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Amazon Leadership Principles interview: questions and STAR answers

For Indian candidates interviewing with Amazon in India, the US, the UK, Canada or anywhere else: how the loop works and how to prepare your stories.

Updated 5 October 2026 · 9 min read · Published by Interview Sarthi, makers of Prep Sarthi (AI mock interviews) and Live Sarthi (interview help on Windows)

Short answer: Amazon interviews are built around its 16 Leadership Principles. Each interviewer in the loop covers a few principles and asks for real examples (“Tell me about a time…”), then digs with follow-ups for detail and data. Prepare at least two true stories per principle, answer with STAR, say “I”, and include numbers. Amazon asks candidates not to use AI tools during interviews, so do your preparation before the call.

Amazon asks candidates not to use AI tools during its interviews. Prepare before the call instead.

How the Amazon loop works

1. Online assessment or phone screen, depending on the role: for technical roles often a coding assessment, for others a recruiter or hiring-manager screen with one or two principle questions.
2. The loop: several interviews, often in one day, each with a different interviewer. Every interviewer is assigned principles to assess and writes up evidence from your answers.
3. The Bar Raiser: one interviewer, usually from outside the hiring team, whose job is to keep the hiring bar high across Amazon. They have a strong say in the final decision.

Technical roles add coding or system design, but the principle questions run through every round, including technical ones.

The 16 Leadership Principles, with a likely question for each

Principle	Likely question
Customer Obsession	Tell me about a time you went beyond what a customer asked for.
Ownership	Tell me about a time you took on something outside your responsibility.
Invent and Simplify	Tell me about a time you found a simpler way to do something.
Are Right, A Lot	Tell me about a decision you made with incomplete information.
Learn and Be Curious	Tell me about something you learned recently on your own.
Hire and Develop the Best	Tell me about a time you helped someone on your team grow.
Insist on the Highest Standards	Tell me about a time you refused to compromise on quality.
Think Big	Tell me about a bold idea you proposed.
Bias for Action	Tell me about a time you acted quickly without all the data.
Frugality	Tell me about a time you achieved more with fewer resources.
Earn Trust	Tell me about a time you received difficult feedback.
Dive Deep	Tell me about a problem you solved by digging into the details.
Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit	Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager.
Deliver Results	Tell me about a time you delivered despite a major obstacle.
Strive to be Earth's Best Employer	Tell me about a time you made your team's work better or safer.
Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility	Tell me about a decision where you considered its wider impact.

Read the full wording of each principle on Amazon's own site before the interview; interviewers listen for the behaviours it describes.

Two full answers

Examples to show the shape. Use your own stories: every detail will be probed.

What follow-ups sound like

Amazon interviewers often spend more time on follow-ups than on the first question: “What data did you look at?”, “What was your exact role?”, “What would you do differently?”, “What did your manager say?”. A story you only half-remember falls apart here, so pick stories you know in detail.

Mistakes Indian candidates make in the loop

• “We” instead of “I”. The interviewer needs evidence about you.
• The same story for every principle. Interviewers compare notes; have different stories.
• No numbers. “Improved performance” scores lower than “cut page load from 4 seconds to 1.5”.
• Long project background. Thirty seconds of context, then your actions.
• Hiding a failure. “Tell me about a time you failed” wants a real failure and what you changed afterwards.

Amazon's rule on AI tools

Amazon asks candidates to confirm that they will not use unauthorised tools, such as generative AI, during interviews or assessments, and its recruiter guidelines say candidates who do can be disqualified. Do the work beforehand: write your stories down, then practise them out loud until you can tell each one in about two minutes and survive three follow-ups.