Amazon Program Manager interview questions

Tell me about a case that you solved with a totally different way.

Dive deep: You will be asked about a topic and keep asking questions around this topic, to see if you can provide specific details, metrics etc. Test how hands on you have been and willing to give details. This important as we prefer hands on leaders who talk at a high level and can dive into the detail – what you were measuring, was it successful and why this measurement was a success etc. Q: Tell me a time when you were handed a project/scenario with Vague requirements - where you had to dig several layers deep and do course correction. What one specific thing did you learn from this situation? How did you course correct? Could this have been avoided? Has this changed your process in any way? Q: Tell me a time about something that was not a part of your job but you did it as a learning? What was the biggest thing you learnt out of this?

Delivering results. Q: Tell me about a time when you took on something significant outside your area of responsibility. Why was it important? What was the outcome? (we like candidates who exposure themselves to Marketing strategy, sponsor of project and then take over the work etc.) Q: Give me an example of a time when you didn't think you were going to meet the commitments you promised. How did you identify the risk and communicate it to stakeholders? What was the outcome? Q: Give me an example of a time when you were able to deliver an important project under a tight deadline. What sacrifices did you have to make to meet the deadline? How did they impact the final deliverables? Q: Tell me about a time you had significant, unanticipated obstacles to overcome in achieving a key goal. Were you eventually successful?

High Standards and Disagree and Commit Q: Tell me about a time when you have worked to improve the quality of a product / service / solution? How did you do your analysis? Were people convinced? Q: Tell me about a decision you made in the last year or two that you would change if you could. What decision and why would you choose that one to change? Q: Tell me about a time when you have had to compromise your standards in order to achieve a goal? Q: Many times it is important to be hard headed about a decision you are making, particularly when others don't like it. Give me an example of a time when you stuck by a decision even though it was not popular with others. Q: Give me an example of insisting on a great outcome instead of a “good” outcome. Q: Give me an example of disagreeing with the wider group? Q: Can you give me an example of when you disagreed with your peers, taking an unpopular view – had to work that out – give an example?

Customer obsession and Earning Trust. Q: Tell me about a time when you had a plan for what to propose to customers, and changed the approach after deep dive with customer. Q - Give me an example of your most difficult customer interaction and how you worked through it. What was the outcome? Q: Tell me about a time when you drove an innovation solution or program for customers Q - Give me an example of a time you used customer feedback to drive improvement or innovation. What was the situation and what action did you take? Q :Tell me about a time when you needed support from someone who was actively resisting the direction you wanted to proceed with. Q - Building trust can be difficult to achieve at times. Tell me about how you have effectively built trusting working relationships with others on your team. Q: Tell me about a time when you needed support from someone who was actively resisting the direction you wanted to proceed with. Q - Tell me about a time when you had to balance the needs of the customer vs. the needs of the business. How did you manage this situation? It is important that if you don’t focus on a customer or receive a negative customer appraisal that you demonstrate that you acknowledged and addressed this. We learn from experiences, but showing that you addressed this through customer prioritization to change their perception is important.

Think Big, Bias for action, Are right a lot Q: Give me an example of a calculated risk that you have taken where speed was critical. What was the situation and how did you handle it? What steps did you take to mitigate the risk? What was the outcome? Q: Give an example of a creative idea you had that proved really difficult to implement. What was the idea and what made it difficult to implement? Was it successful? Q: Give me an example of how you have changed the direction or view of a specific function/department and helped them embrace a new way of thinking? Why was a change needed? Q: Tell me about a time you took a big risk – what was the risk, how did you decide to do it and what was the outcome? What were the implications internally? How did that go down? What would you do differently in the future? Q: Tell me about a big concept or idea / Tell me about big idea that drove substantial revenue growth? Q: Tell me about a time you came up with the vision for a (team, product, strategic initiative) when there wasn’t a guiding vision. What was it? How did you gain buy-in and drive execution? (Manager)

Invent and simplify Q: Tell me about a adical approach you proposed to solve a big problem? FUQ: How did you get everyone on board? FUQ: Was your approach successful? FUQ: How did you measure value? FUQ: What would you do differently / other options considered? Q: Example of how you drew new thinking and innovation out of a team member that led to a specific innovation. FUQ: How do you make this repeatable?