Amazon Leadership Principles Mock Interview

Master 30 Amazon Leadership Principles questions covering Customer Obsession, Ownership, and Dive Deep scenarios.

Question 29 of 30

When was the last time you had to admit you were wrong?

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Kevin Downey has an extensive background in business management, recruiting, branding and marketing. He's volunteered his career coaching services at job fairs, lecturing on interview techniques and crafting winning resumes and cover letters.

Focus on the leadership principle, 'Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility,' where they state, "We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them." As a leader, your responsibility is to learn from others, just as it is to learn from yourself. This requires a high level of emotional intelligence and a desire for continued growth and innovation.

Kevin Downey

This question could pertain to their leadership principle 'Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit,' where you may have disagreed with a direction someone on your team wanted to take. As Jeff Bezos said, "Companies are rarely criticized for the things they failed to try. But they are, many times, criticized for things they tried and failed at." However, this question asks for an example of humility, such as admitting you were wrong when you did disagree.

Kevin Downey

Your interviewer is curious about what your answer will reveal about you based on how you interpret the question. Many of Amazon's leadership principles are interconnected. Ultimately, you want to be fully versed in their leadership principles, as this interview is as much about how well you embody their culture as it is about how you answer each question.

Kevin Downey

"In all honesty, I can't remember. No, seriously. I learned some time ago not to speak with conviction about something I am not one hundred percent sure of. If someone asks me something, and I don't know the answer, I won't present my educated guesses as fact. I will simply say I don't know, but if they'd like me to find out, I would offer to get back to them once I find the answers. I'm careful with my opinions as well. The last thing I want to do is dissuade someone from being innovative. If someone shares an idea with me, I'll almost always say that it is an interesting idea. If they ask me what I think, I will ask them lots of questions, and they almost always answer that question for themselves based on my line of questioning. I try not to be right or wrong. I just try to admit when I don't know something, and then I try to understand or learn."

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30Amazon Interview Questions & Answers

Customer Service

1.Discuss a time you went above and beyond for a customer.

Customer Service

2.Tell me about a time you dealt with an angry customer.

3.Tell me about the last time you failed and didn't live up to your promises.

4.Tell me about the last time you took on too many responsibilities.

Leadership

5.What big picture contributions have you made at your current place of work that greatly benefited your teams?

Leadership

6.When was the last time you identified an opportunity at work?

Accomplishment

7.When was the last time you were right and over-delivered as a result?

Accomplishment

8.When was the last time you proved yourself when others resisted your lead?

Creative Thinking

9.Tell me about the last time you approached a complicated situation from outside the box.

Competency

10.Tell me about the last person you interviewed and hired.

Leadership

11.Who are you mentoring now, and how is their development coming along?

Communication

12.Tell me about the last time you were challenged by something you delegated to others.

Leadership

13.How do you ensure your teams produce quality work?

Compatibility

14.What does 'The Big Picture' look like to you?

Accomplishment

15.Tell me about the last time you went the extra mile.

Problem Solving

16.Would you rather step back and take time to form a plan or go what with you know, work with what have, and go with your gut?

Problem Solving

17.Tell me about the last time things didn't go according to plan.

Diligence

18.What is your approach to using the manager's expense account?

Teamwork

19.When entering a new work environment, what kind of impression do you try to make?

20.Tell me about the last time a subordinate offered you some negative feedback. What was it, and how did you respond?

Critical Thinking

21.Tell me about your attention to detail. When was the last time you missed something, and how did you come to realize it?

Management

22.How do you monitor the performance of your teams, individually and as a whole?

Communication

23.Tell me about the last time you disagreed with your senior staff. What actionable steps did you take?

Diligence

24.Tell me about the last time you made a commitment that challenged you.

Performance Based

25.When was the last time you improved your KPIs?

Accomplishment

26.Tell me about the most successful project you worked on and why it was significant.

Leadership

27.What would the teammates you supervised say about you as a leader?

Teamwork

28.What kind of relationship do you have with your coworkers?

29.When was the last time you had to admit you were wrong?

Communication

Amazon Leadership Principles Mock Interview

When was the last time you had to admit you were wrong?

30Amazon Interview Questions & Answers

1.Discuss a time you went above and beyond for a customer.

2.Tell me about a time you dealt with an angry customer.

3.Tell me about the last time you failed and didn't live up to your promises.

4.Tell me about the last time you took on too many responsibilities.

5.What big picture contributions have you made at your current place of work that greatly benefited your teams?

6.When was the last time you identified an opportunity at work?

7.When was the last time you were right and over-delivered as a result?

8.When was the last time you proved yourself when others resisted your lead?

9.Tell me about the last time you approached a complicated situation from outside the box.

10.Tell me about the last person you interviewed and hired.

11.Who are you mentoring now, and how is their development coming along?

12.Tell me about the last time you were challenged by something you delegated to others.

13.How do you ensure your teams produce quality work?

14.What does 'The Big Picture' look like to you?

15.Tell me about the last time you went the extra mile.

16.Would you rather step back and take time to form a plan or go what with you know, work with what have, and go with your gut?

17.Tell me about the last time things didn't go according to plan.

18.What is your approach to using the manager's expense account?

19.When entering a new work environment, what kind of impression do you try to make?

20.Tell me about the last time a subordinate offered you some negative feedback. What was it, and how did you respond?

21.Tell me about your attention to detail. When was the last time you missed something, and how did you come to realize it?

22.How do you monitor the performance of your teams, individually and as a whole?

23.Tell me about the last time you disagreed with your senior staff. What actionable steps did you take?

24.Tell me about the last time you made a commitment that challenged you.

25.When was the last time you improved your KPIs?

26.Tell me about the most successful project you worked on and why it was significant.

27.What would the teammates you supervised say about you as a leader?

28.What kind of relationship do you have with your coworkers?

29.When was the last time you had to admit you were wrong?

30.When was the last time your communications skills were put to the test?