Get Ready for the Amazon Area and Operation Management Assessments

Recently Amazon has reviewed the process it uses for selecting candidates for the Area Manager and Operations Manager roles. In the past, they’ve used an assessment called “Manager in Operations Virtual Job Tryout”. Now the assessments are split into four or five sections, which vary based on the specific role you’re applying for.

 

Area Manager and Operations Manager Assessments

Taking The Amazon Assessment Test? Learn how you can boost your score and overscore the competition.

Table of Contents

Passing an Amazon assessment is a prerequisite for moving to the interview stage for most positions – sometimes, however, the assessment follows the interview.

If you research the Amazon Manager Assessments online, you’ll find some claims that the old Manager in Operations assessment is not yet entirely phased out by Amazon. However, this is not true – this test was entirely discontinued by 2021.

This article contains a brief review of each section of the test, as well as some sample sections.

While the names of these sections are identical in the Operations and Area Manager tests (AM and OM, respectively), the questions might be somewhat different, due to the differences between these roles.

What is the Amazon Manager Assessment

This test assesses the candidate’s decision-making, judgment, and critical thinking abilities, as well as their compatibility with Amazon’s workplace culture as expressed in the Leadership principles.

The assessment contains between 7 and 8 different workplace scenarios (7 for Operations Managers and 8 for Area Managers), which are based on real-world scenarios that you may encounter in the Amazon workplace.

The questions are not time-limited. Once you complete a scenario, you can no longer return to it and change your answers.

This explanation shows that using your intellectual skills is not enough for this assessment. Your knowledge of the relevant Amazon Leadership Principles is a key element of successfully completing this section.

sample question working with the team

The answer should be 2 – Slightly effective. Breaking into employees’ conversations to directly confront them about morale issues is not likely to encourage them to be open and honest with you. This renders this approach minimally effective.

When thinking of the Leadership Principles in the context of this question, remember that you must Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer.

Planning for the Team

This is a section intended only for the Pathways and Operation Manager test. If you are an Area Manager candidate, it will not be included in your assessment. It includes ten work scenarios and a 5-point scale for ranking them.

You will have to choose approaches to the scenarios in a way that is both effective and appropriate, as well as compatible with the Amazon Leadership Principles and workplace cultures.

This section is considered one of the more challenging elements of the Operations Management assessment.

It requires the candidate to make use of their knowledge of the Leadership Principles alongside three additional grading scales – Corporate Management, Managing Objectives, and People Management.

Moreover, your answers are gauged against a set of perfect answers prepared in advance by the Amazon assessor team.

planing for the team sample question

The right answer to this section is 4. The situation should first be investigated by the Area Manager that is best placed to resolve it. Later, if relevant, you can escalate it to your leader, but only after the basic facts have been ascertained.

Because security rules are necessary to protect the Amazon computer systems, and security breaches may endanger key functions of the Amazon business, you must respond promptly to any violations of the security rules.

Relevant Amazon Leadership Principles: Deliver Results, Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer.

Working With Metrics

Unlike other sections in the Amazon Manager Assessments, this section is strictly timed. Candidates have an hour to answer 18-19 mathematical questions (18 for Operations Managers and 19 for Area Managers).

This section evaluates the candidate’s skills in reviewing metrics and other data and carrying out calculations. Candidates may use note paper, a pen/pencil, and a calculator.

The correct answer is 5. We must place the best-selling product for the preceding month on the front page. By looking at the table, we can see the best-selling product in September was Product E.

Work Style Assessment

This part of the assessment is a personality test that is intended to determine if the candidate is compatible with Amazon’s workplace culture, and particularly the Amazon Leadership Principles.

Most candidates complete the question within 15-20 minutes. Each question requires the candidate to choose between two statements to select the one that best represents their own preferences and approach to regular tasks.

work style sample question

These phrases both relate to the principle: Think Big. Because Amazon prefers employees to have an optimistic attitude towards daily work issues, Most Like Me is the best answer to choose here.

Amazon Work Experiences

This section is comprised of between 12 and 16 questions in which you will have to rank different aspects of your experience, i.e. skills, practical experience, and so on.

While the questions are not time-limited, you should not take too much time contemplating your responses.

Amazon work experince sample question

The correct answer is E. More than 3 times.

What Happens After You Pass?

Candidates who pass the Operations Manager, Pathways, or Area Manager assessments will move on to face between 2 and 4 interviews.

The Area Manager candidate will have to complete a Math Flow task during one of the interviews.

Operation Manager candidates may have to complete a Written Exercise in addition to the Math Flow task.

Math Flow Problem

A Math Flow problem may be included in either the face-to-face interview or the phone interview. These problems are intended to evaluate the candidate’s ability to deal with the kind of mathematical tasks they’ll actually face at work.

Written Exercise

If you are a candidate for an L6 or higher-level position (for example, Operations Manager), you may also have to complete a written assignment before your face-to-face interview.

This is necessary because Operations Managers are required to be able to communicate competently in writing.

The written exercise is between two and four pages in length, and requires the candidate to cover one of the subjects sent to them in advance.

How to Prepare for the Interviews that Follow the Assessment?

These interviews are mainly focused on behavioral issues. The interviewer will ask you about your previous work experience as well as the ways in which you’ve tackled challenges in your past work.

The STAR method of interview preparation, combined with integrating the Leadership Principles into your answers, is the recommended method for answering the interview.