Half The Story Of Amazon Bar Raisers — WSJ Article Got Just Half The Story On Amazon Interviewing

by | Feb 28, 2014 | Blog

The insightful article from the WSJ from Tuesday – Amazon’s Current Employees Raise the Bar for New Hires  (https://on.wsj.com/1a2eIMO) is a great overview of the Amazon recruiting process and “bar raiser” program but really only told half the story.  The half of the story told was about the independent interviewer in a recruiting process who is specially trained to ensure that the next hire “raises the bar” at Amazon, and thamazonofficeat short-sighted hiring decisions and mistakes are avoided.  The burden of interviewing and especially being a bar raiser is well described and is real.  Being a bar raiser is like having another job at Amazon.

The insightful article from the WSJ from Tuesday – Amazon’s Current Employees Raise the Bar for New Hires  (https://on.wsj.com/1a2eIMO) is a great overview of the Amazon recruiting process and “bar raiser” program but really only told half the story.  The half of the story told was about the independent interviewer in a recruiting process who is specially trained to ensure that the next hire “raises the bar” at Amazon, and thamazonofficeat short-sighted hiring decisions and mistakes are avoided.  The burden of interviewing and especially being a bar raiser is well described and is real.  Being a bar raiser is like having another job at Amazon.

It was quite an honor to be named a bar raiser. The role was not assigned lightly. Your selection was predicated by the success and retention of the hires you made. Yet, in having a “veto” vote in the matter, the role often put you in direct opposition to the team doing the hiring. The key to the bar raiser was that he or she was brought in from outside the team doing the hiring, so they were independent and not pressured by the work at hand to make a short-sighted hiring decision.

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