Amazon Interview Preparation: Behavioural Questions & STAR Method

Amazon interviews are structured around their 16 Leadership Principles. Whether you are applying for a graduate scheme, software engineering, or business analyst role, you will face behavioural questions that require structured, evidence-based answers.

What to Expect in an Amazon Interview

Amazon uses competency-based interviews where every question is designed to reveal how you have behaved in past situations. You will typically face two to four interviewers across separate sessions, each covering different Leadership Principles.

The STAR Method

Amazon explicitly expects answers structured using the STAR format:

• Situation — set the scene briefly
• Task — describe your responsibility
• Action — explain what you did, step by step
• Result — quantify the outcome where possible

The Action section should take up roughly 60–70% of your answer.

Key Leadership Principles to Prepare For

Customer Obsession

Prepare examples where you prioritised the end user, even when it required extra effort.

Ownership

Prepare a story where you spotted a problem outside your remit and took action without being asked.

Deliver Results

Have a clear example of a goal you set, the obstacles you faced, and how you delivered despite them. Use numbers where you can.

Dive Deep

Prepare an example of a time you dug into data or details to uncover a root cause rather than accepting a surface-level explanation.

Common Amazon Interview Questions

• Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision with limited information.
• Describe a time you disagreed with a manager or senior stakeholder.
• Give an example of when you delivered a project under significant time pressure.
• Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn?
• Describe a time you had to influence someone without direct authority.

Preparation Tips

Prepare six to eight strong stories

Each story should be flexible enough to answer two or three different Leadership Principles questions.

Practise saying your answers out loud

Use CogniPrep's AI mock interview to record your answers and hear how they sound. Filler words and unclear structure are hard to spot without playback.

Keep answers to two minutes

Amazon interviewers may ask follow-up probing questions, so leave room for dialogue.

The Assessments Stage

Before the interview stage, many Amazon roles include an Arctic Shores psychometric assessment. Practice the games at CogniPrep to ensure you are not caught off guard by the format.