Let’s say you’re eyeing that Director-level position at Amazon. You’ve read the culture takedown pieces and understand that you might be walking into an…ugh…aggressive workplace.
Still, you know that 3-5 years at Amazon is money in the bank when it comes to your career. You can do anything for 3 years if it means you exponentially jump up the career ladder in your profession, right?
So you accept that interview. But you’re wondering about the best way to prepare for the process, because you’ve read the live interview experience at Amazon for professional grade positions can be intense.
What do you do to prepare? You could scan LinkedIn to see who you know at Amazon to help set your expectations on what to expect, or:
YOU COULD BUY THIS Airbnb EXPERIENCE DESIGNED TO PUT YOU THROUGH THE AMAZON LIVE INTERVIEW GAUNTLET FOOL (click link to see the goodies)
Yes, you read that correctly. There’s an Airbnb “experience” you can buy in Seattle that will put you through the Amazon process. Here’s some notes from your host, “Nick”:
In 2013, I co-founded Amazon Game Studios in a series of direct pitches to Jeff Bezos. Amazon has since acquired Twitch and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in gaming. I was also an Amazon Bar Raiser with 350+ interviews. Bar Raisers are esteemed Amazonians who determine whether the company should hire a job candidate or not. Lastly, I was a New-hire Orientation Host who inculcates new hires in the Amazon culture, during their first day on the job.
We recommend taking the “Prepare For The Amazon.com Interview” experience prior to taking “Simulate The Amazon.com Interview Loop.” www.airbnb.com/experiences/241942 —- During the simulation, candidates interview with former Amazon employees, matched to the candidate’s job level and function.
After the interview loop, candidates attend their own debrief as “a fly on the wall.” During the debrief, candidates witness the interview team deliberate and decide whether to “hire” the candidate based on Amazon’s Leadership Principles and functional competencies.
Lastly, if needed, candidates find out how to evolve from a “no-hire” to a “hire” outcome. This type of coaching is valuable because Amazon does not provide official interview feedback to rejected candidates. In contrast, during our simulation, candidates receive constructive feedback, without the outcome counting against them.
Sign me up! Cost? 5K.
What I love about the setup by Nick for these Saturday sessions is that he actually has 4 spots available for each Saturday, which means he rotates the interviewers across anyone who’s signed up for this session. That means he could book 20K for 5 hours (shared with the interviewers, I’m sure) across this concept.
Would you pay 5K to learn how to nail an Amazon HQ interview?
GRADES FOR CONCEPT!!
Innovation: A
Bravado: A
Using the Good Name of your past employer for personal gain: A
Mass Market Appeal: D
Sales Platform (AirBNB): A
Likely Revenue Generated by Nick: C
Don’t hate the player, hate the game. And when you’re an Amazon Bar Raiser, then you can criticize.
Kris Dunn is a Partner and CHRO at Kinetix, a national RPO firm for growth companies headquartered in Atlanta. He’s also the founder Fistful of Talent (founded in 2008) and The HR Capitalist (2007) – and has written over 70 feature columns at Workforce Management magazine. Prior to his investment at Kinetix, Kris served in HR leadership roles at DAXKO, Charter and Cingular. In his spare time, KD hits the road as a speaker and gives the world what it needs – pop culture references linked to Human Capital street smarts.