- Hello, and welcome to "Community Chats".
I'm Aley Hammer, and today we're joined with Theresa Dang,
a Campus Recruiter from AWS.
Theresa, welcome to the show.
To begin, is it common to get asked,
"Why do you wanna work at Amazon?"
And what are the recruiters looking for with this question?
- Yeah, it's definitely very, very common.
I mean, Amazon is an amazing place to work for,
not going to lie, but really,
you know, what sets you apart from others?
I would want to encourage our applicants to think about,
you know, what you can bring to the job,
what sets you apart,
and what is your own personal value proposition?
The role that you've applied for,
is this your passion or motivation,
instead of just wanting to be at Amazon in general?
You know, is it the responsibilities of the job
that you are performing, day in and day out,
and seeing, you know, if you are aligned to the culture
and value, and how Amazon can support you.
So when we ask this question, the hiring manager
typically wants to understand what you can give to the role.
You know, why are you motivated?
What sets you, or what gets you up every morning?
You know, performing your role,
you know, compared to what perks we can offer you.
So remember a typical working week is,
you know, a good 38 hours, so which is a long time.
So you need to kind of enjoy what you do,
and, you know, really do, or perform a good job from it.
- 100%, and any of the interviews that I've
actually been interviewing candidates for,
it's such an important question,
and it's a great opportunity for your personality
to shine through as well.
And Theresa, a question I've been asked
by candidates quite frequently
is whether they should shy away from failures,
or is it good to be honest about how you might have learned
from a prior mistake, something like that?
- Yeah, in short, no failures is part of learning,
and we are all human, you know,
so we make mistakes all the time,
but you know how do we step up?
You know, how do we become more resilient,
you know learning from the past,
and how we can overcome this is what really sets us apart.
A lot of hiring managers said to me sometimes,
"This candidate doesn't really push through,
you know, they're not resilient enough."
And I encourage candidates to really understand
and learn from their values from there.
Always try to see the glass half full.
You know, I know that we're going through a lot,
you know, during this time,
but you know what I would encourage is to really think
in terms of, you know, being more solution-focused.
So it doesn't only reflect on, you know, just your work,
but what you do throughout your life as well.
So learn from your failures, reflect on what you've learned,
and incorporate what you can do next time
to make it better, or even easier for you.
- Thanks Theresa, and one thing I can remember
when I interviewed with Amazon,
a good four and a half years ago now,
is that whenever I didn't know the answer to something,
which actually happened quite a bit,
'cause it got quite technical,
I would ask for clarification.
And even at times I would say, "I'm not quite sure
on the answer with that, but if this was with the customer,
I would just be honest and say, I'll get back to you."
I remember after the interview,
my husband asked how it went,
and I said, "Oh my God, I think terrible,"
because I think three or four times, I said,
"You know, I have to get back to you."
Is this acceptable?
I mean, I did get the job, but I was curious like,
is it okay just to make assumptions and be really confident,
or is it better to do what I did and say,
"Look, I'm not actually sure," and be honest?
- Yeah, definitely, I would say to never assume anything.
Amazon questions aren't there to trick you,
but it might be that the interviewer might need
to paraphrase the question.
You know, it's always good to always ask the clarification,
if you do need to.
So also, you know, take that time to really think carefully
on the question asked, and then answer,
instead of, you know, rushing into answer
something straight away.
It's always good to really collect your thoughts,
instead of just rushing in,
so we do that often because, you know, we may be nervous
in an interview, or think maybe I'm not answering correctly
so let's speed it up, you know?
So remember it is a two-way interview,
so it's not only you that we are interviewing,
but it's also you interviewing us
to understand, you know, our culture
you know, and the team that you will be placed in.
- 100%, it's so easy, you know, when you're nervous
to rush into an answer, or speak really quickly.
I definitely have that issue for sure.
It's something that I've been working on, but yeah,
definitely taking your time to collect your thoughts.
It's always helpful.
And I guess you're right,
don't be shy to ask for clarification.
I certainly did it, and I still got the job,
so be rest assured you can do that.
And Theresa to round off this interview
how can a candidate brush up on the Amazon culture?
Is it just a matter of like Googling it?
Should they talk to an Amazonian?
Where do they go for this?
- Yeah, so we are an inquisitive, you know, bunch of people,
and, you know, definitely very, very customer obsessed.
We definitely work from our customers,
and we work backwards from there.
So I really encourage, you know, our applicants
to, you know, definitely read up on,
you know, the leadership principles
to understand our culture, but also,
you know, really take that time to network,
and ask those questions.
People love to showcase, you know, on their career journeys,
and show how they got to where they are.
We also are a culture that really encourages,
you know, ownership,
and, you know, give autonomy on the scope that we do.
So often graduates come to me,
and they're amazed at the type of projects
that they get involved with,
you know, from day one,
so it really does make an impact.
Amazon might not be the, you know, a place for everyone,
as it's quite fast-paced,
but we do work on that global scale.
And even though as big as we are,
there is that really startup feel, you know, to it
because we make decisions,
and we move really, really quickly.
So I recommend you to, you know definitely do your homework,
you know, network,
and, you know, research,
and see if this is the place for you.
- Thank you so much Theresa.
If anyone has any questions,
please pop them in the comment section below,
and we'll get back to you.
See you next week. - Bye.