Amazon MBA Online Assessment - Get the Internship with Exclusive Prep
Getting accepted into the Amazon MBA program is becoming ever more competitive lately. As Amazon expands its recruitment outreach to more schools, the pool for potential candidates grows larger.
With an elaborate work simulation test and personality tests custom-made by Amazon, this test is anything but a cakewalk.
If you’re trying to become one of the few that pass the Amazon MBA internship assessment, you should prepare in advance. With thorough practice, and by truly understanding the ideal typecast Amazon is looking for, it can be done.
On this page you’ll:
Let’s get to it.
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Applying for an Operations role in Amazon? Read about our Area & Operations Manager Assessments Practice!
Applying for a Financial role? Read about our Amazon Financial PrepPack!
The Amazon MBA online assessment is the first step in the hiring process for Amazon’s MBA program. Instead of focusing on cognitive abilities, it focuses on you and your work traits. It takes about 80 minutes to complete, and you can only apply once per recruiting cycle.
This type of Amazon online assessment focuses on your personality, behavioral tendencies, and judgment. In theory, these questions may seem easier than the usual math/economic questions you encounter as a student, but there’s more to it.
The thing is, unlike math, there isn’t a right and wrong answer. Instead, there are responses that FIT the organization’s culture and values and responses that don’t.
So, what kind of questions should you expect?
The Work Simulation Test should really be your main focus while practicing towards the MBA online assessment.
Imagine this - you never worked at Amazon, but suddenly you are faced with real work dilemmas. Let's say you are a PMT (Product Manager for technical products), and there’s a problem with Alexa’s upcoming software update that YOU are in charge of. Meanwhile, management keeps pushing to release it anyway. What do you do?
Well, in this assessment, you’ll be presented with different opinions that your team members advise you and some operational data (how much time it takes to develop and implement a feature for example). Then, you’ll need to rank the data you have from most important to least important to your decision.
Here is an example from our preparation pack:
Remember - the way you respond to these dilemmas will determine your score. So how should this be approached?
In order to give the best answers, you’ll need to demonstrate both healthy judgment and decisive leadership. A great tool that you should definitely use to your benefit is Amazon’s list of 16 leadership principles (or LPs as Amazonians call them). Try to get inside the head of the “ideal” Amazon leader and act the way he would.
In the preparation pack you’ll find on this page you’ll gain access to different work scenarios. You’ll submit the best and worst responses, and in return, you’ll get feedback made by assessment center experts based on management values.
The Workstyle assessment is actually a form of personality test that is given to most Amazon candidates.
Though they might state that there are no “right and wrongs” on this test, you can guess by yourself that it’s obviously not true.
Just like with the Work Simulation section, the workstyle is used to find the type of candidate Amazon is looking for to fill for its MBA manager roles.
Whether it’s PMs, PMTs, Leaders in finance, retail, etc. The candidate needs to show he’s the leader that fits Amazon's core values and culture.
Here’s a sample question from the real test:
As you can see, there’s no “neutrality” option (that’s a good thing, staying on the fence is a bad indicator for leadership).
A good approach to this section is to base your answers on Amazon’s 16 LPs. Again, these are core principles that every Amazonian is expected to hold dear. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that this personality test screens candidates by their compatibility with these principles.
Studying them is only the first step though. If you want to make sure you’re truly prepared, you should consider familiarizing yourself with the type of personality questions you’ll be given. Then, understand what goes on “behind the scenes.”
In the course found on this page, you’ll also get a professional personality practice test (created by certified psychologists with assessment center experience). In it, you’ll cover all popular questions and statements that appear in personality tests like Amazon’s Work Style Assessment.
Plus, you’ll discover the best methods for answering each statement, emphasize certain qualities, avoid potential pitfalls, and more.
Those are actually two different sections, with the same idea behind them.
On the Work Priorities Survey, you’ll be asked what your interests in different work environments are on a scale from 1-5.
This one is a no-brainer. If you want to get accepted to the Amazon HR leadership program, for example, you should be “Very Interested” in recruitment and finding solutions to finding the best candidates.
On the MBA Role Preferences Survey, it is even more clear. You will be asked directly to rank the roles you are interested in, from most to least.
The best approach to these sections is to decide in advance what is suitable for you after thorough research online.
Amazon offers a variety of MBA jobs (with the same online assessment):
For insights into Amazon’s hiring journey and roles, head to our main page.
