These are (reportedly) notoriously difficult. Does anyone have any advice to anyone going into one?

Any prep advice? Things to focus on?

Or is it just a cottage industry to train people on how to perform them and instead of just being yourself and being able to articulate your skills and abilities to nerds?

I had an interview with Amazon and it was the toughest interview Ive ever had. Halfway through the interview I wanted to hang up because I didnt want the job any longer lol. They were firing questions at me like crazy, purposely trying to trip me up it felt like.

FAANG relies heavily on the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method and behavioral based questions (tell me about a time when...). Google these and practice giving STAR answers to common behavioral based questions. I bet google has some common questions FAANG tends to ask.

Good luck!

Petrino1 said:

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I had an interview with Amazon and it was the toughest interview Ive ever had. Halfway through the interview I wanted to hang up because I didnt want the job any longer lol. They were firing questions at me like crazy, purposely trying to trip me up it felt like.

FAANG relies heavily on the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method and behavioral based questions (tell me about a time when...). Google these and practice giving STAR answers to common behavioral based questions. I bet google has some common questions FAANG tends to ask.

Good luck!

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Oof. Been there.

Thanks for the advice.

We will see how this goes.

Amazon (AWS) interview process was terrible. I went through 2 rounds of regular interviews and then a panel-style interview which lasted roughly 5 hours. It was a beating, and quite dumb. I received an offer but ended up turning it down. The interview process showed that I don't mesh at all with that company culture.

The questions were read from a script and they were all STAR methodology based. They want you to tell them about a situation you encountered, what you needed to do to solve it, the steps you took to resolve, and how it turned out. (Just like Petrino outlined above).

Keep the answers pretty direct and succinct. They will ask follow-up questions so you can expand on the specific points they are interested in. Each question they ask will align to a core value.. so study up on those a bit and have some canned examples/stories/etc. from your past experiences prepared.

I know for Amazon at least there are literal books you can buy to help prep for an interview. I didn't go that route and made it through, but it may be worth it to check one of those out (depending on which FAANG you are targeting).

Who would want to work there?

I've heard they pay well, so someone willing to put up with that and make some extra money.

I should be studying 11 said:

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I know for Amazon at least there are literal books you can buy to help prep for an interview. I didn't go that route and made it through, but it may be worth it to check one of those out (depending on which FAANG you are targeting).

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This is what im finding. Some people make a living on how to give advice on how to do well on these things. To me, that means s is effed and WAY harder than it needs to be.

The one I am trying to get is the one at the end.

AtlAg05 said:

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I've heard they pay well, so someone willing to put up with that and make some extra money.

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i've also heard (from multiple people) the corporate culture sucks balls. no thanks.

I should be studying 11 said:

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Amazon (AWS) interview process was terrible. I went through 2 rounds of regular interviews and then a panel-style interview which lasted roughly 5 hours. It was a beating, and quite dumb. I received an offer but ended up turning it down. The interview process showed that I don't mesh at all with that company culture.

The questions were read from a script and they were all STAR methodology based. They want you to tell them about a situation you encountered, what you needed to do to solve it, the steps you took to resolve, and how it turned out. (Just like Petrino outlined above).

Keep the answers pretty direct and succinct. They will ask follow-up questions so you can expand on the specific points they are interested in. Each question they ask will align to a core value.. so study up on those a bit and have some canned examples/stories/etc. from your past experiences prepared.

I know for Amazon at least there are literal books you can buy to help prep for an interview. I didn't go that route and made it through, but it may be worth it to check one of those out (depending on which FAANG you are targeting).

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The most annoying thing about Amazon interviews is how they want you to weave in their leadership principles to every single answer you give.

I'm at Amazon, and the culture is terrible. I wouldn't recommend it at all, and I'm trying to get out.

The interview advice posted previously is on point. The interviewer is typing notes for each canned question. So if you can quantify your impact and succinctly summarize the STAR points it makes it easy for them to write down your accomplishments.

My best advice is for you to write down scenarios from your experience and guide each question to one of those that fits best. Your answers won't be canned, but you've got a clear strategy on where to go with each question and it will help you to speak to all of your accomplishments.

Also, they spend 10+ hours interviewing you but you get very little time with the actual hiring manager and the job posting is probably going to be very vague. So, you spend very little time discussing the actual job itself.

Noble07 said:

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I'm at Amazon, and the culture is terrible. I wouldn't recommend it at all, and I'm trying to get out.

The interview advice posted previously is on point. The interviewer is typing notes for each canned question. So if you can quantify your impact and succinctly summarize the STAR points it makes it easy for them to write down your accomplishments.

My best advice is for you to write down scenarios from your experience and guide each question to one of those that fits best. Your answers won't be canned, but you've got a clear strategy on where to go with each question and it will help you to speak to all of your accomplishments.

Also, they spend 10+ hours interviewing you but you get very little time with the actual hiring manager and the job posting is probably going to be very vague. So, you spend very little time discussing the actual job itself.

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+1. I recently did an interview with a very large organization, and all of their interviews were STAR and behavioral based tied to their competencies. We spent very little time talking about the job itself, and Im still not 100% sure what all the job entails. I feel like I need another 30 minute informal conversation with the hiring manager just to talk about the job, responsibilities, and expectations.

I really really hate that a lot of companies have these stupid STAR interviews now! It makes for a horrible candidate experience.

Petrino1 said:

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Noble07 said:

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I'm at Amazon, and the culture is terrible. I wouldn't recommend it at all, and I'm trying to get out.

The interview advice posted previously is on point. The interviewer is typing notes for each canned question. So if you can quantify your impact and succinctly summarize the STAR points it makes it easy for them to write down your accomplishments.

My best advice is for you to write down scenarios from your experience and guide each question to one of those that fits best. Your answers won't be canned, but you've got a clear strategy on where to go with each question and it will help you to speak to all of your accomplishments.

Also, they spend 10+ hours interviewing you but you get very little time with the actual hiring manager and the job posting is probably going to be very vague. So, you spend very little time discussing the actual job itself.

---

+1. I recently did an interview with a very large organization, and all of their interviews were STAR and behavioral based tied to their competencies. We spent very little time talking about the job itself, and Im still not 100% sure what all the job entails. I feel like I need another 30 minute informal conversation with the hiring manager just to talk about the job, responsibilities, and expectations.

I really really hate that a lot of companies have these stupid STAR interviews now! It makes for a horrible candidate experience.

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We use STAR methods, I understand having a list of questions so you can gauge/compare each candidates response to the same question. I don't like it but I always try to lead up to it in a way to drive out the trait I'm looking for. I always make time at the end to field questions for more specifics of the job since I agree, some job listings are generic.

(NON ENG)

I interviewed at Meta last year (before their freeze) and the recruiter was had was pretty amazing. They really prepare you there, give you lots of questions to practice that do end up being asked on the actual interview. Definitely use STAR method and bring up stats often.

I made Round 2 of...felt like 17...for an lower mid manager position with Amazon. Got another offer and logged out. Awful.

"If a team member came to you with a suggestion that you did not agree with, what would you do and why?"

Over and over and over and over...