Daiki Shibata
Amazon, AWS and Microsoft interview preparation
Drawing on hiring and practical experience at Amazon, we examine the decisions you made, the responsibilities you held and the results you achieved.
Know the technology. Read the business.
Support customer decisions.
GCAP AWS
Application and interview preparation for Amazon Web Services
Make an impact for your customers.
Sales results and technical decisions share a common foundation:
the ability to solve customer problems.
Connect that ability with the work you would do at AWS. Coaches with business and hiring experience combine GCAP’s knowledge with your own experience, from selecting examples aligned with Our Leadership Principles (OLP) to explaining customer proposals and responding to follow-up questions.
Discuss your preparationReview your current readiness and the preparation your target role requires.
ONE FOUNDATION. DIFFERENT RESPONSIBILITIES.
Connect shared principles with the work you do.
At AWS, Our Leadership Principles (OLP), which is shared with Amazon, serve as the basis for preparation. Then, to which customers and with what responsibilities will the role contribute? It is important to link this to the practice of each job.
START HEREThe customer’s goals:
The customer’s goals:
what they want to achieve
Customer Obsession
We grasp the meaning of work from the purpose of the business and the constraints of the field.
How can we demonstrate common guidelines through experience?Connect OLP
Connect OLP
with evidence of your actions.
Below are examples of ways to check experience in both sales and technical roles. In addition to memorizing the explanation of the guidelines, we also dig deeper into the responsibilities we have, the basis for our decisions, and how we approach others, and then communicate this in concrete terms.
- Ownership
- To what extent did I take responsibility?Check the issues you found beyond your responsibility and the extent to which you worked to resolve them.
- Dive Deep
- What did you research and what did you base your decision on?We flesh out the reasons for our decisions based on numbers, on-site facts, and comparisons between technology and business.
- Earn Trust
- How did you deal with different positions?Understand customer and internal concerns and capture the process of reaching agreement through explanation and action.
Get experience with STAR and put it into practice when asked about your job.
Organize in the order of Situation, Task, Action, and Result, and show OLP with specific actions. At GCAP, we use analysis reports to identify deficiencies and hone the way you communicate by asking questions similar to the job you are applying for and additional questions.
START WITH YOUR ROLE
Answer questions about the role with evidence.
When you select a job, the experience, sample preparation, and 8-session curriculum will change. In the example below,Clarify the missing evidence in your initial answer through dialogue with your coach and finalize your answer to the original question.See how to combine experience organization according to OLP and dialogue regarding job decisions.
Sales/Businessjob preparation
Advance customer decision-making.
Capture customer business issues and consensus building that lie before sales. How did you resolve whose concerns and why did you choose that proposal? Prepare to tell the story of your own work that moved your customers' decisions.
- Business challenges
- Separate the customer's goals from the barriers to adoption.
- Stakeholder agreement
- Capture management, usage, and operational expectations and concerns.
- personal contribution
- I will put into words the decisions and efforts that led to the proposal.
01
Examples of preparation/hypothetical questions asking about job judgmentFirst, read the question and first answer
Interviewer/first question
What would you suggest to customers who have stopped considering implementation?
Exercise condition: Client decides on upcoming investment after 6 weeks. User departments are concerned about effectiveness, management is concerned about cost-effectiveness, and operation departments are concerned about additional burden. There are two people who can assist.
Candidate/Example of first answer〈Summary〉
Rather than rushing to implement the system across the board, we suggest testing that narrows down the target operations. We align the effectiveness, operational burden, and timing of decisions with each department of the client, and use the results to inform decisions about next investments.
02
Concrete the missing evidence through dialogue with the coach
The first answer does not fully express the criteria for judgment or the conditions for implementation. Ask questions from five perspectives, verbalize the missing evidence, and then summarize the answer to the original question.
Coach's question / Align your goals
What does the customer need to make a decision this time?
What the coach will checkDifferentiate between the seller's goals and the customer's decisions, and clarify targets, deadlines, and constraints.
1 / 5
03 / Reply to the original questionHow should I complete the answer to the first question?
Drawing together the objectives, options, implementation plan, evidence and conditions for reassessment clarified through follow-up questions, we return to the original question: “What would you suggest to customers who have stopped considering implementation?” I will answer again.
Candidate / Example of a main answer that reflects in-depth research
To help you decide on your next investment, we propose a 6-week review focusing on one target business. This is because it is difficult to predict the effectiveness and operational burden of full-scale implementation, and discounts alone cannot resolve the concerns of each department. First, the user department, operation department, and management team agree on the effects to be confirmed, the upper limit of the burden that can be supported by two people, and who will make the decision. Check business hours, continuous use, and support hours, and proceed from a range that is both effective and operational. If there is no effect, we will review the target operations, and if the burden exceeds the upper limit, we will put in place procedures before expanding.
What has changed is the clarity of the reasons for choosing a proposal and the conditions under which it can be implemented.At GCAP, we will identify the lack of explanation through dialogue and return the obtained evidence to this response. Proceed to practice responding to additional questions based on the same basis as the answers you have completed.
Connect your customers' issues with your decisions.
Past experience captures the behavior that leads to OLP, and the STAR method organizes the course. Hypothetical questions that ask about job judgment state the purpose, comparison, basis, and verification. Through GCAP analysis and dialogue with coaches, we identify gaps in explanation and create answers that suit each question.
PEOPLE & PRACTICE
Cloud experience and hiring insight, brought together.
A team of coaches with experience in practical work at Amazon/AWS, interviews, and cloud business will support you in preparing for your job. Career strategies and expertise in responding in English are also combined to suit the challenge.
Some of the coaches who support AWS preparation
Yangjie Wu
Interview preparation for data/technical fields
Drawing on the coach’s data and technology experience at Amazon, refine how you connect your decisions with business value.
Ryutaro Yamada
Google and AWS interview preparation
Drawing on practical experience at AWS and Google Cloud, we help you explain your contribution to customers and the business.
These are some of our coaches. We bring together a wider range of expertise to suit your target company, role and preparation needs.
WATCH THE GUIDE
Understand the principles.
Apply them to work at AWS.
GCI’s video explains role selection, compensation and interview preparation at AWS. Individual sessions help you select experiences relevant to your target role and develop your answers.
GCI VIDEO
Explore AWS roles, salaries and interview preparation
YOUR WORK PLAN
Eight sessions, designed around your role at AWS.
This sample standard-course curriculum consists of 60-minute sessions. Your selected role:Sales/BusinessThe example reflects the selected role. We tailor the allocation to your preparation needs, interview language and interview schedule.
A separate appointment after contracting and before regular sessions begin
Analyse your responses in a preliminary mock interview.We create a detailed analysis report. This mock interview is separate from the regular course and is not counted as a regular session.
sessionTheme at this stagethings to work on
Set preparation priorities using OLP and the responsibilities of the role
Use the analysis report to plan your preparation, connecting Customer Obsession and Ownership with customer needs and your project responsibilities.
Structure your project experience using STAR
Use STAR to structure examples of developing new business, addressing stalled projects and building consensus. Make the actions and results that demonstrate Earn Trust specific.
Connect customer decisions with OLP
Respond to customer objections and changes in conditions, examining the reasoning behind your proposals through the lens of Dive Deep. Explain investment decisions, alternatives and evaluation criteria.
Practise OLP interviews and role-specific discussions
Combine behavioural interviews with explanations of customer proposals. Refine concise STAR answers, responses to probing questions and explanations in your interview language, including English.
Keep your proposed contribution to AWS consistent across your answers
Connect your reasons for applying, your experience and your questions for the interviewer. Use the final rehearsal to identify the work to prioritise before the interview.
THE GCAP KNOWLEDGE
Combine answer structure with a deeper understanding of the work.
Based on the STAR method, which organizes situations, issues, actions, and results, we will delve into understanding AWS duties, customer and business conditions, and comparing judgments. We connect GCAP's accumulated knowledge to individual analysis and practice, and clarify the priorities for preparation.
- Read about the company and the job
- Decide what experience to convey based on the behavioral guidelines and the responsibilities of the job you are applying for.
- Check the basis of the answer
- Specify the person's role, alternatives, decision criteria, and how to confirm results.
- Update your preparation from practice
- Connect responses to follow-up questions and homework to the next session, filling in gaps in explanation one by one.
PROGRAM & FEE
Choose the depth of preparation your role requires.
Increase your experience and questions, correct the issues you see in practice, and try again. By increasing the number of sessions, you can prepare more and have more opportunities to see improvements.
Standard courses offer 4, 6, 8 or 10 sessions. Each session lasts 60 minutes. Choose a course to suit your preparation needs and goals. We also offer intensive preparation when interviews are approaching, and focused sessions to address specific challenges.
Select a session count to view an example curriculum.
CURRICULUM EXAMPLE / 8 SESSIONS
Repeated analysis, practice, and correction
We go back and forth between organizing our OLP experience and making judgments about our duties, and repeat practice and revision until we have conversations that change customer conditions.
What we aim to achieve in this course
Explain the actions and professional decisions that lead to OLP, and even if budgets, deadlines, and operating conditions change, you will be able to return to the customer's objectives and respond.
- Session 1
Plan your preparation around OLP and the AWS role
Review the detailed analysis report and connect your target role with Our Leadership Principles (OLP). Select experiences that show your contribution to customers, with the emphasis adjusted for sales and business or technical and customer-support roles.
- Sessions 2–3
Use STAR to explain your contribution to customers
Organize customer issues, the person's role, judgment, actions, and results using the STAR method. Convey the points of contact with Customer Obsession, Ownership, and Earn Trust with behavioral facts.
- Sessions 4–5
Explaining job decisions from a Dive Deep perspective
The sales department deals with customer investment decisions, and the technical department deals with comparisons of requirements and technical/operational aspects. Practice explanations that connect your expertise to customer outcomes based on numbers, facts, and alternatives.
- Sessions 6–7
Practise OLP interviews and customer conversations
Combine behavioural interviews with role-specific questions, practising how to respond when budgets, deadlines or stakeholders change. Explain your reasoning in your interview language, revise it and try again.
- Session 8
Make your contribution to AWS work consistent
We review your experience against OLP, your value to customers, your reasons for applying and your questions for the interviewer, then identify the explanations to strengthen before the real interview.
This is an example curriculum. Your current preparation, target company and role, and time before selection determine how we tailor the content and allocation of sessions.
The course usually includes an analysis report.
For company-specific measures, we conduct mock interviews in advance after signing a contract and before the start of the session. Preliminary mock interviews are not included in the number of sessions.
For people with an interview approaching
Intensive preparation course
4 sessions × 105 minutes
448,900 JPY
For people who want to work on specific issues through practice
Focused sessions
60 minutes per session; reports are not included.
- 1 session
- JPY 64,500
- 2 sessions
- JPY 121,100
- 3 sessions
- JPY 175,300
CHOOSING YOUR COURSE
Find the right course through a conversation.
We work with you to plan your preparation, budget and schedule. You can start with a shorter course and extend your support as you progress.
Start with a focused session or a 4-session course
You can start with a focused session or a 4-session course. If you wish to continue, you can upgrade by paying the difference.
If the situation changes, you can cancel the contract midway.
If the selection results or circumstances change, you can cancel your contract midway. Detailed terms and conditions, including payment upon cancellation, will be provided to you before you apply.
Prepare for multiple employers
You can prepare for multiple employers and roles, including Amazon and Google. We tailor the curriculum around shared preparation and the requirements of each application.
In a free consultation, we explain each course’s support, scope and application conditions.
Payment is generally made in one instalment. Courses of 8 or more sessions can be paid in up to 2 instalments.
QUESTIONS
Preparing for AWS: your questions
QHow many examples from my experience should I prepare for OLP?
As a guide, prepare 10 to 20 responses, with at least one and preferably two examples for each OLP important to your target role. You do not need a separate experience for every response. A core experience may demonstrate several OLPs, with the focus adjusted to the question. At GCAP, we map your experience to the OLPs, identify gaps and backup examples, then practise STAR answers and responses to probing questions. The number of examples and preparation priorities depend on the role, level and selection process.
QDo you support candidates for AWS sales roles?
Sales and business positions are also eligible. Organize how you understood the customer's issues, approached the relevant parties, and moved forward with proposals and agreements. We will help you prepare to communicate not only your sales and number of installations, but also your judgment and actions as experience that matches the job you are applying for.
QWhat preparation do you provide for technical roles?
This covers selecting experience, explaining decisions based on customer and business conditions, communicating with stakeholders, and practicing behavioral interviews. It does not include answer guidance for technical/skill tests or professional technical examinations. We will ask about the selection details and challenges, and confirm the scope of support in advance.
QHow does this differ from Amazon interview preparation?
Preparation around Leadership Principles is shared. For AWS, we start with customer value and the target role, then clarify proposals, consensus-building, technical and business decisions, and the audiences you need to address. The emphasis depends on the role.
QCan I get in touch before deciding which AWS role to pursue?
You can consult with us. Based on the job you want to do at AWS and your past experience, we will organize the tasks for selecting and preparing for your job. If you want to expand your possibilities to include companies, we can also guide you to PIVOT.
QAre preliminary mock interviews included in the standard 8 sessions?
The preliminary mock interview takes place separately after contracting and before regular sessions begin. We use it to create a detailed analysis report, share and explain the report in the first session, and begin work on individual preparation needs. Each regular session lasts 60 minutes.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Connect your experience with your next role at AWS.
During our free consultation, we will ask you about your desired position and your preparation status. We will easily check your preparedness level and guide you on priority issues and how to proceed with support.
Discuss your preparationYou do not need to choose a course before speaking with us.