How to ACE a Behavioral Interview
You're a leader if you can demonstrate leadership. Learn how speaking like a leader can change the outcome of your interviews. 👑
Amazon Leadership Principles
Hey Pirates, PK Here. Today, I'll share four simple yet practical tips on acing an interview using Amazon Leadership Principles as an example. My goal is to walk you through my strategies so that you walk out with confidence and clear direction on how to ace one yourself. This is the same strategy I used to get offers from Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, so stay until the end and take away all I'm about to share.
Let me make two things clear. I won't cover the popular STAR method because it's too common; there's nothing unique about that. Likewise, I won't discuss coding interviews here because you already know the answer: LeetCode.
Alright. Let's get back to the topic. As I mentioned, I'll use Amazon Leadership Principles as an example to illustrate my strategies; they are good candidates for behavioral questions. Also, as a software engineering mentor, I realized many engineers lacked presentation skills despite meeting the technical bar. I created this video to help them improve where they might lack. My strategy will significantly improve your chances of moving to the next rounds.
Leader
Let's first take a look at what Amazon's Leadership Principles are. In their own words, they are "how leaders lead and keep the customer at the center of their decisions. They help them relentlessly pursue Amazon's mission of being Earth's most customer-centric company, best employer, and safest place to work." As an ex-Amazonian, I honestly agree that Amazon is Earth's most customer-centric company (though not quite sure about Earth's best employer). The keyword here is leader. It's important not because this is Amazon nor because you are a manager but because every company wants a leader.
So, the first and most crucial step in acing an interview is speaking like a leader. How? By being proactive. Amazon calls this Bias for Action. You don't need any managerial experience. You don't need to be a manager. But in an interview, one must not make the mistake of speaking in a passive tone like a follower. "There's this work my manager asked me to work on," "I was assigned this task," "My manager put me in charge of this project." Do you see how inevitable and passive this sounds when we're looking for a reliable, assertive leader who "took the initiative to kick off a project?" If you think about it, they're actually the same thing. The only difference is the nuance; the former is passive, and the latter is proactive.
Owner
Speaking like a leader demonstrates ownership. Being a leader means owning your work and the person responsible. And a responsible leader will never sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. Please don't say anything that implies you had to do something out of necessity; instead, present yourself as if you were in charge. Who did it? You did. Why? Because you were the owner! Talk about the same thing, but add ownership to the presentation. Don't worry too much about the story's validity; a teaspoon of exaggeration won't hurt. However, reshaping your tone will change how they perceive you. Besides, how are they going to find out anyways? 🤔
Cite Your Resume
The second step to acing an interview is citing your own resume. Since you put effort into crafting it, why not talk about it? Suppose you finish your interview without mentioning any of your resume experiences. In that case, there might be a problem with your experience, resume, or both. Think about it. If the experience is great, why is it not on your resume? On the contrary, if your resume experience is an excellent example of proving your point, why didn't you mention it? Citing your resume is also about Earning Trust; it adds credibility to your claims. How can you prove you are who you claim to be? How can you convince them that your resume is indeed legit? Just cite it! After all, what does an offer extension mean? It means you've earned their trust.
Choose the Right Experience
Now that we know where to look, the third important step to acing an interview is choosing the right experience. There should be at least one project or experience that's important and impactful on your resume. Don't have such a thing? If you are a student, create one now. If you are already a professional, well, think harder because there is one; you didn't think hard enough. Let me illustrate using Amazon's sixteen Leadership Principles. Don't prepare two to three examples for each leadership principle; that's 48! Instead, what if you have two to three experiences you can use as the basis to answer all sixteen!? Do you see where I am getting at? If you have one good experience (it doesn't have to be multiple), just one decent experience, you can relate it anywhere (and not just the Leadership Principles)!
For example, your remarkable experience wouldn't be impactful if you did not Obsess over your Customers. Your project is acclaimed because you Insisted on the Highest Standards. Can you Dive Deeper into why the accomplishment is stunning? Is your work a result of Learning and Curiosity? Anything you had to Invent and Simplify? How did you Deliver the Results? The list goes on. This strategy shines more if you have multiple rounds of interviews. For example, a typical Amazon onsite interview is five to six rounds. The interviewer will ask about one or two Leadership Principles in each. After the interview, they'll have a debrief to discuss the result. Imagine how easy it'd be for them to tie the candidate's examples, especially when they are linked to your resume. Wouldn't it make them easier to trust you?
Find one solid experience you can use to relate to any behavioral questions. If you think yours isn't strong enough, then make it stronger. Don't lie about your experience, but think about the presentation that can make it shine brighter. Talking about a few great experiences in-depth is more effective than briefly covering multiple superficially.
Practice
My last and final tip to acing an interview is practice. I know it's a cliché, but practice makes perfect. You can't execute everything I've shared without preparation. First, don't simply think about what you'll say in an interview; write it down! Don't be verbose; be concise. Jump straight to the point. Interviewers don't have time to listen all day. They are looking for candidates with strong and effective communication skills. Write the sentences for each Leadership Principle. Look at yourself in the mirror, and practice saying them out loud without looking at the notes. You don't have to memorize everything word for word, but practice until you feel comfortable and ready.
Summary
I emphasize again. My strategy works because I've done it; I have empirical data from interviewing numerous companies. It's the same technique I used to receive offers from companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.
Alright. We've finally covered the four tips in acing an interview. What do you guys think? Do my strategies make sense? Are they convincing enough to give them a shot? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Thumbs up if you've found it helpful. Subscribe if you want more videos like this. I'll see you at the next one. Bye.
