them I knew really well, others I have drawn conceptually and it was OK. Main focus here was to be fast, honest, precise, and informative. Polish your whiteboarding, try drawing 6 random scenarios in 1 hour.
Loop slot 3 - customer orientation. I walked the interviewer through my CV highlights, and answered 3-4 behavioural questions
--- lunch break --- was not an interview, just a chance to informally chat with an AWS lunch buddy. It went well and allowed me to recharge mentally.
Loop slot 4 - ownership and bias for action. The interviewer was respectful but relentless in his attention to details. The hardest slot of the Loop, but I had enough experience and projects to talk about. I didn't care how my stories were received... I just told the truth and the real story.
Loop slot 5 - presentation, attended by 3 interviewers. 45 minutes to tell my story (slide template was provided), 15 minutes for QnA. Many dimensions are evaluated - from storytelling to customer value to actual implementation to operational excellence.
Loop slot 6 - bar raiser (team outsider who only cares about the High Bar for every new hire). I had to dive very deep into 2 customer scenarios I delivered - I chose large projects with enough substance to discuss for 30 min each.
5 days after the Loop, I was told that I’ve passed it!
*** 4 - Offer and background test
AWS salary package is quite complex - it has a fixed salary component, a sign-on bonus, and some Amazon shares on top. The ratio is different for every year, and the overall package differs by country (due to Cost of Living) and internal levelling that happens after the Loop.
I have spent quite a few hours preparing for an offer negotiation, pushed back once, accepted the revised offer.
AWS is a great employer, with some of the smartest tech people on this planet. I'm enjoying the day-to-day work and the customer interactions. Recommending it to anyone who's not afraid of new challenges and loves a fast-paced, customer oriented, and technological work setup.
Advice:
- Prepare and research well. When you think you're ready, prepare some more.
- Assume that interviewers have 2-3x deeper knowledge than you do. Don't try to fool them or make up things on the fly - just say "i don't know" and move on. It's ok.
- Be friendly. The people in the room WANT to hire you if you made it that far. Don't take the questions personally.
- Practice STAR format. A lot. On all 14 Leadership Principles. Have 2-3 of your own stories per LP (yes, that's a LOT) - over time, you'll see that most stories apply to several LPs at once.
- Don't come into a Loop with 3-4 stories total - you'll start repeating yourself within the first hour.
- Be precise, speak in numbers, ROI, % performance improvement. Don't say "I guess it was OK, by my gut feeling, but I never checked".
- Don't speak for too long, you are expected to say 2-3 sentences and stop in most cases.
- Ask clarifying questions. It is expected in some scenarios.
- Don't go into rabbit holes on your own. Unless it's a "bar raiser" slot and your counterpart keeps drilling into the details.