When you are applying for a job at Amazon, you may be asked during the application process what growth ideas you have for yourself. By asking this question, Amazon is trying to see what your plans are for yourself in the future — and whether or not you’ll fit in with Amazon culture.
There are a few different ways you can answer this question, depending on what you feel most connected to. Keep reading to learn the best way you can answer this question in an interview to impress Amazon!
Best Answer for “What Growth Ideas Do You Have for Yourself?” at Amazon
When discussing the growth ideas you have for yourself in an Amazon interview, you can discuss how you would like to grow with the company in the future. You can also discuss how you’ve evolved as a worker — and how you anticipate you will continue to involve as an employee.
Below, we give you a few different ways you can answer this common interview question!
1. Growth Within the Company
During an Amazon interview, it could help to express your desire to grow within the company. You’re not looking to get a job and then leave soon after. You’re looking to stay — and to improve yourself and the company in the process.
So, if you’re asked what growth ideas you have for yourself, express your interest in continuing to grow as an employee — and continuing to learn along the way while working at Amazon. Then, express your intent to grow within the company.
This can help show your hiring manager that you’re responsible, you’re not flaky, you’re here to stay, and you’re looking for a future with Amazon.
Keep things vague in terms of growth within the company. Don’t necessarily give them a timeline of when you want to be promoted and to what position. Instead, just express your desire to grow and improve while working at Amazon in whatever way you can.
2. Overcome Setbacks
We all experience setbacks in our personal and professional lives. All of us. Unfortunately, it’s just a part of life.
However, how you deal with these setbacks is more important than the setbacks themselves. Express your desire to overcome any setbacks that may come your way, and in turn, help you grow when asked questions in an Amazon interview.
It might help to explain, in detail, some past setbacks you had in your professional life — and how you overcame them. Then, you can talk about how you know setbacks may occur in the future, but you plan on learning how to best overcome all of them.
3. Learn New Skills
Employers always like when their employees have various skills they can use, regardless of whether or not these skills are actually needed for their specific position. Learning new skills can help you become a more well-rounded person.
Companies such as Amazon love to see this in their employees. Plus, you never know if your newly learned skill could potentially help you get a promotion in the future!
So, if you’re asked how you plan on growing in the future during the Amazon job application process, discuss your intent to continue learning new skills. This will show that you have drive and commitment.
If someone has drive and commitment in their hobbies and in their own free time, then they’ll likely have it when they’re working. Therefore, this can help you seem like a great new hire to Amazon!
4. Learn From Past Mistakes
Just as we all can experience setbacks, we also can make mistakes in our professional lives. We don’t know everything immediately. We must learn as we go — and especially after mistakes are made.
Instead of acting like you’re perfect — no job interviewer truly likes to hear someone continuously proclaim that they’re a perfectionist and can do no wrong — admit that you’ve made mistakes in the past.
But also show that you’ve learned from these mistakes — and you’ll continue to learn from any mistakes you may make in the future. Talk about how you’ve grown as an employee in this way, and you’ll only continue to grow in this way.
Employers like to hire those who can take constructive criticism. So, if you can do this and learn from your errors or mistakes in the process, you can impress Amazon during the application process!
5. Be More Independent When Needed
Sometimes, you may be hired to work as a team. Other times, Amazon may be looking for those who can work on an independent basis. If the latter is the case, it won’t hurt to talk about how you’ll continue to grow when it comes to your own independence.
In these types of positions, companies like to hire those who can work independently and get the job done. They don’t want to hire employees who need their hands held throughout their entire shift. They need people who will get the job done and self-motivate themselves.
Therefore, when discussing ways in which you’re growing, talk about how you’re working on being more independent in situations that call for it. Talk about your success in this area thus far.
6. Think On Your Feet
If you’re applying for a job at Amazon, you probably already know that you’re applying to work in a fast-paced (and sometimes hectic) work environment. Regardless of what position or department you’re looking to work in, you need to be able to work quickly.
So, when Amazon asks you what growth ideas you have for yourself, talk about your intent to continue thinking on your feet. To always be able to roll with the punches. Discuss how you already do this, but you’re looking to continue to grow in this way.
Amazon wants to hire people like this. So, talk about a situation where you can show that you’ve been like this in a past professional experience. But also discuss your desire to continue to learn in this way — and to continue to be unaffected by changes in the workplace.
7. Understand Your Strengths and Weaknesses
You can also discuss how you’ve recently been working on better understanding your strengths and weaknesses in your professional life. Rather than ignore your weaknesses, you’re taking the time to understand why you’re weak in this area — and then working to improve.
Every employer likes when their employees have a full understanding of what they can bring to the table. They like when employees can actually analyze themselves honestly rather than cover up any weaknesses they have and never work on them.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you should then lay out all of your weaknesses in detail to your interviewer. Instead, just say you’re working on understanding your strengths and weaknesses so that you can be a better employee — and so that you can work on your growth.
8. Make Goals
It may also help to explain that you’ve begun to set goals for yourself in your professional life. You have goals you would like to meet, and you plan on doing just that.
By making goals for yourself — and by sharing this with your hiring manager — you can reveal that you’re driven and determined in a smart and honest way. Again, Amazon likes those who have a goal or destination in mind. They like people who are driven.
So, regardless of what position you’re looking to apply for when you discuss your growth, you should discuss your intent to continue making goals for yourself — and to continue to meet these goals.
9. Manage Time Better
We all could learn how to manage our days in a better way. The same goes for our work days. So, when discussing your own growth ideas, talk about how you’re working on how to manage time better.
Discuss that you’ve already become much better at your own time management. Also, explain how you’ll continue to learn how to best use up your time — and how to adapt and change your time management skills if needed.
It might also help to explain that you’ve become very good at making time in your personal life and in your professional life. Some past Amazon employees have talked about how they don’t like the job because you never have a good, equal work/life balance.
If you express your success in being able to do this — in being able to create an equal work/life balance no matter how many hours you work — then this could help a hiring manager see you as a responsible and committed applicant who will be here to work for a while.
This could also help you seem like someone who knows how to get the most done in a workday, rather than someone who procrastinates or who needs to be told what to do.
Conclusion
When you are applying for a job at Amazon and are asked about what your growth ideas for the future are, you can talk about your desire to grow within the company. You can also talk about how you manage your time and your plans to continue to overcome obstacles.