Amazon insiders explain the company's unique 'loop' interview system and how it's the ultimate test of whether someone will be a cultural fit

• Amazon uses a hiring practice called a "loop" to determine if a candidate will be a cultural fit, and an employee known as a "bar-raiser" acts as a third party to evaluate candidates' behavioral skills.
• Insiders said the process is designed to be long, with around six interviews lasting an hour each.
• The goal is to get candidates to back up behavioral-based questions with examples and data.
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Amazon is known for its tough interview process, including some distinctive practices.

Amazon relies on its 14 leadership principles and a process known internally as the "loop" to assess candidates' behavioral traits. Candidates interview with about six employees, one after another.

Employees and former employees describe Amazon's overall hiring as efficient, taking about a month from applying to getting an offer. But the loop process is long: Each interview can last an hour, so candidates can spend a full day interviewing.

"The point is to understand how you're able to problem solve - a lot of it is how you work under pressure," said Rina Yashayeva, a former Amazon employee and VP of marketplace strategy at digital agency Stella Rising.

For our full story about Amazon's hiring process, click here.

"You'll find that people with no marketing experience are hired into a marketing manager role," said Connor Folley, CEO of Amazon-focused adtech firm Downstream and a former Amazon employee. "More important is your proclivity towards these leadership principles than having experience in the role itself."

The goal of the loop is to see how candidates work under pressure

Interviewers ask candidates behavioral-based questions based on one of two of the leadership principles. Questions are formatted using the STAR method, which stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result, and candidates are expected to provide quantitative examples.

An Amazon employee who spoke anonymously because company policy doesn't permit employees to talk to the media said the goal of the loop and questions is to help interviewers understand someone's values and thought process.

"The goal of an Amazon interview is to make sure that you can do what you say you can do," said the employee.

One of the interviewers is known as a "bar-raiser" who participates in the interview process to see if a person is a cultural fit. Bar-raisers make up a small group of Amazon employees who undergo rigorous training and have veto power in hiring.

The bar-raiser's questions are meant to evaluate candidates' behavior and personality traits, with the goal of finding candidates that are better than half of employees who currently have the job.

According to interviews with Amazon insiders and public information from anonymous employee site Glassdoor, Amazon often prioritizes behavioral traits over job qualifications for certain roles.

To prepare for an interview, sources suggested memorizing the 14 leadership principles and combing through sample questions online. According to Glassdoor, some popular interview questions are:

• How do you know you are a top performer?
• When have you shown leadership?
• Can you think of a time when you influenced a collective group's way of thinking or performing a task?
• Tell me about a time you had to deal with ambiguity.
• Describe a time you went above and beyond the scope of your job.

Amazon is particularly hiring a lot to support its growing advertising business. Amazon Advertising's hiring website shows more than 1,000 open positions on seven teams.