Amazon Brand Specialists are expected to raise the bar and deliver the highest standards. Talk about a time when you raised the bar in a professional setting.
Amazon's 7th Leadership Principle is 'Insist on the Highest Standards.' This principle states, 'Leaders have relentlessly high standards - many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high-quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed, so they stay fixed.'
Knowing that Amazon puts great pride in delivering the highest standards, it's time for you to tell a story that showcases your ability to notice when the bar needs to be raised. Choose a real-life example of a time when you made a change to boost standards or improve how you or your team performed a task. Show that you approached the situation with confidence and worked diligently to be an ambassador for positive change.
Amazon asks that when you answer behavioral interview questions, you try to follow the STAR answer method. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result.
- Situation: Provide the contextual information the interviewer needs to know to make sense of your story.
- Task: Continuing to set the stage, give the interviewer an idea of your role and responsibilities in this story.
- Action: Next, offer a detailed description of the steps you took in this story.
- Result: Last, talk about the specific, measurable outcomes that resulted from your actions.
If you have work experience, it's best to provide an example from your professional life. If you are new to your career, consider an example from your post-secondary education, a team sport, volunteer commitment, or a club-based activity.
"(Situation) While completing my business internship at Company XYZ, I attended a meeting with the Sales & Marketing Coordinator and the Senior Sales Manager. The Senior Sales Manager expressed frustration that a few sales team members had misrepresented aspects of a new product to their clients. (Task) At this point, I was nearing graduation from my Business Administration degree with a focus in Management. So, I was diligently taking notes because I wanted to absorb the way the manager handled this discrepancy. To my surprise, the Senior Sales Manager asked for my input on the situation! It was an honor to have my opinion considered. I needed to deliver thoughts based on what I knew about the company and best practices in employee training. (Action) I spoke up and suggested that the core issue might be that the sales team was not clear on the unique benefit for each client. Rather than taking the time to understand why each client would benefit from the product, the sales team was delivering a pitch based on overarching benefits. This approach likely meant that our clients couldn't clearly see how the product benefited them. (Result) I was thrilled when the Senior Sales Manager agreed with my assessment. I was instructed to work alongside the Sales & Marketing Coordinator to create a training manual, with scripts included, for the sales team. Once the team received proper training, client complaints slowed down, and we saw a significant improvement in client satisfaction surveys. When I join Amazon as a Brand Specialist, I will bring this same tenacity and high standard expectations while working with my clients. I commit to raising the bar at every chance while keeping a keen eye on potential issues to ensure they are fixed and remain fixed."
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