20 Best Amazon Phone Interview Tips with Questions and Answers

The phone interview is one of Amazon’s hiring approaches. This article breaks down this process for you and let you know what to expect at every point of the interview.

Phone interviews are nothing less than a real interview. So, you need to be just as prepared.

20 Amazon Phone Interview Tips

Here are valuable tips to help you go through a phone interview at Amazon successfully:

1. Be prepared and take the interview seriously as you would do for an in-person interview.

Even though you’d be in the comfort of your home while being interviewed, the questions that you’d be asked are almost the same that would be asked on a face-to-face interview. So, prepare yourself for it.

2. Use a dependable hands-free headset or talk directly into your phone.

You must talk directly into your phone or you use a handsfree headset that you trust can bring out the voice of the person on the other end.

Do not use a speakerphone as that can distort your voice or make it louder than normal.

3. Have a business-like mentality.

Being interviewed by phone shouldn’t make you reluctant to clean up. Clean yourself up and be in the right frame of mind. Be in that business-like frame of mind.

4. Make the collateral materials you’ve shared easily accessible.

Your resume, work samples, cover letters, etc., should be brought together and made accessible for easy referencing if need be.

5. Be in a quiet space.

Find a quiet spot that has a good phone connection. You do not want to be disturbed by crazy noises coming from people in the same room that you are.

Don’t stay in a coffee shop or a public place.

6. Don’t be afraid to say, “I’m away from my desk at the moment.”

Start preparing as soon as you know that a call can come anytime in the nearest future.

However, if the call comes at bad timing when you can’t take it, probably because you’re in an airport, or you have bad reception, don’t be afraid to say “I’m away from my desk and can’t give my best attention to this call which it demands I do. When can I call back?”

7. Do well to review and study the job description.

Once you’ve reviewed the job description and studied them, get some questions and practice your answers to them just the same way you would for any other interview.

8. Make use of your advantages.

Being interviewed by phone puts you on the advantage of having documents you’ve previously written or designed, a description of your earlier experiences, and your cover letters in front of you. Just to stay on the call and not get lost.

9. As insignificant as it may be, your posture matters.

I may advise that you stand or sit at a nearby desk. You might not have paid close attention to this but your posture affects a lot, not just your psyche but how you speak too. Your tone also can be influenced by your posture.

10. Try recording yourself.

You might, out of nervousness, be faced with verbal ticks like being unable to be audible or talking too quickly.

Try recording yourself speak and count all the uh’s, um’s, and the likes. This can be an eye-opener and you’d be aware of it.

11. Be free to ask them to reiterate a question.

There might be a question asked that you didn’t quite get, don’t be scared to ask them to repeat it other than answering something else. But pay attention and try to get all questions the first time.

12. Do not cut the interviewer off.

Allow the interviewer to finish off before answering. Do not interrupt. Also, avoid awkward silence.

13. Use the “do not disturb” function on your phone.

Smartphones now have a “do not disturb” feature and this appears to be the best moment to use it. The last thing you want is to continually be interrupted with your phone buzzing with texts, incoming calls, etc.

14. Allow the interviewer to take the lead.

Everybody is different, so also are your interviewers. Some just want to make small talks while others might be all business. Whichever style your interviewer comes with, just follow their lead.

15. Be brief.

In a phone interview, you might want to keep things shorter than normal. This interview is screenings and the interviewer might not even be the hiring manager.

It might be one of the employees. Keep your answers quick and straight to the point.

16. Research about Amazon’s culture.

Converse with some employees in the field you’re applying for that used to or still work at Amazon to fill you in on the culture of Amazon.

17. Be confident to say “I don’t know” if you don’t know.

One person can’t know everything. So, be confident to tell the interviewer that you don’t know if you don’t know an answer to a question thrown at you. It shows that you’re upfront.

18. Don’t heavily depend on cheat sheets.

Interviewers have an idea that they are trading spontaneously for comfort, but don’t shuffle papers before every question or let them hear you tapping keys. It would make the cheat so obvious.

19. Be well-spoken.

This sort of interview is screening, and your knowledge of the position is not as important to them as you being well-spoken.

It proves to them that you haven’t lied in your resume and about your work history.

20. Thank them for calling.

After the interview, say a thank you for calling and allowing them to hang up first.

20 Amazon Phone Interview Practice Questions and Answers

Here are carefully selected sample interview questions and answers that you can practice with in preparing for a phone interview with Amazon:

1. Who’s the founder of Amazon? How is his name pronounced?

“The founder of Amazon is Jeff Bezos, pronounced as Bay-Zohs and not Bee-Zos.”

2. If you came from Mars, how would you decipher problems?

This sort of question is directed to your creativity, your ability to think outside the box.

You may want to consider sharing a unique account of how you thought out a creative solution to a customer’s problem or made crazy sales through a creative technique.

3: tell me of when you had to say an apology to someone.

This question is directed to know if you can admit to a fault. It is to know if you’re a team player.

We all have made mistakes at a time that hurt someone or put someone in trouble.

Pick one of those mistakes and narrate it, saying how you apologized.

Don’t tell the interviewer that you haven’t had to apologize to someone. It will make you look highhanded.

4. What situation in your life was the most difficult to face? How did you tackle it?

In answering this question, stay off personal life challenges. Find a professional anecdote and share it, and try to be positive throughout.

It shows how willing and resilient you are to work around problems.

You can share of a time the deadline for a project was missed but you managed to get the project back on track, dealing with a difficult client, etc.

5. What would be your reaction if you found out that your closest friend at work was stealing?

This is to know your loyalty, both to your friend and the company. Your answer should be to first discover the nature of the act before deciding what to do next or how to react.

6. If you’re been asked to do something you disagree with by your direct manager, how would you handle it?

The interviewer is trying to know how you would handle a disagreement and how skillful you are with negotiation.

Your answer should be that you don’t speak up negatively and that you believe in communication till a solution is found. Also, your answer should show that you can be flexible.

7. How would you respond to someone being unsafe at work?

Tell the interviewer that as a worker, you have to care for both yourself and your colleagues, that you will advise the person of the dangers of working the wrong way.

You can also suggest a safer way to work.

8. Do you think a time would come when you would walk out from work and not return due to maltreatment?

Tell the interviewer that you can control your temper. You can go further to narrate how you would deal with a situation like that. You’re not insensitive, just calm.

9. In 6yrs time, where do you picture yourself working for us?

Your answer can be something like, “I believe there will be a massive enhancement of my abilities and skills while working for this company for several years.

I imagine myself in a point haven grown with high esteem to my field and also to the company at large.

I see myself occupying a leadership position, participating wholly in the expansion of the company.”

10. What difference can you bring to the table that others can’t?

The interviewer is trying to know what makes you unique from others. You should answer something like, “This is quite different from my strength. I can be very detailed to the teeth.

People sometimes aren’t comfortable with this aspect of me, but paying close attention to details in many occasions has saved me and some others from catastrophic situations.”

Here are other questions you might be asked in a phone interview with Amazon:

11. What’s your reason for leaving your former job?
12. What achievement have you made in the past that you’re so proud of?
13. Tell me about the worst mistake you have ever made.
14. What does Human Resource mean to you?
15. What serves as a motivation to you at work?
16. Amongst all Amazon leadership principles, which do you like the most, and why?
17. If hired, how early can you join the company?
18. Do you have a salary expectation? What are they?
19. How would you persuade a customer?
20. How do you prioritize customer experience?

10 Good Questions you can ask Interviewers in Amazon Phone Interview

If you are taking a phone interview with Amazon, here are good questions you can ask interviewers:

1. Can you fill me in on the everyday responsibility of this job?
2. For this position, how do you define success? What yardstick are you using to measure my accomplishments?
3. Do you have any uncertainty about my experience or skill for this job?
4. Where do you envision this organization in the next 5 years?
5. What have been the biggest challenges the team has faced this year?
6. What do you admire most about working for this organization?
7. What made you decide to join the company?
8. What are the opportunities for growth in this department?
9. What are your least favorite things about working here?
10. At the moment, what challenge is the company facing now?

Conclusion

Taking a phone interview with Amazon is not different from the physical interview as their standards are same. To be successful in your performance, a lot of preparation is required.

The ideas, tips, and practice questions and answers shared on this page will be helpful in your preparation for the phone interview with Amazon.