I was pinged by a recruiter on LinkedIn while exploring new roles.

It started with the usual recruiter screen, covering past experience, leadership roles, and my motivation for the switch. Amazon's Leadership Principles (LPs) started showing up even here.

Next was a video call with the hiring manager and an engineer. The focus was a mix of system design, people management, and leadership. I received a distributed caching design question and some deep dives into managing low performers, coaching team members, and how responsibilities are delegated. There was a heavy focus on "Hire & Develop the Best."

I did a couple of Prepfully mocks beforehand, which were super helpful for structuring LP stories.

Then came a writing assignment: a one-pager on a past achievement. They checked for clarity, ownership, and a team-first mindset. I kept it sharp and gave credit where due.

The final round was onsite, with five back-to-back interviews covering system design, performance management, hiring, cross-team collaboration, and behavioral aspects. Expect detailed follow-ups, especially around how tough decisions were made, hiring in competitive markets, or when things didn't go as planned.

LPs showed up in every conversation: ownership, frugality, bias for action, all of it. My prep focused mostly on LP-aligned stories, people leadership, and scalable systems. Mocks helped simulate the real scenario.

I stayed authentic, leaned on actual experiences, and it clicked.

How do you handle tradeoffs between scope, quality, and schedule?