I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA)
Interview
Amazon has a several stage process. My phone screen included a simple coding problem on a shared screen so the interviewer could watch what I was doing. NDA prohibits me from offering details, but it was intended to test my understanding of data structures (in this case a heap) and computational complexity (O(n) solution found).
I was a little taken aback but the coding question for a PM position, but Amazon PMs are highly technical. I was called in for a round of 5 interviews, all of which were SDEs, which again took me by surprise as I was interviewing for PM. There were several programming problems and one that was more about software design. The interviewer had me solve a real-world issue they had on the Kindle team. But most questions were STAR format scenario questions.
I had a bunch of scenarios ready, but very few of them fit the questions. I realized after that we were really looking for different roles and didn't match well.
Everyone was very pleasant. It looks like a really exciting place to work.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Amazon asks interviewees to sign an NDA. Not willing to break it.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA)
Interview
Was found via a recruiter on LinkedIn. Received email asking if I would be interested in a phone screen. From there, I was scheduled to interview with the hiring manager over the phone. HR seems to be a little confused when scheduling and coordinating said interviews. (times/dates incorrect) Interviewed with hiring manager over the phone then interviewed with a vertical team member. About 3 days later I was invited to come onsite and interview for a full Amazon loop. An Amazon loop consists of 6-7 different people with an average time of 45 minutes. Most of the individuals in my loop were genuinely nice and asked clear and concise questions. The downside of this is that they pretty much all asked the same question over and over again. Some of the questions are rudimentary in nature, but leaves an environment of openness for the interview. The Amazon interview process also has an individual who is called 'the bar raiser'. This employee is almost cold to a certain degree and gives brick wall questions. Don't feel discouraged by this person as they want to see how you handle pressure and analytical thinking. Be prepared to interview for a solid 7 hours. Prepare as much as possible beforehand, but don't come off sounding as though you scripted anything. Overall, just be yourself and be patient with the process.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Your bar raiser will ask the 'brick-wall' type of questions. Be prepared to think these out. Treat these questions like trying to please a difficult client.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Sep 2009
Interview
Two rounds of telephonic interview. Lots of practical projects related and entrepreneurial questions. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Covered daily project management activities, risk assessment, questions about building a credit card rewards system and pricing system for returned warehouse items, most difficult technical challenge, net present value, risks of a book store.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
How to compare and choose between 2 companies generating differrent cash flows each year.