How to Answer: Tell us about a time when you disagreed with your manager. Why did you disagree, how did you state your case, and what was the resolution?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for an Amazon job interview.
2. Tell us about a time when you disagreed with your manager. Why did you disagree, how did you state your case, and what was the resolution?
How to Answer
Amazon Product Managers are accountable to a variety of individuals. Although you may not always be on the same page with your leaders 100% of the time, the interviewer wants to know that you handle any disagreements with the utmost respect and professionalism. Getting along well with others puts you in a favorable position because it shows your desire to collaborate and highlights your ability to problem solve and produce excellent results, despite a challenging situation.
In your current position, you may have a great relationship with the people you report to. However, there will be times where you don't see eye to eye. Think of a conflict or disagreement you had with your manager, and you responded well, stated your stance very clearly, and perhaps even persuaded the manager to approach the situation from your perspective.
When asked a 'Tell us about a time...' question, it's important to remember that the interviewer is looking for a specific story-based example that highlights your behavior in challenging situations. Using the STAR interview method (Situation, Task, Action, Result), you can form a story-based response that the interviewer can follow with ease.
- Situation: Set the stage with the background information the interviewer needs 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 to express your point of view with your manager.
- Result: Last, talk about the specific outcomes that resulted from your actions.
When forming your response, remember that one of Amazon's Leadership Principles is to 'Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit. Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.'
Answer Example
"(Situation) In my most recent PM position, my Senior PM believed that the company did not need to invest time or money into growing an email distribution list for a specific product we were rolling out. (Task) As a skilled Product Manager with product marketing training, I strongly disagreed but knew that I needed to state my case compellingly since this Senior PM was all about the numbers. (Action) I approached the topic gingerly and used hard data from previous cases. I then tied past results to the company's current business goals to show how a distribution list could benefit us in the short and long term. By removing emotion from the equation and focusing strictly on data from a couple of cases, I presented my viewpoint in a way that was hard to dispute. (Result) Ultimately, the Senior Product Manager gave my team the green light for piloting the program, and it was a great success. We built an email list of over 100,000 contacts, and our conversion rate ended up being 22% higher than we had originally forecasted."