How to complete the online assessment for the AWS SA interview | Camelia Hurghis & Ashish Prajapati

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

• Purpose of AWS online assessments

  • Ensure consistent, fair evaluation across all candidates.
  • Provide flexibility (candidates can proceed at their own pace, and in many cases pause/resume).
  • Assess how candidates approach realistic, job-like scenarios (technical simulation).
  • Identify technical strengths and growth areas, while also checking alignment with AWS culture/principles (leadership principles).
  • Used across roles, but additional accommodations/support may be needed for candidates with medical conditions or accessibility needs (e.g., interpreter, different format).

• Assessment structure for the AWS Solution Architect interview (online assessment)

  • Focus areas are primarily the four pillars:
    • Application Development
    • Cloud Compute
    • Migration
    • Modern Data Platform
  • Some questions also cover AWS Leadership Principles.
  • Total estimated time: ~75 minutes (1 hour 15 minutes).

• The three modules (and what each measures)

  1. Module 1: Technical Simulation (~40 minutes)

     • Candidates respond to a situation an AWS employee might face.
     • Measures:
       • Technical communication (written and verbal)
       • Cloud computing concepts
       • Information security threats
       • Other technical proficiencies

  2. Module 2: Technical Experience (~20 minutes)

     • Candidates review potential situations and select the most applicable response (based on workstyle/preference).
     • Measures:
       • Cloud computing technical communication
       • Information security threats

  3. Module 3: Amazon Work Styles (~15 minutes)

     • Focuses on how the candidate approaches work (preference/workstyle).
     • Question examples:
       • Preference statements such as working under pressure
       • Preference for independent work vs teamwork
     • Key point: No right/wrong answers—it’s meant to learn about the candidate’s working style.

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Instructions / guidance given for candidates (detailed bullet points)

• Before and during the assessment

  • No advanced preparation is required, because AWS wants to evaluate your knowledge at the time you apply.
  • However, AWS recommends focusing on:
    • AWS Leadership Principles (they affect multiple interview stages)
    • Refresh/brush up on cloud computing and the four technical pillars:
      • Application Development
      • Cloud Compute
      • Migration
      • Modern Data Platform
  • Be ready to demonstrate:
    • Problem-solving ability
    • Technical communication skills

• How and when to do it

  • Time flexibility
    • Candidates can typically pause and resume (the platform saves progress).
    • Exception: Amazon Work Styles cannot be paused and must be completed in one sitting.
  • Order matters
    • You can navigate/flip through the assessment, but you must follow the sequence shown.
    • You cannot do Work Styles first and return later out of order.
  • Editing restrictions
    • After submitting answers for a module, you generally cannot go back to edit responses.

• Passing/negative marking

  • No negative marking is mentioned for pausing/resuming.
  • Uses pass/fail only:
    • No grading percentage or target score (no “50%/60%”-style requirement discussed).
  • Candidates receive an email notification:
    • Success vs unsuccessful
    • No detailed feedback on what to improve (no itemized guidance).

• Retaking the assessment

  • If unsuccessful: there is a cooling-off period before applying again for the same job/level.
  • If the difficulty seemed inappropriate (e.g., too advanced for your seniority), try again by applying at a different level (junior vs medium vs senior), since assessments differ by level.

• Technical issues during the assessment

  • Built-in technical assistance is available.
  • You can contact the technical team via chat/email.
  • If the assessment email goes to spam and becomes invalid after 7 days, contact your recruiter to request help/retake.

• When the assessment is sent

  • The assessment is sent after resume shortlisting (i.e., you pass the initial filtering stage).
  • So if you receive the assessment, it means the hiring team selected your profile to continue.

• Links, centralized info, and avoiding random leaks

  • AWS provides a central page on its portal about assessments and leadership principles.
  • Questions are drawn from a question bank, so:
    • No guarantee that a colleague’s passed experience matches your exact questions.
    • Hearing answers from others is not sufficient for success.

• Validity period

  • A successfully completed assessment is valid for 6 months.
  • If you apply again for the same type of role within the 6-month window (example given: solution architect roles), you may not need to take it again.

• Whether the assessment differs by country/market

  • The structure remains the same generally.
  • Scenarios and evaluation context adjust based on:
    • Seniority level (junior vs experienced)
    • Specialist vs generalist nature of the role
  • It’s designed to be fair and relevant.

• Who it applies to

  • Not manager-dependent: the assessment applies broadly across Amazon jobs.
  • Relevant roles can include:
    • Solution Architects
    • Technical Account Managers
  • It is stated as being similar across sales and marketing organizations for the solution architect / technical account manager types.

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Sources / speakers featured (at end)

• Camelia Hurghis — AWS recruiter (Amazon Web Services); primary speaker
• Ashish Prajapati — host/interviewer (referenced in video title; speaks intermittently in subtitles)
• Prasad — referenced as inviting Camelia / introducing the segment (speaker not directly quoted extensively)