Upcoming big tech interview? Implement these 5 tips to knock it out of the park.

According to a quick Google search, the average success rate of people who have a final round interview at Amazon is only 20% 🤯

The average success rate at other big tech companies is similar. As a former Senior Marketing Manager at Amazon, I'm revealing some insider tips to help you perform better and more confidently during your upcoming big tech interviews.

Follow these 5 tips and you will be set up for success:

1. Showcase your process

The interview team doesn't care so much about the initiative you worked on or successes you drove.

Instead, they want to understand how you achieved success and feel confident that you can achieve success for them.

Make sure that your answers cover what the problem was, what you did to solve it, why you did it, and how you did it. 

Big tech is also extremely big on data and measurement. Whenever possible, make sure you structure your responses in a way that whatever actions you took were informed by data.

Similarly, you'll always want to share quantifiable results and how you measured them.

Even though it might take a little more effort to get this information during your preparation, the extra effort can make all the difference.

2. Be prepared for follow-up questions

Your interviewers are going to pepper you with follow-up questions. They do this to better understand your process and evaluate how deeply you understand your past work.

Knowing this and remaining poised as it happens is 90% of the battle. If you aren't ready for it, it can quickly leave you feeling shaken and unprepared to continue with your remaining interviews.

3. Say 'I' not 'we'

In our society, we're conditioned to say 'we' a lot. Your interviewer will stop you every time and ask what YOU did specifically.

After all, they are thinking about hiring YOU, not your team. Practice saying your interview answers out loud prior to your interview and get into a habit of saying 'I'. 

4. Reflect on your past experience and try to align it with the company's core values

At Amazon, you'll need to familiarize yourself with their Leadership Principles (known as LP's). Don’t just read the LP messaging on the website. Watch YouTube videos and try to have a conversation with someone who works there. 

At Microsoft, they are really big on growth mindset. Make sure you come up with examples that demonstrate growth!

At Google, they evaluate for 'Googleyness'. Some elements of Googleyness include passion, positivity, innovative thinking, and persistence. 

Oftentimes, these companies' entire interview process is an assessment against their core values. If you deeply understand them, you can start to evaluate the strength of your own answers as they relate to them!

Pro tip: is there an element of their values you don't understand or want more clarity on? Simply ask your recruiter during your phone screening to clarify it for you!

5. Never blame a coworker or external circumstance for something not going according to plan

Every big tech company is really big on ownership.

Even if they ask you a question that seems like it's setting you up for failure (i.e. Tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult coworker...)

Always make it about what you did, what you learned, and/or what you could have done better. There's no better way to get disqualified than to blame someone else or to blame external circumstances. Act accordingly!

There you have it! Do these 5 things and you'll be significantly more likely to land a job offer in big tech.

Best of luck, you got this!