Sai Chiligireddy started working as a software engineer at Amazon about 8 years ago, almost 3 of them as an engineering manager. In that time, he has conducted over 100 technical interviews and has developed 4 key questions that he asks himself every time to evaluate a candidate.
Sai Chiligireddy started working as a software engineer at Amazon about 8 years ago, almost 3 of them as an engineering manager. In that time, he has conducted over 100 technical interviews and has developed 4 key questions that he asks himself every time to evaluate a candidate.
Amazon assesses candidates in two main areas: core technical competencies and Amazon's leadership principles, a set of 16 values that are important to the company, such as "propensity to act" and "disagree and be committed," Sai Chiligireddy told Business Insider. In addition, during technical interviews, the engineering manager assesses candidates by asking himself 4 questions about them.
“The main question I always keep in mind is, can I collaborate with this person? I try to assess whether the person is a good communicator—does he or she clearly share their ideas and justify their choices?” says Sai Chiligireddy.
In technical interviews, Sai likes it when people explain why they chose a certain solution and why they think it's a good fit for what the company or team is solving.
“When the decision or approach chosen by a candidate is suboptimal, but they can justify their choice, we accept it,” explains Sai.
The second thing Sai looks for is someone who clearly understands why their solution fits into the overall problem of the business or company.
“I once interviewed a candidate who had only one year of experience but had a clear understanding of the company’s product and how his work fit into the goals of the entire organization. He was able to clearly explain what the product was used for and what business value it had,” explained the engineering manager.
Another common value of candidates that Sai likes is that they don’t strive to find the perfect solution right away. They focus on launching and actively improving the solution and avoiding unnecessary complexity. They are also open to feedback and are willing to change their approach to new use cases or constraints.
“The candidates I like come prepared. They’ve had a lot of mock interviews and have recreated the interview atmosphere for themselves. This helps them get used to the pressure of solving a problem in 30-45 minutes,” the manager says.
Sai says it's easy to tell when a candidate hasn't prepared for a technical interview.
“They also come prepared to talk about leadership skills. Many of the ones who do well have done their homework. They prepare notes on what our leadership principles are, as well as one or two examples of how they have honed those principles in the past,” adds Sai.
In addition, candidates have questions for the interviewer that they have prepared in advance.
"I like it when people ask about what projects we're working on, what challenges we're facing, and what their career path might look like when they join the company," the manager notes.
