Amazon leadership principles

VMware bond-007
Jun 12 18 Comments

So I had amazon onsite recently and I was asked a lot of LP questions and I was able answer the questions reasonably not very good answers. But it got me thinking am I eligible for Amazon or will I fit if I get the job ( which I think I won't).

This is because one of the question was how I convinced other team to make changes in their module when I changed some interface. I don't usually get into these scenarios but whenever I did faced such situations it was super easy, people I work with are understanding and might will change without any convincing or may be I myself will do it. Another question was about conflicts, I hardly have had any disagreements or if I had, maybe in that case I was wrong or we will come to common ground just after a small talk. There were a lot of these kind of questions on collaboration.

This got me thinking may be I work in a team where there is not much of collaboration needed or work at Amazon involved a lot of cross team collaboration. Is that so?

Also what should I do to improve on this situation, I have 4 years of experience while I do come up with new things to improve in my project/module, I particularly don't do much to improve on a bigger level. Whereas amazon asked questions in that area too.

TLDR: Do you guys at Amazon live by LP?

Amazon
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 TOP 18 Comments
  • Arista Networks jfkjfjci
    As someone said here earlier, LPs are like a high school exam: You prepare, you pass and you forget about them.
    Jun 12 6
    • Arista Networks jfkjfjci
      Prepare an example in STAR format for all 14 principles beforehand and map them to the questions asked.
      Jun 12
    • Deloitte broadway74
      ^^^this is what I did. I opened a word document and copy pasted all the lps. Then I wrote out situation task action and result for each one. Reread it a few times everyday prior to interview and fine tuned answers.

      Passed with flying colors. Do your homework and it’s not that hard.
      Jun 12
    • VMware bond-007
      OP
      By the way my concern was less about clearing Amazon interview and more about my career development. I was thinking if I don't see these situations often maybe I am not doing enough to grow?
      Jun 12
    • Deloitte broadway74
      You probably are not spinning them right or focusing on the right angle. Most of my stories I had to tweak to fit what they were looking for.
      Jun 12
    • Amazon Doby2468
      OP, I think you are looking at it from the right angle.
      Jun 12
  • AppOnboard anon818
    The LPs are actually used on a daily basis. People tend to over index on certain ones.
    Jun 12 0
  • Amazon anonts
    I had a friend interview for SDE2. The day had 1 full round of LP questions, and 15 mins of LP in the other 4 rounds. Total of 2 hrs out of 5 spent on LP for an SDE2 interview. If that ain't a broken system, I don't know what is.
    Jun 13 3
    • VMware bond-007
      OP
      It was same for me
      Jun 13
    • Amazon anonts
      Oh and also the interviewer who took the LP round flat out told LP is bullshit to the candidate. 😂
      Jun 13
    • Amazon / Creative abdrushin
      When I interview candidates I always start with the coding question. I had an argument with a bunch of so called bar raisers that this is a bad idea. I still disagree and claim it is a much better way to interview SDE candidates. If there's time left, I bother a candidate with max. 2 questions for each of 2 LPs, but I try to not waste more than 10 minutes on this part. I usually have a way better insight into the candidates coding capabilities than my peers, who usually waste 25 minutes on LP questions. And I do believe if candidates suck at code, no point in going through LP questions anyways. Kinda obvious to me, except for bar "raisers" ;)
      Jun 13
  • Amazon / Creative abdrushin
    Don't worry too much. The LPs are just common sense. If you struggle to come up with some good examples it doesn't mean the end of the road for L4/5. Your coding skills will outweigh any struggle on LP responses as long as you didn't respond with red flags that would put you into grey zone behavior in business (like if you claim customers are idiots asf.)
    Jun 12 0
  • Google rafaNadal
    I know Amazon engineers who bring in LPs even when arguing with their wives on domestic matters 😂

    Most people exaggerate situations when asked about some LP questions. Think about what the person is evaluating - for eg, it’s not about if or not you faced conflicts; it’s about if there’s a conflict, are you capable of navigating and clearing it or not.
    Jun 12 1
    • Intel / Eng mr_pleb
      Thing is a conflict has to include at least two persons. You may have perfect soft skills and fail to find a solution if the other one is a moron. Of course, gtfo is a solution too but I suspect not the answer they're looking for.
      Jun 13
  • Microsoft dplover
    So when you talk about conflict with XX , what should be the outcome?

    -you won the argument, then you can’t earn others trust
    - or they won it, then you are not a leader who is mostly right.
    Jun 18 0
  • AppOnboard anon818
    LPs matter...man
    Jun 13 0
  • SolarCity / IT
    Musko bey

    SolarCity IT

    PRE
    Amazon
    BIO
    Just stay clam and do your thing.
    Musko beymore
    As simple as sitting and relaxing and just re-evaluating what you have done on the past. Every story have LP’s involved and you can just relate in your discussions easily. Remember three things. Make sure you tell the problem statement. What you have done to resolve that problem. How the business you are responsible for have benefited out of it. 100 percent sure you will be in.
    Jun 12 0