Applied March 21, Response April 4, 2 phone interviews one week apart in Mid April, On Site Mid May. Total time 2 months
2 phone screens with pretty competent folks, on-site was primitive with some interviewers very cocky and unprofessional. I was asked to provide feedback on the process which I have copied below:
(Edited to remove Names)
As a preface, Mr XXXX and the third interviewer I had, young lady who seemed very technical, were excellent. They asked good questions and both were very personable.
I spent about 70 hours or so going over AWS, the product and preparing the architect certification, yet I was asked 1 question about AWS, all be it brief, "if I had read the CAF"...which I had. I was pretty astonished by this.
Its hard to go into an interview and get told "it will be hard for you to come to environment like Amazon which is not structured like the military." Well, I gotta say being at start-ups as well as fortune companies, and the fact I have been out of the Navy since 1995, really give me an advantage when it relates to the flexibility needed at any company...cause they are all different. This particular interviewer seemed encultured or polarized by the belief that the military is too structured for anyone to assimilate at Amazon.
Another interviewer, indicated we may have crossed paths before, although I didnt remember. I gave a summary about something I was proud of and one interviewer said to the other, do you wanna ask about that one. So, I am assuming I that interviewer may have been impacted by a business decision I made earlier in my career. Makes it kind of tough.
One interviewer was unprepared. They asked me why I was crossing over into another area of expertise. The interviewer had not read or understood the JD. I explained the JD as it relates to my experience. This particular interview was not in the game, disinterested at best, rushed and not prepared.
I demand from my staff to take notes however, I think you really loose sight of the person if your typing every word down or doing data entry the whole interview. No really good people interaction. Except for interviews 1, 3, and some with 4.
Summary, I think there are some improvements which can be made with the questions, the maturity of the interviewers, prep, and understanding of the role they are interviewing for.
Wish things could have gone better and I hope the feedback is helpful.