Product Manager Interview Prep
At Amazon, our goal is to be the world’s most customer-centric company by delivering innovative products, services, and ideas. The product manager (PM) interview is designed to identify candidates who have the technical proficiency, behavioral skills, and cultural fit required to help us achieve this mission.
What does a product manager do at Amazon?
The primary role of a product manager (PM) is to create products and features on behalf of customers. PMs work cross-functionally to drive ideas from conception to execution, creating requirement specifications for product development, developing marketing plans to drive awareness and adoption, segmenting customers, developing business models, analyzing success metrics, and diving deep to understand how Amazon innovates to deliver to customers.
Product manager traits
Knowledgeable
PMs have a deep understanding of the product’s purpose, target audience, and market.
Data-driven
PMs use data and analytics to make decisions and improve performance.
Results-driven
PMs focus on delivering high-quality results that meet or exceed expectations.
User-centric
PMs place a strong emphasis on understanding and meeting user needs.
Adaptable
PMs can adapt to quickly changing market conditions, technologies, and priorities.
The process
To be considered for a PM role, you must first submit a job application. If you meet the basic qualifications for the role, you’ll be asked to complete a technical phone screening. Depending on the team and role, you may be asked to complete a second phone screening as well. If your phone screening is successful, a recruiter will contact you to arrange an interview loop, and they’ll send you a writing assessment. If your interview loop is successful, you’ll be made an offer.
Job Application
Phone Screening
Writing Assessment (2 days prior to interview loop)
Interview Loop
Interview Outcome (within 5 business days)
Offer Discussion
Phone screening
Your phone screening will be with a senior leader on our team. It will last 60 minutes. Half of the time will be spent on behavioral questions that focus on our Leadership Principles, and the other half will be spent on functional questions that relate to your product management experience.
Interview loop
Your loop will include five 55-minute interviews where you’ll meet with members of our product management community.
You’ll have the chance to discuss your experiences and expertise in several areas that help us determine success at Amazon.
These areas include competencies that are based off of our Leadership Principles, which different interviewers will be assigned to evaluate.
Interview competencies
Behavioral interview
A significant portion of the conversation will focus on how you’ve demonstrated our Leadership Principles in your past jobs. This is because past behavior is an indicator of future success. We won’t ask brain teasers. Instead, we’ll focus on the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of your experiences, as well as the ‘why’ of your decisions.
Each interviewer will typically ask two or three behavioral-based questions about successes or challenges and how you handled them using our Leadership Principles.
How to prepare
First, think about your most memorable experiences in your previous jobs and recall specific details. Amazon is a data-driven company, so your answers should include metrics or data where applicable. Then, consider how you applied the Leadership Principles in your experiences.
Have examples that showcase your expertise and demonstrate how you’ve taken risks, succeeded, failed and grown. Make sure your answers are well-sructured. Use the STAR method to frame your responses.
Amazon culture
We’re a company that brings a wide range of perspectives to inventing on behalf of our customers. These include race, ethnicity, gender, age, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, culture, language, and education, as well as professional and life experience. We’re committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.