Amazon Brand Specialists ensure that problems get fixed and stay fixed. Tell the story of a time when you discovered a problem and took action to resolve the issue.
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.'
Issue resolution isn't always easy; however, it can become much easier to fix an issue with a solid problem-solving framework. With this question, the interviewer wants to see evidence that you are a person who takes long-lasting action rather than simply putting a bandaid on a situation, causing the issue to pop again at a later time.
This behavioral-based question requires an answer that includes storytelling. Choose a real-life example of a time when you noticed or even created a problem that needed to be addressed right away. 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 & Task) One example that comes to mind was when I was faced with handling an underperforming team member. At the time, I was the Retail Manager for Company XYZ. It was clear that this person was not going to work out, despite my best efforts at coaching and mentoring. (Action) I worked with her, coached her, and gently helped her to realize that the position was a poor fit. Over the course of a week, I coached this person out. (Result) By taking a gentler, less aggressive approach, such as an immediate termination, I helped the company avoid a disgruntled employee exit. This person now comes into the store as a friendly customer, so the situation turned out as best as possible. It was important that I made the right decision and then executed it well, so the issue did not snowball into a larger problem, such as a disgruntled employee leaving a harmful comment on an employer review site. I documented my process in the store's policy binder so that future managers could benefit from the situation and generate a positive result, as well. In this instance, I emulated Amazon's Leadership Principle of 'Insist on the Highest Standards' by raising the bar in how employee terminations were handled. "
