This is the 50% rule that Amazon uses to hire new employees

Amazon, due to its recruitment capacity, has become one of those companies whose selection processes are evaluated by the rest.

In addition, as we tell you here, on its website the e-commerce giant itself does a lot to divulge about its own job interview processes. One of your known rules It is the so-called 50% norm.

As they explain on their corporate blog, this rule means that they want each new hire to be 50 percent stronger than their potential peers in similar positions.

The rule requires two things: you just have to make better hiring decisions and you need a better interview process, that helps the interviewer to avoid the typical errors of interview and, therefore, of hiring.

To help Amazon employees adhere to the “50% rule” and conduct more robust interviews, Amazon created the “Bar Raiser” program -something like level keepers-. Amazon employees who are not Human Resources receive training for three to twelve months, in which they learn the 14 Principles of Leadership of the company. They are then certified to participate in interviews with hiring managers.

The goal of these trained employees is to bring diverse and unbiased points of view to the interview process, as well as understand what the ideal hire might look like. This helps Amazon with its goal for each new hire to further raise the talent bar by 50%.

“The role of a Bar Raiser is unique because we will not be involved in the daily interaction with the interviewee, so we are completely focused on making hiring decisions for Amazon, not for a specific team or function. Our ability to maintain a long-term vision, rather than focusing on an immediate hiring need, “Annie Groeninger, manager of software development and also Bar Raiser, says on the company blog.

A selection process that they openly disseminate

Amazon has hundreds of vacancies open for its warehouses and its logistics and technological equipment (here we tell you how to sign up). Once it’s time for the interview, use what’s called behavioral interviews. According to the company itself, in these interviews they ask “about past situations or challenges the candidate has faced and how he managed them, using the Leadership Principles to guide the discussion. “

Here are some examples of behavioral questions:

– Tell me about a time when you faced a problem for which there were several possible solutions. What was the problem and how did you decide which option to choose? What happened as a result of your decision?

– When did you take a risk, make a mistake or fail? How did you respond and what did you learn from the experience?

– Describe a time when you took the initiative in a project.

– What did you do when you needed to motivate a group of people or encourage collaboration on a specific project?

– How have you used the data to develop a strategy?

Advice from Amazon itself to overcome your interviews

It may seem complicated, but Amazon makes it a little easier thanks to its own Human Resources team, which gives some advice.

The first is to use the STAR response format, which consists of a structured way of answering behavioral questions in this type of interview, talking about a specific situation that was faced (S), the task that was carried out (T), the action that was carried out (A) and the result you got in the example you are describing (R).