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How to Become an Amazon Program Manager: Complete Overview

Going through the hiring process always takes a bit of work. From applying to numerous Amazon job openings to researching the company and then mentally preparing yourself for an interview can be time-consuming and exhausting. But don’t worry, we are going to sort it out.

The most important thing to do when going through the amazon program manager interview process is to prepare. Make sure you study and practice interview questions and answers, do your research on the company and job description, and ready yourself for any tests that the company may assign.

We’ve put together this comprehensive guide to take away your stress. In this guide, you’ll understand what it takes to be an Amazon Program Manager, what their hiring process looks like, and how you can best prepare yourself to land a job.

What Does the Amazon Program Manager Hiring Process Look Like?

The first step of the Amazon hiring process is a call with a Human Resources recruiter. If they think your resume is a good fit for the role, they will schedule a 30-minute phone call with a hiring manager to discuss your background and give you more details about the role, team, and company.

After the HR phone screen, you will be administered a Work Simulation Assessment to take. This questionnaire focuses on situations you may encounter if hired at Amazon.

They are looking to see how you would handle real-world examples that illustrate your ability to manage a business unit, deal with a customer request, or any other situation that may come up during your work as a Program Manager. For more details on this assessment, and help on how to prepare for it, see below under the ‘Assessment’ paragraph.

When you pass the assessment, you will go through an interview loop, meeting with 4-6 managers and/or team members. These are back-to-back interviews and can get a bit tiresome, so make sure you are fully energized and prepared for a long day.

They will ask you behavioral questions that you will need to answer using the STAR (Situational, Task, Action, Results) format while taking into account amazon’s leadership principles.

Make sure you research Amazon’s Leadership principles and understand what they are and how they align with your values.

For example, Ownership. In Amazon, all leaders are owners. As owners, they think long-term and act on behalf of the entire team or even the entire company.

What Skills and Background Do I Need?

What do you need in your toolkit to apply and gain employment as an Amazon Program Manager?

As for your background and education, they are looking for someone who completed their Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field.

However, a Master’s degree or MBA may give you a bit of a boost over the competition. They are also expecting their future Program Managers to have at least three years of related work experience including managing and working with project managers.

Soft-Skills

Amazon values excellent communication and analytical skills with data sets. Those who are data-driven and can provide out-of-the-box thinking are better suited to advance company goals. Try reading up on company policy and strategy, so you can see how you fit in.

In this role, you will also be working with many other individuals and teams, so it’s necessary to have good collaboration skills to succeed in this role.

Hard-Skills

So practically, what do you need to know to succeed in this position?

You must have a strong command of SQL and data analysis using Excel, along with experience using a range of analytical tools like Quicksight/Tableau/PowerBI and more. This knowledge base will be crucial for developing business cases, performing analysis, and ad hoc reporting.

Additionally, the company has preferred qualifications, including knowledge of R and Python, a strong understanding of statistical concepts and experimentation design, and some practical work cases using hypothesis testing.

Amazon's Work Simulation Assessment

As mentioned above, moving into the final round of interviews means passing Amazon’s Work Simulation Assessment. The test is sometimes referred to as the Amazon Job Simulation or Hiring Simulation test.

The importance of preparing for this test in advance cannot be understated. So, let’s look at what this test is and how you can prepare for it.

This test is a 35-50 minute questionnaire that takes you through questions and scenarios you may deal with as an Amazon Program Manager.

Amazon wants to understand how you will handle project management situations that are thrown at you at work and whether you are good at managing projects or multiple projects when dealing with adversity.

It’s almost as if you’re job shadowing for 50 minutes, but just thrown into the deep end with no one to help you. Sounds a little intimidating.

When choosing a pre-test preparation guide and practice test, it is important to ensure two things.

The practice exam mirrors the real test in terms of question structure and time limit.
The exam is coupled with explanations on every question to ensure that you understand it in depth.

Good luck on your journey to becoming an Amazon Program Manager