Amazon believes in 'Ownership', and our team members act on behalf of the entire company - beyond just themselves or their team. Talk about a time when you served on behalf of others without being asked.
Amazon's 2nd Leadership Principle is 'Ownership.' This principle states, 'Leaders are owners. They think long-term and don't sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company beyond just their own team. They never say, 'that's not my job.''
Putting your needs aside for the benefit of others is a characteristic that every leader should have. Often, leadership means acting on behalf of others and doing what is right to ensure the best results. The interviewer wants to hear a story about a time when you acted on behalf of others, beyond yourself or your team, to ensure the best result for the group as a whole.
Choose a real-life example of a time when you readily took on a task or responsibility that went beyond your basic accountabilities for the good of the overall goal. 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) During my internship at Company XYZ, I noticed another intern who was struggling with a few of the admin tasks we had been given. The company hired a handful of interns who all started on the same day, and I suspected that this person got lost in the crowd didn't get the hands-on training they required. (Task) The tasks this intern was struggling with were primarily around entering data into Microsoft Dynamics, a job that I felt confident completing since I had recently taken an online course to learn the application. (Action) I approached this intern and suggested that we work together to catch up on his tasks. I offered him a few shortcuts to complete his entries more efficiently, and I answered his questions. Offering this quick training meant that the Intern Coordinator did not have to take time out of their day to re-train this individual. (Result) By the end of our 3-month internship, this person was a whiz in Microsoft Dynamics and ended up being offered a position with Company XYZ after graduation. It felt great to help him out, and the real reward was seeing a positive long-term impact on his career. I am a self-aware individual, and I diligently look for opportunities to help others. It's natural for me to extend beyond my own needs or tasks and look to what is best for the group. Should Amazon choose to offer me this Brand Specialist position, I will show a commitment to the company by being ready to complete any job or task that comes my way. I will actively participate in a manner that generates long-term benefits for the company and those working around me."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
When I decided to leave my job at _____, they couldn't hire a new candidate during my notice period. There was only one team member that I could hand over my ongoing tasks and she was going to handover when the new person starts. Our manager was on maternity leave.
I started working for _______ after an M&A process. 3 big companies merged and we started working and reporting for all. It was really difficult to find out the right contact person to have the access to different systems, learn the tools etc. I thought it would really help to prepare a PPT guide for all the how-to-get access systems, links, contact persons. I also prepared another guide with screenshots including all the steps to build a campaign. ( documents to be asked to the customer, preparing campaign details, Marcom brief, preparing SMS messages for each system and checking with the legal team, preparing the partnership agreement etc., uploading the campaign to 3 systems etc. I also prepared another follow-up document about my brands. I handed over my projects to my colleague at the end. The guides that I prepared saved a lot time for my colleagues, lighten their workload and helped new comers to start working for the projects earlier.
Marcie's Feedback
Great! This is a good example of a time when you went above and beyond for the team, even though you were soon leaving the position. You explain everything very thoroughly and come across as proactive, helpful, and knowledgeable. Nice job!
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