Amazon interview questions

Tell me about a time when you were not able to meet a time commitment. What prevented you from meeting it? What was the outcome and what did you learn from it?

At Canes we used to place large orders on the calendar for the whole team to look at and it would send reminders of that order 15-30 minutes before it had to go out. Once i accidentally placed an order at 10pm instead of 10AM FOR A 100 FINGER TAILGATE. I realized my mistake once the customer came in. I immediately felt bad and embarrassed, and apologized for the mistake. They understood and i got the order out in 10 minutes but i game them a nice little discount and some free toast for my mistake. They thanked me and have came back to us ever since.

Tell me about a time you had to quickly adjust your work priorities to meet changing demands.

At canes i was always shuffling around my priorities because of how fast something can come up. the biggest changes I faced as a manager was when someone called out. That required me to move certain crew around and it required me to focus on the operations side to make sure food is getting out on time and that we aren't falling behind on certain tasks. I learned how to multitask really well at canes and i also started to write down things on my notepad just so i wouldn't forget anything. I created a list of what i needed to do in case someone called out and I learned how to adapt often.

Describe a time when you had to make a decision but didn't have all the information needed and readily available to make that decision. What did you do and why?

At canes we always had customers come in and ask for a refund or remake without a receipt. This one woman came in demanding a refund and remake but had no receipt, but she did say she had talked to one of the managers and they told her they would give her both. When i went to look in the customer log, I couldn't find it and I was needed in drive thru to help another customer. The woman was looking for cash but without the receipt i couldn't give it to her. I decided to get three free box combo cards and i remade her food also. I explained why i couldnt give her cash and apologized but she was very understanding and said thabnk you.

Tell me about a time when you did something out of your comfort zone?

I felt the most uncomfortable the day i had to go in front of the class and talk about a sentimental item and what it meant to me. I was a little nervous back than when it came to public speaking but over the years i have gotten better. I wanted to be prepared for this speech so I wrote down and practiced it in the mirror every night. I asked some friends to listen and kind of grade it. This helped me calm down my nerves the day of and i did really well in front of the class. I ended up getting an A and i have been improving ever since.

Give me a time when you were innovative?

Every year for canes, we have a mothers day BOGO, where every mom gets a buy one get one free. The first time i experienced it i was a crewmember and it was pretty hectic. the wait was extremely long and everyone was stressed. The next year i was a manager and i wanted to figure out a way to speed up the order process. I decided to have a associate go out and ask every customer in line what they were ordering so i could have an idea of how much chicken would need to be dropped. This helped bring our times down and it also helped us control how much food we needed. We no longer over dropped and the wait time was decreased by at least ten minutes.

What's your greatest strength.

I believe my greatest strength is my ability to lead a team and my decision making. I went from crew member to shift manager in about a year and from there I was leading a team of about 6-9 crewmembers on a shift. With my decision making I feel like I am always trying to think through things before doing something and trying to really make the best decision for myself.

Do you collaborate well

I do think i work well with other and since my junior year I've been working in groups in almost every class. These projects have taught me how to communicate well, how to hold myself and others accountable, how to always have an open mind and just be honest and adaptable. I've found that some of my best projects have come when we are all on the same page and we are willing to work with each others schedule. I have never gotten made at someone for being busy and have always listened to new ideas.

Give me an example of a time you faced a conflict while working on a team. How did you handle that?

I had recently worked on a project that required us to write a report on UAV's and AI and how they are being used today. We had about three months to do the project and three of us decided to split the work evenly to lessen the load a bit. When one of the students hadn't worked on it for two straight weeks i confronted him and asked if he had been really busy or just forgotten about the project itself. He told me he had been working a lot and apologized for not starting it. The next day he finally put some work in and we met the deadlines for the project the rest of the semester. I think that since i took a very nice approach and i understood what he was going through, that he felt he didn't need to be defensive and understood that all of our grades were on the line.

Describe a conflict you faced in the workplace and how you handled it

I just recently had an auditor come around and scan some packages in my can and we both saw that some of them had not been correctly scanned in. She proceeded to tell me that it was all my fault and i could get written up for this. I was obviously a little upset because I had just gotten there and i didn't scan a single package yet. I explained to her that it could've been someone else but it wasn't me and i told her she should approach things differently with others. I helped her scan the packages in and she apologized for coming off so aggressively. I told her thank you but just remember that at the start of the shifts there are sometimes packages already in the ULD.

The last time you had to apologize to someone.

I just recently had to apoligize to my professor. I have her class at 11 am online and my next class is on campus at 12:30pm. I was listening to her lecture on my way to class and she mentioned towards the end that she had a quick attendance quiz and i was in my car when that happened. I tried to remind myself to take it as soon as i got in the other class but just forgot on accident. I realized my mistake later that day and sent her an email and an apology. She thanked me for contacting her and gave me the credit anyways.

Tell me about a time you stepped up into a leadership role.

I just stepped into a leadership role at amazon air. I have been taught how to audit cans and they are currently training me to be a PG. I've been learning how to coordinate with my partner to make sure we are on the same page and are keeping track of time. I make sure we send out the correct ULD's in order and that we consolidate and close the right chutes at the right times as well. I enjoy the challenge and I feel like it is a lot of pressure because I am in control of when a persons order is being sent, whether its on time or late.

Tell me about a time when you received negative feedback from your manager. How did you respond?

I once received negative feedback from my manager when it came to closing the restaurant on time. When i used to close i was very new and i wanted to make sure that everything was perfect in the morning. I would essentially triple check everything when it came to cleanliness and inventory. This sometimes held us back half an hour, which wasn't good. I asked my manage how i could improve and she recommended that i work on stuff a little earlier than i usually do. So I started my manager clossing list an hour early, I sent people on break earlier as well and this helped us leave the restaurant on time and sometimes a little early.

We've all had to work with people that don't like us. how do you deal with someone who doesn't like you?

I once worked with someone at Columbia who didn't like me simply because I was really good friends with the management team and they felt like i was just kissing up to them. I asked them one day if i had offended them in any way and they told me how they felt. I told them i wasn't trying to be best friends with them i just wanted to have conversations with them. afterwards, i tried to start including them into our conversations because i felt that they probably felt left out. I also just started talking to them more at work.

Tell me about a decision that you regret.

I think a personal decision i regret is not choosing logistics and supply chain my freshman year. I felt i have wasted 2 years of my life when i chose biology and didn't get out sooner. I wish I also would worked at a warehouse or amazon a little sooner so i could see how a supply chain is run and it would've helped me understand some of my classes as well.

Why Amazon?

I think amazon has a world class supply chain and i would love to be apart of the movement and grow within the company. I thinks its amazing how they are continuing to grow in the UAV industry but also in the amazon air sector. I think amazon always brings new challenges every day in trying to optimize the customer experience and improving current systems.

Biggest weakness

I think my biggest weakness is taking on too many tasks and not speaking up or asking for help. I also feel like I could improve on my constructive criticism. I don't mind telling people how to fix this or that but i think i could be a little more clear.

Describe a long-term project that you managed. How did you keep everything moving along in a timely manner?

I've had one huge project so far that was a 20 page essay or report on the future of UAV's and the companies using them. So me and two other people decided it would be best if we split it into three sections. I would be writing about the companies who are using UAV's for either shipping materials or shipping medical supplies, and I would compare each drone and company. To stay focused and not get behind, we would use groupme to communicate and we would have certain areas of the paper that needed to be done in order move onto the next part of the paper. the Communication was key and thankfully I had a good group, but we did end up getting a high B on the paper.

How do you show customer obsession?

In retail or the service industry, I showed customer obsession by going above and beyond wehat they were expecting. When a customer was sitting down eating i would come by and ask how their meal was, if they needed a refill or how there day was too. I think we also have to realize that what we do in the back shows how much we cared about the customers as well. I always made sure that the food was good, and the presentation was also good. Doing all of those things helped us have returning customers and we had relationships with these people as well.

What is leadership?

Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, developing and motivating to accomplish a goal.

Describe a time you were in a meeting, and you disagreed with everyone else. How did you handle the situation?

We had a manager meeting at canes because we had received a yellow in one of our audits. The main concern was that our crew did not know canes principles and some important food handlers questions. Most of the managers agreed that we needed to crack down and be more strict but to me that really didn't solve the issue. I proposed that we make it more fun and test the kids out every shift and week. I recommended that we offer some free canes gear, gift cards and some free meals. If we tested them before or after every shift we could reward those who got all the questions right. I told my other managers this might be the best way but some felt like it would be a waste of money. I disagreed and said that this could make the crew happy and excited. We tested it out and everyone loved it! the crew loved the competition and they were also learning very important questions at the same time. It was a win-win.

We all make mistakes we wish we could take back. Tell me about a time you wish you'd handled a situation differently with a colleague

When I first started to work at canes I had a coworker who was very hard working and always on task. One day she was unusually slow and just not being herself. I decided to just joke around and mention how bad she was sucking today. What I didn't know was that she was having a bad day because she was struggling with school and work so she was a little stressed out. I found this out after she told me to just leave her alone, but I soon apologized and realized that you cannot always joke around with people because who knows what they're going through.

Provide an example of when you personally demonstrate ownership

When I was a manager at Canes I had lots of shifts where we would be training new hires during peak hours. I would introduce the new associate to our crew, show him around and make sure he met with his trainer to talk about the position he was working that day. It was my job to make sure the trainer was correctly going over the book and checking off everything they had to learn. Secondly, I had to talk to the trainee and see how their shift was and if they enjoyed it and if they had any questions. In the end I wanted to make sure they didn't feel overwhelmed and that they had a great shift. If they didn't come back the next shift or if they went onto someone else's shift and they didn't know what they were doing, then that was on me. It would be my fault and I don't like embarrassing myself or the trainee.

Describe a situation when you negotiated with others in your organization to reach agreement

When I was in my fraternity we would have certain events for potential new members. We would maybe take them out to top golf or dinner somewhere. The problem was that we couldn't come to an agreement with how much we wanted to spend and who could go to these events with the new members. I Decided to come up with a budget for each event and since we couldn't decide on who to let go to each even, I split it up by sonority so that the olders guys get to pick events first. that gave everyone a chance to go to one event and that also let out new members meet all of our actives. They thought it was a good idea and it ended up saving us money and the new guys got to meet our whole chapter.

operation workflow

first mile - where the product is housed and ready for your order; second mile - where your order is hauled to your area; and last mile - when the product is delivered to your door.

Tell me about a time when you came up with a new approach to a problem.

When i was a sales associate at Columbia , my biggest problem was signing up customers for our reward program. Anytime they would come up i would ask if they would like to join our program and most would say no. i started to realize once i was at the bottom of our store in sign ups that i needed to rethink my strategy a bit. Instead of asking if they would like to sign up, i just asked for their name and email, so they would have no choice. This drastically improved my success rate and it kind of surprised many customers as well.

Give me an example of a time when you set a goal and were able to meet or achieve it?

When i was in my fraternity we always had a fundraiser for muscular dystrophy. One semester we decided that our goal was to reach $10,000 in funds. This had never been done before so i decided to be to help out I decided to help advertise and contact alumni. I posted on all the social medias, and contacted alumni from UNT, Texas and national levels. We reached $7,000 before the start of the fundraiser. When we started at school, we raised a little over 10,000 through other organizations and just through faculty and students. I was proud to be a part of that achievement, and hope they keep doing what i taught them for future fundraisers.

What did you do when you needed to motivate a group of individuals?

at Canes I always had to keep the crew motivated. I remember one shift where we were short staffed and the crew i had left were really frustrated because they knew the rest of the night was gonna be pretty rough. I told them not to worry and that if they helped me out i would help them and we could all try to get out on time. I always try praising people and letting them know how great of a job they're doing. for me, recognition and praising someone really can lift their spirits and motivate them. After a great night, i decided to also give my closing kitchen crew some gift cards for their hard work.

Describe a time that you were able to improve a process.

at canes we were also used to sending people on break at night, and it would usually get busy and we would end up being short handed. I was tired of getting out of work late and i didn't want to have the customers wait fror their food for 10 minutes. I decided to let two crewmembers come into work an hour late, but they wouldn't get a break. They agreed and i was able to keep labor low and i didn't have to sacrifice quality or speed.