How to Answer: Amazon Brand Specialists focus on delivering results; however, failures still happen. Walk me through a time when you failed. What did you learn from the situation?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for an Amazon job interview.
19. Amazon Brand Specialists focus on delivering results; however, failures still happen. Walk me through a time when you failed. What did you learn from the situation?
How to Answer
Amazon's 14th Leadership Principle is 'Deliver Results.' This principle states, 'Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.'
A Brand Specialist who delivers results is a person who can experience a setback or even a failure and still gain a positive experience or take away from the situation. Everyone faces failures in their life, and there is no need to be ashamed of that fact. Rather than feel ashamed or embarrassed about discussing a failure, show the interviewer that you owned the situation and made the best of it by turning the situation into an opportunity to learn. Provide the interviewer with evidence that you can bounce back from a perceived failure.
Give a real-life example of a time when an outcome was not what you wanted or expected, but you were able to recover or learn. Perhaps you were better off in the end, or you learned a valuable lesson! 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.
Answer Example
"(Situation & Task) One of the largest failures I have experienced was not graduating university as soon as expected. I had detailed plans laid out for my education and was eager to graduate with my degree in 4 years. Rather, I encountered a couple of academic roadblocks that caused me to re-take two classes, pushing my graduation date back one year. At the time, I felt ashamed. I did not want my family to look down on me or for anyone to think that I was slacking at school. The issue was that I was experiencing complete independence for the first time in my life and did not have the proper foundation to stay disciplined with my studies and structure my study time. (Action) Once I identified my weaknesses, I found and registered for an online course through McMaster University called 'Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects.' Through this course, I learned how to set myself up for successful learning. I learned counter-intuitive test-taking tips and methods on how to approach complex problem sets. I also gained the tools needed to optimize my homework time. (Result) I am proud of myself for looking inward and then making the best of my situation by rising to the occasion and never giving up. In the end, I am confident that I generated the best results. I am thankful that I completed my degree at a comfortable pace. I finished with excellent grades and a critical skillset that I can leverage as a Brand Specialist for Amazon."