Amazon HireVue Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

Most Amazon applicants take an online assessment, but customer service, some non-technical roles and UK apprenticeships report a recorded HireVue video instead. Every question below is answered best with a Leadership Principle story.

Practise a HireVue-style interview

Your first session is free with a free account. After that, Interview Access is £5 once for up to 20 sessions, with no subscription.

How the Amazon HireVue works

Where it sits

Reported as the first screen after you apply. For UK apprenticeships, reported as straight after the online tests and before the assessment centre.

Programmes

Reported for customer service, some non-technical roles and UK apprenticeships. Most technical and business roles take Amazon’s own Online Assessment instead.

Length

Not published. Reported as a 30-minute window.

Questions

Not published. Reported as four to six behavioural questions. UK apprenticeship candidates report about 12 items, some needing a recorded answer.

Thinking time

Not published. Reported as 30 seconds per question.

Answer time

Not published. Reported as up to two to three minutes.

Retakes

Not published. Reports differ; UK apprenticeship candidates report one attempt per answer.

Deadline

Not published. Reported as five days from receiving the link.

Amazon HireVue questions candidates report

13 questions from Amazon HireVue interviews. Prepare a story for each type rather than a script for each question.

Motivation and fit

Tell me about yourself.
Why do you want to work at Amazon?
Why did you decide to apply for an apprenticeship instead of going to university or working full-time?
UK apprenticeships
Out of all the available schemes, why did you choose this one?
UK apprenticeships
What do you know about Amazon worldwide, Amazon in the UK and the location you applied to?
UK apprenticeships

Customers and results

Describe your most difficult customer and how you handled the situation.
Describe a time when you exceeded expectations.
Describe a time when you had to work with limited time or resources.
Describe a time you took a calculated risk.
Tell me about a time you were investigating an issue and found another issue, and both turned out to have the same root cause.

Setbacks and conflict

Describe a time when you didn’t complete your work on time. What happened and what did you do?
Describe a mistake you made at work and what you learned from it.
Describe a conflict you faced at work and how you handled it.

How to answer Amazon HireVue questions

Answer every question with a Leadership Principle

Amazon says a large part of its interviews focuses on how you have shown its Leadership Principles in past jobs, and asks you to “use the STAR method” and include “metrics or data where applicable”. Before recording, match one story to each principle you expect, and end each answer with a number.

Work backwards from the customer

Customer Obsession begins: “Leaders start with the customer and work backwards.” In the difficult customer and exceeded expectations questions, start from what the customer needed, show what you did to earn and keep their trust, and say how you knew it worked.

Show calculated risk and doing more with less

Bias for Action says “We value calculated risk taking”, and Frugality says “Accomplish more with less.” For the calculated risk and limited resources questions, say what you weighed up, why the decision could be reversed if it went wrong, and what you achieved without extra help or budget.

Dig to the root cause

Dive Deep asks leaders to “stay connected to the details” and be sceptical “when metrics and anecdote differ”. In the root cause question, walk through how you investigated, what data you checked and how you proved the two issues were linked.

Own mistakes and missed deadlines

Earn Trust says leaders are “vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing”, and Deliver Results says that despite setbacks they “rise to the occasion and never settle”. Say plainly what went wrong and your part in it, who you told, and what you changed so it did not happen again.

Disagree, then commit

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit asks you to “respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree” and, once a decision is made, to “commit wholly”. In the conflict question, show that you raised your view with reasons, listened, and then backed the outcome fully.

Tips for recording your answers

Start soon after the link arrives. Candidates report five days to finish it.
Treat every answer as your only take. Retakes are reported inconsistently, and apprenticeship candidates report one attempt.
Use the 30 seconds of thinking time to name the principle and jot the situation, action and result.
With up to two to three minutes reported, aim for about two and finish on the number.
On the apprenticeship test, check your sound and framing first. Submitting an answer moves you straight to the next question.
Look at the lens, not your own picture, with the camera at eye level and the light in front of you.

Frequently asked questions

Does Amazon use HireVue?

For some roles. Candidates report a HireVue one-way video for customer service, some non-technical roles and UK apprenticeships. Most technical and business roles take Amazon’s own Online Assessment instead.

How many questions are in the Amazon HireVue?

Amazon does not publish a number. Candidates report four to six behavioural questions. UK apprenticeship candidates report about 12 items, some of them recorded.

How long do you get to answer Amazon HireVue questions?

Candidates report 30 seconds to think and up to two to three minutes to answer each question.

How long do you have to complete the Amazon HireVue?

Candidates report five days from receiving the link, with the interview itself taking about 30 minutes.

What does Amazon look for in the HireVue?

The reported questions are behavioural, and Amazon’s interview prep says a large part of its interviews focuses on how you have shown its Leadership Principles, answered in STAR form with data where you can.

Practise for the Amazon HireVue

Our AI interview practice uses the same one-way format: five questions on screen, 60 seconds to prepare, then up to a minute to answer on camera. Choose the finance focus and the questions lean towards finance, with feedback on relevance, clarity and structure and on what finance assessors look for, such as commercial awareness and integrity. You also get a model answer to your weakest question.

The questions are ours, not Amazon’s. Start answering before the 60 seconds are up to match a shorter thinking time, and since practice lets you re-record, do one session in a single take.