Understanding Follow-Up Questions: The "Why" Behind Them
Candidates frequently reach out to us, eager to get some insider tips on potential follow-up questions. It's natural; you want to be as prepared as possible. However, the key to effectively preparing for these questions lies in understanding why they are asked in the first place.
Unveiling Your Career Behavior
Amazon interviewers have a key goal: to unearth as much relevant evidence about your past professional experience as they can. This is not about catching you off-guard or highlighting your shortcomings. Rather, it's an effort to gather evidence that demonstrates your alignment with Amazon's leadership principles. If your initial answer to their questions doesn't give them the detail they're looking for, expect tailored follow-up questions aimed at drawing out more specific details from your answers.
Assessing Your Functional Skills
Another reason for follow-up questions is to evaluate your technical or functional expertise. Mention something that hints at a technical decision or a particular methodology you've used, and your interviewer might decide to probe further. They're keen to understand the depth of your knowledge and how it applies to the role in question.
Predicting Follow-Up Questions: A Strategy
Now, you might wonder, "Can I somehow anticipate these follow-up questions?" While it's nearly impossible for someone outside of your interview to predict specific questions without knowing your initial responses, there's a strategy you can employ to prepare yourself.
Reflect and Analyze
Review your prepared stories and critically analyze them. Ask yourself: If I were an interviewer focusing on a specific leadership principle or a particular skill set, what follow-up questions would I ask based on these stories? This self-questioning approach helps you cover potential gaps in your initial answers and better prepare for any curveballs that might come your way.
Get External Perspectives
Ask friends, family or mentors to help you out with this exercise. Share your stories with them and invite them to brainstorm possible follow-up questions. An external perspective, from people from different backgrounds to you can provide valuable insights and prepare you for a wider range of questions.
How to Answer Follow Up Questions
It's unlikely the follow up question is going to require another STAR structure answer. Usually, it's a specific follow up to a specific point you made, and the interviewer wants a little more information. The biggest mistake candidates make in answering follow up questions is to over-answer. They digress onto lines of thought and information that the interviewer didn't ask for. The most successful strategy is to simply answer the follow up question asked, no more, no less!
A Word of Caution
Before you go down the rabbit hole searching for a list of follow-up questions online, let me save you some time. The specificity of Amazon's interview process means that generic questions found online may not accurately reflect what you'll face, given the highly personalized nature of these interviews. Follow-up questions are by their nature a consequence of what you say and areas of curiosity for the interview. So, anything you find on the internet will have been derived from a single person's experience of their own unique interview. Handle with care.
What if You Don't Get Follow Up Questions
The truth is this can be either a good or a bad thing. Either you have done a great job answering the question, you've covered everything they were looking for and have been clear and detailed on all of your concepts and data points. OR the answer is just so far off base the interviewer doesn't know where to go with it. The best approach is to always assume it's the former so as not to undermine your own confidence in the interview.
Remember
Follow up questions are THE opportunity to make sure you have provided your interviewer with all the information they need. Prepare yourself as best you can for the obvious ones and then listen closely to what has been asked, answering specifically and precisely.
If you want to leave no stone unturned in your preparation for your Amazon interview check out the range of Day One Careers' comprehensive Amazon interview preparation digital courses here. Or if you'd like something more personal our ex-Amazon coaches would be delighted to work with you 1:2:1. For more information click here.
