It takes more than an impressive resume to land a job at Amazon. Jeff Bezos revealed the three questions he asked his candidates when Amazon was still a small, growing company.
When it started, when Amazon had “only” 2,100 employees, Jeff Bezos was very concerned about hiring the best possible people. As the e-commerce giant grew exponentially, the recruiting process was understandably delegated to recruiting professionals, but the guidelines around job interviews remained intact.
Jeff Bezos was particularly keen on his three-question rule, which he revealed in 1998 in his letter to shareholders. Even though they are more than 20 years old, these questions are still relevant today. According to Nicholas Lovejoy, who joined the company in 1995: “One of Jeff Bezos’ mottos was that every time we hired a candidate, he had to raise the bar even higher for the next person. » So, a candidate recruited by Amazon today may face this three-question rule.
Question 1: Does this person inspire admiration in you?
“If you think about the people you’ve admired throughout your life, they’re probably people you’ve been able to learn from or take an example from,” Jeff Bezos wrote in his famous letter to shareholders, adding that he has always tried to work only with people he admires.
During a job interview, the qualities to highlight and that recruiters generally look for are integrity, reliability and a sense of leadership. To do this, your interlocutor will surely ask you to describe a difficult situation that you had to manage. He will essentially seek to know whether you demonstrated diplomacy and to know the strategy you followed to resolve the problem in question.
In this sense, a candidate can expect to be appreciated for their interpersonal and human skills beyond their technical knowledge.
Question 2: Will this person increase the productivity of the group they join?
“The bar must continually be raised higher”writes Jeff Bezos in his letter. The problem is that it can be difficult for hiring managers to know whether a candidate, once hired, will remain engaged and eager to develop the company’s plans in the years to come. However, Amazon’s ambition is to continually surpass itself and go further and further, as the Amazon Day One blog points out: “Long-term thinking is a core value rooted in Amazon’s history since our founding”.
A candidate should expect to bring future projections of Amazon’s various projects during the interview. Jeff Bezos always asks candidates how they imagine the company in five years. Before your interview, don’t hesitate to research the company’s values and prepare goals to achieve as the group grows.
Question 3: Could this person be a superstar?
In addition to the individual’s skills and experiences, Bezos said it is important to consider a candidate’s individual talents, which could make him or her a so-called “superstar.” He explains: “There is a person here who is a national spelling champion. I suspect this doesn’t particularly help her in her daily work, but it makes work more fun if you can tease her in the hallway with a little challenge every now and then. »
This type of profile can generally be somewhat rebellious, but will undoubtedly bring a touch of innovation within the company. “Superstars” can therefore be very valuable allies. A candidate, during their interview, may emphasize particular hobbies or unique skills that, although seemingly unrelated to the job’s duties, might instead reveal interesting character traits. like alertness and the ability to look at things in a different way.
Recruiters also love hearing stories about how a candidate was able to implement a creative solution to a problem or how they helped build the company culture while making the place more fun and interactive work.
