As someone who is self-critical by nature, I was extremely proud when I left my onsite interview at Amazon. The feedback from each interviewer was positive and I thought of solid, data-driven examples for each behavioral question they asked me over the 5 hours of interviewing. I also studied the leadership principles thoroughly and intentionally weaved them into my answers. Though it was absolutely exhausting, I felt I had a strong shot at landing the job. Fast forward two days and the recruiter calls me. She opens the conversation by asking for feedback about the interview experience. After this, she proceeds to tell me “everyone really liked you and the feedback I got was nothing but positive.” Great. Naturally, I start to become excited, thinking I’m about the get the job. The next words out of the recruiter’s mouth were “but we decided not to make an offer.” Knowing the company refuses to give feedback, I asked if another candidate was chosen for the position. The answer I got back was “no they just didn’t want to make you an offer.” Because Amazon did not clearly indicate what they were looking for throughout the entire process, I was left doubting my self worth as a professional. I understand the potential legal ramifications of feedback, but cannot possibly think of one thing I could’ve done better to prepare for the interview. Amazon needs to better train its recruiters and interviewers to avoid sending mixed messages to candidates. You can imagine my shock when I am given nothing but positive feedback until the very end, only to be told I did not get the job and would never find out why so I can improve.

2 interviews with people on the team I joined, half an hour each in length over Amazon chime online. I received an offer shortly after as it was a contractor role