Amazon Program Manager interviews are really challenging. The questions are difficult, specific to Amazon, and cover a wide range of topics.
The good news is that getting ready well can help you get a job as a program manager at Amazon (or AWS). To help you get there, we’ve put together the ultimate guide below.
Interviewing for a program manager role at Amazon is no easy feat. The questions will be difficult, specific to Amazon, and cover a wide range of topics.
But with the right preparation, you can master the Amazon PM interview process and land your dream job.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know, from what to expect in the interview to the most common question types you’ll face.
Overview of the Amazon Program Manager Interview Process
Before we dive into the nitty gritty of the actual interview questions, let’s briefly cover what you can expect as part of the overall PM interview process at Amazon:
The Steps
Here is the typical timeline and sequence of events
- Resume Screen: Recruiters review your resume to see if you have the relevant experience
- Recruiter Phone Screen: 30-45 minute call with a recruiter to assess basic fit
- Writing Test: A short essay on a given prompt relevant to the role
- Phone Interview: 45-60 minutes, focused on behavioral questions
- Onsite Interview: 4-5 back-to-back 45-60 minute interviews covering all question types
- Offer: Provided all goes well, expect an offer within 1 week of the onsite
The Interviewers
You’ll speak with a range of people during the process
- Recruiters: They own the overall process but don’t decide hiring
- Hiring Manager: They’ll interview you to assess your fit for the specific role/team
- Peer PMs: Fellow program managers from the team you’re interviewing for
- Bar Raiser: A senior interviewer trained to maintain high hiring bar across Amazon
What Happens Behind the Scenes
Here’s a high-level look at what happens behind the scenes:
- After screens: Recruiter decides whether to advance you
- After onsite: Interviewers share feedback and make hiring recommendations
- During debrief: Led by the Bar Raiser, the team agrees on a hiring decision
Alright, now that you know what to expect, let’s look at the actual questions.
The 3 Types of Amazon PM Interview Questions
Based on analysis of real interview questions posted on Glassdoor, we found Amazon PM interviews focus on 3 key areas:
- Behavioral questions (66% frequency)
- Program management questions (28% frequency)
- Role-specific questions (6% frequency)
Let’s explore examples of each below.
Behavioral Interview Questions
The majority of your Amazon PM interview will focus on behavioral questions tied to Amazon’s famous Leadership Principles.
You’ll want to become extremely familiar with all 16 principles. Interviewers will ask multiple questions on 2-3 principles they’ve been assigned to assess.
Here are some examples of behavioral questions you may be asked for key Leadership Principles:
Customer Obsession
- Tell me about a time you put the customer first.
- When have you gone above and beyond for a customer?
Ownership
- Share an example of a time you demonstrated leadership.
- Tell me about a time you went over and beyond your job responsibility to help the company.
Bias for Action
- Share an example of a time you took a calculated risk.
- Tell me about a time you had to move fast without all the data.
Are Right, A Lot
- How do you deal with ambiguity?
- Tell me about a time you made a decision without sufficient data.
And so on for all 16 principles…
The key is to have clear examples ready to go for all principles, and tie every answer back to demonstrating one.
Program Management Interview Questions
The next most frequent question type you’ll encounter focuses specifically on program management skills.
These will assess your abilities across two key areas:
Program Management Processes
You’ll get PM process questions on topics like:
- Planning projects
- Managing timelines
- Tracking metrics and KPIs
- Optimizing projects
- Removing obstacles
Program Management Skills
You’ll also get PM skill questions on areas like:
- Leading teams without authority
- Partnering across teams
- Communicating effectively
Have clear examples ready from past projects in each of these areas.
Role-Specific Interview Questions
While less common overall, you may get a handful of specific questions tailored to the program manager role you are interviewing for.
For example, an interviewer may ask:
- How would you manage the launch of a new Amazon product?
- What techniques would you use for managing Alexa OS updates?
- How would you approach program management for Prime Video?
Do your research beforehand to understand the specific deliverables, challenges, and metrics for the PM role you are targeting.
5 Tips for Crushing Your Amazon PM Interview
As you prepare for your Amazon program manager interviews, keep these tips in mind:
1. Know the Leadership Principles cold. These behavioral questions will dominate your interview, so dedicate lots of practice to them.
2. Have clear examples ready for all stages of program management. Brush up on PM fundamentals and think through stories from past projects.
3. Research the specifics of the role you want. Tailor your answers to demonstrate fit for the unique requirements of the PM position.
4. Practice out loud and frequently. Verbalizing your answers will help ensure you deliver clear, compelling responses in the real interview.
5. Stay calm and confident. You’ve put in the work – now trust yourself to demonstrate your experience and potential!
With rigorous preparation across all question types, you’ll be in a great position to pass the Amazon program manager interview process.
You’ve got this! Put these tips into action to land your dream PM role.
2 What happens behind the scenes
Your recruiter is leading the process and taking you from one stage to the next. Heres what happens at each of the stages described above:
- After the phone interviews and any written tests, your recruiter will decide if you should go to the onsite based on how well you did so far.
- Once the “Onsite” is over, each interviewer goes through their notes, grades you, and suggests that you be hired (i.e. e. “Strong hire”, “Hire”, “No hire”, “Strong no hire”).
- During the “Debrief,” all of your interviewers get together and are led by the “Bar Raiser.” This person is usually the most experienced interviewer and is not on the hiring team. The Bar Raiser will try to help the group decide who to hire. They also have the power to refuse to hire you, even if everyone else wants you the job.
- You get an offer. Once everything goes well, the recruiter will make you an offer, usually a week after the site visit but sometimes longer.
Also, keep in mind that recruiters and people who send you jobs don’t have much of an impact on the whole process. They can help you get an interview at the beginning, but thats about it.
You’ll be asked a wide range of questions during your Amazon program manager interviews. It can be hard to make sure you’ve covered all the important points in your preparation because of this.
To make this process easier for you, weve identified the three primary types of questions you’ll encounter, using real Amazon program manager interview data from Glassdoor. Below you’ll find a summary of the question types, as well as the frequency with which each question type is asked (given as a percentage).
Here are the results of our analysis:
- Behavioral questions (66%)
- Program management questions (28%)
- Role-specific questions (6%)
3 Role-specific questions (6%)
Amazon program manager interviews tend to focus on the two areas weve just covered above. Also, keep in mind that not every job at Amazon for a program manager is the same. Read the job description and any other information you can find about the role.
Youll want to be prepared to speak knowledgeably about the functional area where youd be working. Your interviewers may also ask you a few technical questions to see how much you know and how well you can talk about technical details if the job is in a technical area or if you will be working closely with engineers.
Below youll find several example questions that you can practice with. These are all real interview questions for an Amazon program manager that we got from Glassdoor. We changed some of the words to make them clearer and more correct.
These example questions are focused on technical topics, specific products, or functional areas. You should change the questions below to fit a product or topic that is relevant to the job you want when you start practicing for them.
Example role-specific / technical questions asked by Amazon.
- Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond to fix a computer problem.
- Describe the hardest project you’ve worked on and give technical details and skills.
- Could you develop chemical programs for Amazon?
You may also be asked to demonstrate skills with tools that are relevant to the role. For example, you may be asked to demonstrate Excel VLOOKUP functions, pivot tables, or SQL queries.
If you want to get more practice with technical questions, you might want to read our separate guide for the Amazon technical program manager interview.
Amazon Program Manager Interview Questions with Answer Examples
FAQ
How many rounds of interview for program manager in Amazon?
How do I prepare for a Programme manager interview?
What does an Amazon program manager do?
How many rounds is an Amazon manager interview?
How does Amazon interview a program manager?
Amazon’s program manager interview process heavily focuses on assessing whether you live and breathe the company’s 16 Leadership Principles. The main way Amazon tests this is with behavioral questions, which you’ll be asked in every interview. In case you’re not familiar with Amazon’s Leadership Principles, let’s quickly run through them:
How many Amazon Program Manager interview questions are there?
625 Amazon Program Manager interview questions and 564 interview reviews. Free interview details posted anonymously by Amazon interview candidates.
How difficult are Amazon Program Manager interviews?
Amazon Program Manager interviews are really challenging. The questions are difficult, specific to Amazon, and cover a wide range of topics. The good news is that the right preparation can make a big difference and can help you land a job as a program manager at Amazon (or AWS). To help you get there, we’ve put together the ultimate guide below.
What questions are asked in the Amazon Technical Program Manager interview?
You may also be asked to demonstrate skills with tools that are relevant to the role. For example, you may be asked to demonstrate Excel VLOOKUP functions, pivot tables, or SQL queries. If you’d like to get additional practice with technical questions, consider reading our separate guide for the Amazon technical program manager interview.
