Behavioral & Leadership Interview (Product Manager — Onsite)

Context: These prompts align with Amazon's Leadership Principles and are commonly used in onsite PM interviews. Prepare specific, metric-backed examples using STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) and be explicit about your decisions, tradeoffs, and customer impact.

1. Ownership & Long-Term Thinking

• Tell me about a time you sacrificed short-term results for a long-term win.
• Describe a situation where you were more than halfway through a project and had to pivot quickly because of an unexpected change. How did you handle it?
• Give an example of a time you created a new metric to measure success.
• Tell me about a project that didn’t go as planned. What did you do?

2. Bias for Action & Decision-Making

• Tell me about a time you made a quick decision that significantly impacted the business.
• Describe a situation where you had to decide without complete data. What was the outcome?
• Tell me about a calculated risk you took. What did you learn?
• When you received two conflicting priorities from different leaders, how did you decide what to do?

3. Customer Obsession

• Tell me about a time you directly improved customer satisfaction.
• Describe a situation where you had to make a fast customer-service decision without guidance.
• Tell me about a time you handled a hostile customer. How did you turn it around?
• What do you do to ensure every customer interaction is a “wow” experience?

4. Invent & Simplify / Innovation

• Tell me about a time you invented or dramatically improved a process, product, or tool.
• Give an example of when superior observation or expertise helped you solve a problem.
• Tell me about a time you used analytics to drive a decision.

5. Learn & Be Curious / Continuous Improvement

• Describe a time you were assigned an unfamiliar task. How did you ensure success?
• Give two examples of when you went above and beyond what was required.
• Tell me about your proudest professional achievement and what you learned from it.

6. Earn Trust / Feedback & Relationships

• Tell me about a time you received tough criticism. How did you respond?
• Describe a time you disagreed with feedback and how you addressed it.
• Tell me about the last time you apologized at work.
• What steps do you take to build positive, productive relationships with colleagues?

7. Dive Deep / Data & Metrics

• Tell me about a time you worked effectively with incomplete information.
• Describe a situation where you had to make an urgent decision without data. Would you do anything differently now?

8. Frugality & Resourcefulness

• Tell me about a time you achieved more than expected with limited resources.
• Describe a time you solved a problem outside your formal scope of work.

9. Think Big / Strategic Influence

• Tell me about a time you influenced a major change by asking the right questions.
• Describe a time you had to lead without formal authority. How did you gain buy-in?

10. Hire & Develop the Best / Team Leadership

• What metrics do you use to drive team performance and positive change?
• How do you keep yourself and your team motivated—especially during setbacks?
• Tell me about a time a teammate wasn’t pulling their weight. What did you do?

11. Deliver Results / Resilience & Crisis Management

• Describe a time you faced a workplace crisis. How did you handle it?
• Tell me about a time you failed to meet expectations and how you recovered.
• When have you been overwhelmed at work? What steps did you take to cope and still deliver?

12. Integrity & Judgment

• If a supervisor asked you to do something unsafe or against policy, what would you do?
• Tell me about a time you had to choose between doing what was easy and what was right.

13. Culture Fit & Personal Reflection

• Which Amazon Leadership Principle resonates with you most, and why?
• What do you like most—and least—about Amazon?
• What qualities make you a strong fit for this role at Amazon?