Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore
Learn and Be Curious
Learn and Be Curious is probably the best signal for how successful you will be in most roles at Amazon. The Amazon interviewer or Bar Raiser will want to understand how you’ve managed to get better over time, and how you’ve overcome challenges you’ve faced. It also gives you the opportunity to talk about the cool new things you’ve learnt which were outside the scope of your previous role.
It’s often difficult to come up with specific examples of Learn and Be Curious. You should think about times or topics on which others come to you for advice, and craft examples from that. There has to be a thing that you’ve learnt which others haven’t – either due to inclination or aptitude.
When you’re thinking about structuring your answers for the Learn and Be Curious leadership principles you should really focus on what the Amazon Interview is meant to get out of you. You should show a willingness to receive and ask for feedback, as well as taking time to learn things outside of your core role. They also want examples of you understanding a system end to end, and how this has impacted your work.
If you’re interviewing for a manager role, you should also consider building examples which show that you’ve given your team time to learn, as well as focusing on how you arrived at the result rather than the result alone.
Example Learn and Be Curious Questions
Tell me about a time when you realized you needed to have a deeper level of subject matter expertise to do your job well?
Tell me of a time when you took on work outside of your comfort area and found it rewarding?
Give me an example of a time when you challenged the notion that something had to be done a certain way because it had always been done that way?
Example Learn and Be Curious Manager Questions
Tell me about a time when a member of your team contributed significantly to a project outside the scope of their role. What motivated you to encourage their participation?
Tell me about a time when you challenged your team to push the envelope and go beyond existing standards and expectations
Book Free Intro Call
If you want to go over your behavioural answers with someone who has experience both giving and receiving interviews at Amazon, you can book a free half hour no-obligation call with us.