workstyles assessment and technical problem solving

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Amazon Workstyle Assessment Practice Test

20 questions created by rachelle enns.

Styled around Amazon's 16 Leadership Principles, the Workstyle Assessment is the company's version of a personality test. The assessment ensures you are a fit for Amazon's workplace culture, which they often call "peculiar." The Amazon Workstyle Assessment takes most candidates 10-20 minutes to complete. Candidates are given a series of statements and are asked to choose which statement best reflects their work style.

Table of Contents

Amazon workstyle assessment study guide.

Most Amazon candidates are required to take the Amazon Workstyle Assessment. Candidates who take this assessment are then placed into one of five categories based on their responses. These categories label a candidate as either:

• Highly Recommended
• Recommended
• Moderately Recommended
• Not Recommended
• Strongly Not Recommended

Hiring Managers can then choose which category (or categories) they'd like to entertain candidates from, except for those in the "Strongly Not Recommended' category. Those candidates cannot be interviewed. For example, an Amazon Hiring Manager could only interview candidates who ranked in the "Highly Recommended' category. This would significantly limit their hiring options; however, it's their decision. Another Hiring Manager might prefer to interview candidates from the top-ranking two or three categories. Once an Amazon Hiring Manager chooses their categories from which to interview, they cannot go back and change their mind. This practice ensures a fair vetting process for all. Styled around Amazon's 16 Leadership Principles, the Workstyle Assessment is the company's version of a personality test. The assessment ensures you are a fit for Amazon's workplace culture, which they often call "peculiar.' The Amazon Workstyle Assessment takes most candidates 10-20 minutes to complete. Candidates are given a series of statements and are asked to choose which statement best reflects their work style.

Amazon Candidate Categories

Strongly Recommended: If a candidate is labeled as "Strongly Recommended' or "Strongly Inclined,' they meet the highest standards set by Amazon. A ranking this high takes great skill and a lot of research of Amazon's Leadership Principles. This ranking is for elite candidates! Recommended: If a candidate is labeled as "Recommended' or "Inclined,' they appear to be a strong workplace fit for Amazon and its peculiar culture. This ranking is high and a great accomplishment. Most Hiring Managers will also select from this category of candidate (along with "Strongly Recommended') when choosing whom to interview. Moderately Recommended: If a candidate is labeled as "Moderately Recommended' or "Moderately Inclined,' they still have a fair chance of being selected for an interview. Some Hiring Managers choose to only interview from the "Strongly Recommended' and "Recommended' categories. However, Hiring Managers that want fewer limitations in their search will also choose to interview candidates from the "Moderately Recommended' category. Not Recommended: If a candidate is labeled as "Not Recommended' or "Not Inclined,' the Amazon Workstyle Assessment test has likely uncovered a concerning flaw. This flaw could include inconsistencies in the candidate's responses. It's unlikely that a candidate falling into the "Not Recommended' category will be called for a job interview at Amazon. Strongly Not Recommended: This ranking is very rarely seen at Amazon. If a candidate is labeled as "Strongly Not Recommended' or "Strongly Not Inclined,' it's likely that the Amazon Workstyle Assessment test has uncovered a severe character flaw.

Amazon's Leadership Principles

Customer Obsession Leaders start with the customer and work backward. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers. Ownership Leaders are owners. They think long-term and don't sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say "that's not my job." Invent and Simplify Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by "not invented here." As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time. Are Right, A Lot Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs. Learn and Be Curious Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them. Hire and Develop the Best Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice. Insist on the Highest Standards Leaders have relentlessly high standards "” many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high-quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed. Think Big Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers. Bias for Action Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk-taking. Frugality Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense. Earn Trust Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team's body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best. Dive Deep Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdotes differ. No task is beneath them. Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly. Deliver Results Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle. Strive to be Earth's Best Employer Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher-performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what's next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees' personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere. Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility We started in a garage, but we're not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them. Take our Amazon Workstyle Assessment Practice Test to see where you could potentially rank with Amazon!

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Amazon Assessment Test 2021: What to Expect and How to Pass Your Online Assessment

This page will guide you through the ever-changing Amazon assessment tests.

Below, you’ll find a list of the most popular Amazon assessments. Choose your test to find out what to expect and how to prepare, so you increase your chances of acing it.

Choose Your Amazon Assessment

• Amazon SDE Online Assessment - Thorough prep, critical tips, and inside info to help you pass the Amazon coding and behavioral assessments
• Amazon Work Simulation - Get to know one of the trickiest Amazon assessments that's used for screening numerous Amazon candidates
• Amazon Numerical Reasoning Test (SHL) - Accurate and exclusive preparation for Amazon's numerical reasoning assessment 
• Amazon Work Style Assessment - Learn about Amazon's most common personality test (sent to almost every Amazon applicant)
• Amazon Area Manager and Operations Manager Assessment  - Exclusive prep for the first screening step that any Area Manager and Operations manager candidate must pass
• Amazon AWS Assessment - Learn more about the AWS online assessment that's sent to SA and Cloud Support candidates
• Amazon MBA Online Assessment - Get more info about the initial online assessment that any Amazon MBA candidate has to pass
• Amazon Financial Analyst Test - Advanced Excel assessment and case study preparation for financial analysts
• Amazon Apprenticeship Tests - Get an exclusive and in-depth preparation for various Amazon apprenticeship assessments (for UK & Europe locations)
• Amazon Maintenance Technician Test - Thorough prep for the toughest part of the Amazon maintenance tech's hiring process (created by certified engineers)
• Amazon Control Systems Tech/Lead Test - Similar to the Maintenance Technician Test, yet focuses more on electricity, electronics, and robotics
• Amazon Senior MGMT Assessment - Practice the new SHL Verify G+ Interactive test and other numerical tests Amazon uses

Prepare for your Amazon assessment

Hi, I’m David, the Amazon assessment expert at JobTestPrep. Have a question? Don’t hesitate to contact me at  [email protected]

Getting hired by Amazon is a dream that many job seekers share.

Whether it’s the generous benefits, the top-notch technology, or the career development paths it offers – Amazon is indeed a prestigious place to work for.

But getting in is not a walk in the park. To receive a job offer, you first must ace the initial Amazon online assessment .

Amazon’s assessments are often tricky. Their structure is unique, and what they test for “behind the scenes” is not found in other companies’ hiring processes.

That’s why thorough preparation becomes invaluable and can give you an edge over your competitors.

So, to help you score high and pass the Amazon assessment, we developed a powerful prep plan that’s based on three tools:

• Accurate practice tests that simulate the actual assessments.
• Targeted drills aimed to teach you the specific skills needed to beat the tests.
• Realistic testing experience and expert tips to improve your performance under pressure.

Keep scrolling to dive deep into the online assessment and access their prep guides.

What Is the Amazon Assessment Test?

The Amazon assessment is an online test given to Amazon’s applicants for a variety of jobs. Usually, you’ll get an invitation for the assessment test after passing the initial resume screening process. Amazon’s assessments differ greatly between positions and include the Amazon Virtual Job Tryout, coding assessments, personality tests, job simulations, and more.

The Amazon Recruitment Process

For most positions, Amazon’s application process looks like the following:

• Initial Resume Screening
• Assessment Tests
• Phone Interview
• Virtual / On-site Interviews

Below is an overview of the most popular Amazon assessments:

Amazon SDE Online Assessment

The Amazon Software Development Engineering online assessment combines coding and behavioral tests given to candidates for SDE positions - interns, new grads, and experienced roles.

For interns and new grad positions, the Amazon online assessment is divided as follows: Code Debugging, Coding test and Workstyles (personality test), and Technical Problem Solving (work simulation assessment).

For more experienced SDE roles, you’ll get a coding challenge that includes two coding questions, a coding approach questionnaire, and a Work Style assessment.

Note that Amazon puts a premium and bases its behavioral and personality assessments on the 16 leadership principles . So, learn them and take them into account while choosing your responses.

Learn more about Amazon’s SDE online assessment here >>

Amazon Work Simulation

On Amazon’s Work Simulation assessment test, you’ll get an inside look at the types of challenges commonly faced by Amazon employees.

This work simulation assesses your prioritization and multitasking skills, how you work under pressure, and of course – your use of Amazon’s Leadership Principles.

Each scenario will begin with email communication that gives context into the nature of the issue you’ll face. When the simulation starts, you’ll be prompted with emails and instant messages from your virtual Team Lead, team members, etc.

Within each scenario, you’ll get more details to help you solve the problem in the form of charts, graphs, spreadsheets, and tables. You’ll then be asked questions and given a set of responses you need to choose from.

For more info and for a full prep, enter our  Amazon Work Simulation   page.

• Amazon Work Style Assessment

The Amazon Work Style assessment is a personality test that evaluates your work preferences and qualities to determine your suitability to Amazon’s unique culture.

In most cases, this test comes before or after other Amazon online assessments, and you’ll rarely receive it as a single exam.

On this assessment, which takes about 15 minutes to complete, you’ll see pairs of statements, and you’ll need to decide which is most like you or more like you.

Overall, there will be a few dozens such pairs. Here’s an example for a question: (A) I adjust my normal approach when a situation required it. (B) I approach changes more cautiously than others.

Now, you must choose which statement is more or most like you.

Amazon’s Work Style Assessment is completely based on the Amazon Leadership Principles. These are core values that are super important to Amazon, and its worker’s address and follow them daily.

So, before starting the Work Style Assessment, read the Leadership Principles and learn how to implement them in your past work experiences.

Additionally, it’s also important to familiarize yourself with common personality test questions, their structure, and what personality traits they evaluate.

Learn more about pre-employment personality tests and how to prepare for them using our dedicated page.

Learn more and get full practice on our Amazon Work Style Page .

Amazon SHL Numerical Assessment Test

The Amazon Numerical Test, administered by SHL, is designed to assess your numerical reasoning skills, which are a key component of the company's work.

On the test, you need to understand and interpret numerical data presented in the form of a table or a chart and then answer questions relating to it.

Working out the answers often requires performing calculations involving percentages, ratios, conversions, etc.

The most common type of numerical test used to evaluate candidates for graduate and managerial roles is provided by SHL.

On this Amazon test, you are presented with sets of data, each followed by three multiple-choice questions.

Our preparation pack offers you practice materials for the SHL test.

It includes practice drills and video tutorials to help you master the basic concepts required for successfully passing your Amazon numerical test.

This Amazon prep pack also contains hundreds of table/graph questions to sharpen your data interpretation skills.

Amazon AWS Online Assessment

Note:  We have a new preparation pack for the AWS assessment test. Click here for more info .

Because AWS positions range from technical-oriented roles to costumer-oriented roles, the  AWS Assessment is given to AWS candidates with slight variations.

The assessment covers different aspects of the candidate - In most cases, the assessment will be comprised of:

• A Work-Simulation test that deals with Amazonians' work scenarios. In it, candidates will need to rate or rank possible solutions to dilemmas they might face.
• A Work-Style assessment which is Amazon's custom-made personality test, built around their famous 16 Leadership Principles.
• Some sort of technical knowledge test , depending on the role.
• A test that simulates scenarios that involve working with customers for customer-oriented roles.

Here are two examples of AWS assessments you might face:

The Amazon Solution Architect (SA) online assessment is sent after you pass the initial resume screening for a range of Solution Architect roles at AWS.

This assessment takes about 75-90 minutes to complete and is divided into five different sections:

• Hiring Simulation with several real-life scenarios
• General Technical Knowledge section to assess technical skill
• Proficiency Interest Survey
• Technical Indicator Assessment

The general technical assessment focuses on system design, compute, cloud migration, and cloud design. You don’t need to have AWS-specific experience to successfully complete the assessment (it’s platform agnostic).

In the proficiency interest survey, you’ll self-rate your proficiency in four areas of technology, while the technical modules will assess your knowledge within those areas with questions that match your rated proficiency. Questions include a mix of multiple-choice and objective/situational-based questions. Note that there are no coding questions.

The behavioral test sections, Work Style assessment, and part of the Hiring Simulation are based on Amazon’s renowned 16 Leadership Principles.

The AWS Support Engineer assessment has almost the same structure as the AWS Solution Architect assessment.

It includes a job simulation, a multiple-choice assessment on general technical knowledge, a profile preference and proficiency questionnaire for the many AWS cloud support roles, and a work-style questionnaire.

The technical questions’ content is different from the SA assessment, as it requires different levels of technical knowledge.

Our Amazon Solution Architect assessment PrepPack™ and Amazon Cloud Support Engineer assessment PrepPack™ are ready for use.

Click here for a detailed guide and full practice for the AWS online assessment .

Amazon Maintenance Technician Test

The Amazon maintenance tech test is a proctored mechanical and electrical assessment given to candidates for various maintenance jobs. The assessment is a tailored adaptation of the Ramsay Mechanical Test .

The topics you’ll be tested on include the following:

• Print Reading
• Power Transmission & Preventative Maintenance
• Tools, Material, and Equipment
• Pneumatics and Hydraulics
• Electrical Theory and Control Circuits
• Test Instruments

The Amazon maintenance assessment is a tough test. Not only must you answer 75 questions with no breaks in between, but you’ll only have five days to prepare for it from the moment you receive the invitation email.

That’s why it’s crucial to familiarize yourself with its question types and sharpen the specific skills needed to ace the test.

In our complete Amazon maintenance test PrepPack™, you’ll get a chance to solve realistic practice tests that simulate the actual exam.

The practice tests include in-depth explanations for every question and real time constraints. These will help improve your abilities and your performance under time pressure, resulting in a higher test score.

Access the complete Amazon maintenance PrepPack™ here >>

Amazon Area Manager & Operations Manager Assessment 

The Amazon Area Manager/Operations Manager assessment  takes about 45 minutes to complete and includes five sections:

• Work Scenarios - a Situational Judgment Test (choose what you'd be Most or Least likely to do)
• Manage Your Day - prioritize tasks and activities based on their urgency
• Run Your Area - answer questions using information provided in data reports
• Tell Us Your Story - describe your background and work experience
• Describe Your Approach - a personality test in which you'll need to decide which statement is most like you

Watch this short video to learn more about this Operations Manager assessment:

As you can see, these question types are pretty tricky as the right answers are not obvious.

On top of that, every behavioral question you face on this assessment is based on Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles, which Amazon is truly obsessed about.

This means you must learn these Leadership Principles inside out before you start the assessment.

In our complete Area Manager and Operations Manager Assessment PrepPack™, you’ll get dozens of practice questions that closely resemble the real Amazon Virtual Job Tryout question types.

Together with detailed explanations and solving tactics, these practice materials will tremendously increase your chances to pass the test.

Access the complete practice pack here >>

Amazon Financial Analyst Excel Test

To become a financial analyst at Amazon , you must first successfully pass an Excel test and a series of behavioral and case study interviews.

The Amazon Excel assessment test requires you to master the different features of the software. Most of the questions on this excel assessment will deal with formulas, macro creation, advanced formatting, and document properties.

These Excel assessments may be sent to you after you pass the initial resume screening and may also appear during the interview stage.

Additionally, one of your in-person (or virtual) interviews will likely include a case study interview. Usually, this case study will consist of a realistic work situation that you'll need to resolve while explaining your thought process.

To help you pass the Amazon Excel assessments and cases, we created a thorough prep kit that improves the Excel skills needed to ace the tests.

Learn more about the Amazon Financial Analyst Excel test PrepPack™ on our dedicated page >>

Amazon MBA Online Assessment

Note:  We have a new practice pack for the MBA assessment. Click here for more info .

The Amazon assessment test for MBA is the first online assessment given to MBA and master’s level graduates and interns applying to full-time roles and internships.

The online MBA assessment includes three sections, in which no specific Amazon or functional knowledge and skills are evaluated. Nevertheless, you must successfully pass it to advance to the interview stage. These three sections are:

• Work simulation : a simulation that presents scenarios (mini business cases) you might encounter while working at Amazon.
• Work Style assessment : a personality test that evaluates your preferred work preferences, tendencies, and qualities.
• Career experience survey : a questionnaire in which you’re asked to provide your preferences for the MBA roles currently available.

Amazon Online Assessment FAQs

How to pass the amazon assessment test.

The key to passing the Amazon assessment test is knowing exactly what to expect on the test and gaining the skills needed to ace it. Amazon’s assessment tests are unique to its hiring process, and you can’t find them on other company’s recruitment processes. That’s why preparation becomes invaluable before taking these tests.

Can you fail the Amazon assessment test?

Yes, you can fail the Amazon assessment test. In many cases, the assessment is the initial screening step, or it comes right after a phone interview. So, failing the assessment means that your application is terminated, and you’ll be able to re-apply after a given time that varies across positions.

How to prepare for the Amazon aptitude test?

Here are the best ways to prepare for the Amazon aptitude test:

• Solve Amazon practice tests that are as similar as possible to the real Amazon assessment tests. Generic practice tests usually won’t be enough.
• Improve the specific skills needed to ace the Amazon aptitude tests. Amazon’s tests will evaluate abilities and qualities that are important to working at Amazon. So, you should focus on sharpening them.
• Get used to working effectively under time pressure. Most of Amazon’s aptitude tests are done under tight time limits. So, you should strive to improve your performance under this type of pressure.

Are Amazon's Interviews hard?

The Amazon interviews can be hard, and their level of difficulty varies depending on the position you’re applying to and its competitiveness. For example, interviews for managerial roles are tougher because their interview questions are mostly based on Amazon’s Leadership Principles, and they also include the Bar Raiser interview.

What is the Amazon Bar Raiser?

The Bar Raiser is an interviewer whose job is to examine your answers and see how they relate to the Leadership Principles. The Bar Raiser will dive deep into your answers and ask lots of follow-up questions. The purpose behind that is to shortlist the most suitable candidates that could fit Amazon’s unique culture.    

Amazon's Work Style Assessment

What is Amazon's work style assessment?

When it comes to finding the right job, many people believe that the perfect match is out there. However, a recent study suggests that the key to finding the right job may be in understanding your own work style.

Many companies use personality assessments these days as part of the interviewing process, and Amazon is no different – going so far as to create its own bespoke work style assessment, which virtually all potential employees must take.

Amazon's work style assessment is designed to measure how well an individual works under pressure and how well they handle stress. It also assesses how motivated an individual is and how much they enjoy their work.

The assessment takes into account the individual's personality type and their ability to take direction from others.

What kind of questions can you expect in Amazon's work style assessment?

Amazon's work style assessment is an online questionnaire designed to help you determine your work style preferences. The questionnaire is based on Amazon's leadership principles, asking a variety of questions about how you like to work and what motivates you. It takes about 10-20 minutes to complete and then provides feedback about the best way for you to work based on your preferences.

The questionnaire consists of two parts: the first part asks about your preferences for working alone or with others, taking breaks, and dealing with distractions. The second part asks about your preferences for tasks such as managing time, organizing information, and making decisions.

The questions are grouped into four main categories: task-oriented, people-oriented, structure and pace. You will be given a pair of statements and you will be asked to choose the one that represents you the most; there is no neutral option as in most other personality tests.

After completing the questionnaire, you'll receive feedback about the best way for you to work based on your preferences. This feedback includes tips on how to optimize your work style, plus suggestions for tools and resources that can help you work in the way that's best for you.

Example of task-oriented question:

How do you prefer to complete a task?

"I like to have a lot of instructions at once" or "I like to figure things out as I go"

Example of people-oriented question:

How do you prefer to receive feedback?

"I like frequent feedback" or "I like to give and receive feedback after projects are completed"

Example of structure question:

How do you prefer your workday structured?

"I like lots of change" or "I like more stability"

Example of pace question:

How do you prefer to take action?

"I like to take my time and think things through before taking action" or "I like to jump into things without thinking too much about them"

Amazon's Leadership Principles

One of the most distinctive things about Amazon is its leadership principles. They're not a set of rules, but rather a guide for how Amazon employees should work together. The principles are constantly evolving, and new ones are added all the time.

If you want to be successful in the Amazon recruitment process, you need to be aware of Amazon's leadership principles. These principles guide how Amazon leaders make decisions and interact with employees.

Understanding them can give you an insight into what it's like to work at Amazon and what's expected of its employees. They are:

Customer obsession: Amazon is always looking for ways to put the customer first. It's willing to experiment and take risks to find new ways to serve customers.

Ownership mentality: every Amazon employee should feel like they own their work and are responsible for its outcome. Leaders at Amazon encourage this mentality by setting the example themselves. They emphasize the importance of taking ownership of one's work and contributing to the team effort.

Invent and simplify: creating new ways of doing things and making things simpler for customers. There are a lot of ways that Amazon lives this principle out. For example, Amazon Prime was created to make it easier for customers to get their shopping done quickly and without having to go to different shops.

Are right, a lot: the company stresses the importance of leaders being right, a lot. This is accomplished by staying focused on the customer and working to continually improve their experience. Leaders at Amazon are also expected to be "obsessed" with data and to use it to make decisions.

Learn and be curious: employees are expected to be curious and willing to learn. When interviewing for a job at Amazon, they will ask you how you have pursued knowledge in the past and what new things you have learned recently. Leaders at Amazon are always learning and expanding their knowledge base. This helps them better understand their employees and what they need to be successful.

Hire and develop the best: when it comes to Amazon's leadership principles, leaders need to "Hire and Develop the Best." To do this, they need to be able to assess their employees' work styles. This is important because it allows them to put people in the right positions and create a productive work environment.

Insist on the highest standards: this means that Amazon employees are expected to put in their best effort and produce high-quality work. Leaders at Amazon make sure that everyone understands what is expected of them and hold themselves and their team members accountable.

Think big: being a successful leader at Amazon requires confidence and quick thinking. You will also need to have the ability to encourage innovation, inspire others, and make swift decisions.

Bias for action: this principle is based on the idea that in a fast-moving world, waiting for all the information to make a decision is often not an option. Bias for action helps Amazon move quickly and decisively, which is essential for a company that is constantly innovating. It also allows Amazon to be nimble in its responses to competitors' moves.

Frugality: Amazon is always looking for ways to save money so they can reinvest it in their customers and products. They're also willing to make tough decisions to stay profitable.

Earn trust: this principle means that Amazon employees should always put the needs of customers first and be honest and transparent with them. Amazon believes that if employees focus on earning the trust of their customers, they will be successful.

Dive deep: think about what the long-term consequences will be for your decisions and take the time to fully understand the problem before trying to come up with a solution. You should also look for ways to add value even when you're not specifically asked to do so.

Have backbone; disagree and commit: "have backbone" means being bold and standing up for what you believe, even if it's unpopular. "Disagree and commit" implies disagreeing with others respectfully, then committing to the best solution. These principles help Amazon employees make quick, informed decisions by allowing them to debate different solutions and commit to the best one.

Deliver results: you must be able to prove your work is valuable by delivering results. Employees at Amazon are held to high standards, and they are expected to be productive and efficient.

Strive to be earth's best employer: the company recognizes that a great workplace culture is essential to attracting and retaining top talent. Their employees are treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve, and they are committed to creating a place where everyone is proud to come to work every day.

Success and scale bring broad responsibility: as Amazon has scaled, it has become increasingly apparent that the company cannot just focus on its own success, but must also take into account the ways in which its growth impacts employees, customers, and the environment.

Tips on how to pass

Read the questions carefully and pay attention to the details. This will help you understand what is being asked of you.

Don't rush through the test. Taking your time to answer each question accurately will help ensure that you get the most accurate results possible.

Always keep in mind Amazon's leadership principles. Your answers will show hiring managers if you have what it takes to integrate into Amazon's culture.

Remember that the goal is to show your best self. You don't want to give the wrong impression or come across as someone you're not.

Practice other types of personality tests for a more in-depth look at your personality. There are a variety of assessments available online that can help you learn more about your work style and where your strengths and weaknesses may lie.

What to do after taking the assessment

When you finish the assessment, Amazon provides you with a report that breaks down your work style and preferences. This report can help you identify what type of work environments and positions are the best fit for you.

There are a few steps that you can take to explore the options that are available to you based on your assessment results:

Determine if Amazon is the right workplace for you. Now that you've learned about different Amazon management styles and what your own preferences are, you can decide whether you want to continue with the hiring process or not.

Review your top skills and interests. The report will highlight areas where you have strengths and preferences. Research roles at Amazon or other companies that might be a good fit for you.

Explore job openings at Amazon. The report includes a list of job openings that match your skills and interests. Use this list to explore career paths at Amazon or find other companies that have similar roles.

Reflect on what went well and what didn't go well during the assessment. What were your strengths? What were your weaknesses? What could you have done better? Use this information to set goals for yourself and work towards improving yourself professionally.

For more detailed information about the recruitment process and practice exercises that will help you prepare for Amazon's assessments, check out our Amazon tests page.

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Amazon SDE Coding Assessment

Role of an amazon sde.

Roles as an Amazon software development engineer (SDE) are much sought-after positions by those with the necessary skills and expertise.

In today’s world, business growth often relies on the use of innovative technologies. Amazon’s SDEs use their creativity and knowledge of complex software to devise new technologies that meet the demands of consumers and the needs of the Amazon business.

Their knowledge of programming, software design, and the architecture of systems means they can design complex systems that enable the Amazon business to grow and scale, meeting the needs of their customers.

The Amazon SDE recruitment process is comprised of several assessments that evaluate individuals on the knowledge needed to be successful as a software development engineer at Amazon. Given the competitive application process for Amazon SDEs, it is vital to fully understand each stage of the recruitment process and what is required of you.

This article explores the assessments that all applicants’ to Amazon’s SDE roles must complete as part of the recruitment process. Also covered are some tips to ensure you perform at your best.

Application Process For An Amazon SDE

The recruitment process to gain a position as an Amazon SDE is rigorous. The process varies slightly depending on the level of the role, with the stage thoroughly evaluating the skills and practical knowledge required to succeed in these highly coveted positions.

Online application form

The first step in the application process is to complete Amazon online application form . When completing the form, applicants must meet the job requirements detailed in the vacancy description. If in doubt, applicants can check their eligibility for roles using Amazon’s best fit job match functionality on the Amazon website.

All applications for positions must be made through the dedicated Amazon recruitment portal: amazon.jobs. Candidates must create their account on the recruitment portal and apply directly to their preferred vacancy, ensuring that all requested information is provided and accurate and up-to-date contact information is included.

Phone Interview

Some applicants may be invited to attend a short phone interview, usually lasting around 30 minutes. The interview allows the recruiter to get to know the candidate, their experience, and whether they are a fit for the Amazon SDE role based on this.

The phone interview is also a good opportunity for applicants to get to know a little more about the role, ask any questions they may have, and fully understand the requirements for the remaining parts of the recruitment process.

Questions in the telephone interview vary from motivational questions about why applicants are interested in the position to technical questions so the interviewer can gauge an applicant’s technical capabilities as relevant to the role.

Online assessment

Candidates successful at the application review stage/telephone interview are invited to schedule an Amazon online SDE assessment.

This stage of the recruitment process is comprised of separate assessments, with the difficulty level varying according to the level of position applied for. All assessments are taken on one of two platforms (AMCAT or HackerRank) and are not proctored, meaning they can be scheduled at a convenient time for the applicant.

In general, the assessments evaluate candidates on their practical knowledge and understanding across areas such as:

• Code debugging
• Ability to solve technical problems
• Personality assessment that looks at an individual’s workstyle

Applicants that complete the online assessments and meet the required benchmark, progress to the final stage of the SDE recruitment process: the interview.

The interview process for Amazon SDEs is lengthy lasting several hours. Depending on the role and location, the interview may be via video conference or in-person.

The first part of the interview is usually conducted with a hiring manager or hiring team member. In this interview, candidates are evaluated in three separate areas.

• Their knowledge of coding
• Practical knowledge and experience in designing software systems
• Behavioral questions that determine a candidate’s motivations for working at Amazon, how they react in workplace situations, and their fit for the role and working at Amazon.

The final part of the interview is with an individual outside of the hiring team. This part of the interview is intended to be challenging enabling the selection of only the best candidates that fit the role and working culture at Amazon. This part of the interview is often termed the ‘bar raiser.’

Amazon SDE Coding Assessment For Interns and Junior Positions

The Amazon SDE coding assessment varies according to the level of experience required for the role. Those who are less experienced and hence suitable for interns or junior positions complete the Amazon SDE 1 assessment. This assessment comprises three separate tests: OA1, OA2, and OA3.

Amazon OA1 (Part 1): Code Debugging

The OA1 is the first part of the overall SDE1 assessment. This online test is focused on an individual’s knowledge and practical application of code debugging. Candidates are given seven questions with 20 minutes to complete the test.

Questions are presented as a problem with a series of codes. The series of code contains a bug, meaning that it can’t solve the problem given. Candidates must identify the bug in the code and fix the code. Questions require candidates to understand commonly used programming languages such as C, Java, and C++ and can involve determining what functions do and solving typecasting errors.

It is worth noting that candidates need to use their knowledge and understanding and practically apply this to solve the problems presented when working under time pressure.

Each question should be answered in just under 3 minutes to complete the test within the 20-minute time limit.

Amazon OA2 (Part 2): Coding and Workstyles

The OA2 is the second part of the SDE1 Amazon assessment. This test is a two-part assessment lasting around 70 minutes. The assessment is split into two parts:

• Algorithm question
• Data structures question

In this assessment, candidates can use one of eight programming languages: Swift, Python, Java, Ruby, C++, C, C#, or JavaScript. Candidates are required to write code to solve the problem given in each of the two sections. In each question, candidates can write their code as often as they wish before presenting their final solution to the problem, ensuring that the code compiles for both questions.

This assessment evaluates candidates on their coding knowledge and ability to produce an efficient yet optimal solution to the problem presented.

Once both questions in the coding section are completed, candidates then move on to the workstyles assessment questionnaire. This questionnaire lasts up to 20 minutes and is focused on ascertaining whether a candidate’s workplace behaviors, style, and values match those required for the position.

Amazon OA3 (Part 3): Technical Problem Solving

The final part of the SDE1 assessment is the OA3. This assessment is split into two parts.

The first part of the assessment looks at candidates’ ability to deal with the problems they would likely encounter in their role at Amazon. The assessment lasts 2 hours and is a video simulation showing an SDE’s role at Amazon and the daily tasks and responsibilities that an SDE undertakes.

Candidates are shown different scenarios and asked to respond as to how they would react in the given situation. Situations can range from dealing with tight deadlines, managing workload, prioritizing tasks, working in teams, and dealing with conflicts or difficult situations.

The second part of the OA3 is logical reasoning assessment , designed to evaluate an individual’s problem-solving ability. The test comprises 24 multiple choice questions with a time limit of 35 minutes. Given this is a timed assessment, the candidate’s ability to work under pressure is also assessed.

Amazon SDE Coding Assessment For Experienced Positions

Those applying for roles that require previous experience complete a different set of SDE assessments. While the structure is similar to the SDE1 assessments, the difficulty level varies accordingly.

Amazon Coding Assessment

The experienced coding assessment comprises two coding questions and a questionnaire that evaluates an individual’s approach to coding.

The coding question is generally presented as a scenario, along with the necessary detail that an individual needs to solve the issue, such as input, output, and constraints.

The coding questionnaire requires candidates to detail how they approach coding, coding problems, and their preferred way to solve coding issues.

The overall assessment lasts 105 minutes. Information gathered from the coding questionnaire around an individual’s approach to coding may also be used at the interview stage should the candidate be successful at online assessments.

Amazon Workstyle Assessment

The experienced SDE workstyle assessment evaluates candidates’ on their suitability for a role at Amazon and their fit for the role they have applied for.

The assessment takes the form of a questionnaire that is based on Amazon’s leadership principles. Questions are asked that evaluate candidates on their values, traits, and characteristics when in the workplace and in relation to the role they have applied for.

Questions are also aligned to the position’s level and responsibilities, such as leadership, teamwork, and conflict resolution.

The questionnaire generally takes 15 minutes to complete.

Feedback Survey

The final part of the experienced SDE online assessment is the completion of a feedback survey.

This part of the assessment is short, lasting around 5 minutes. The survey is an opportunity for those at Amazon to seek feedback from candidates on relevant topics and processes aligned to the role they have applied for.

Tips For Passing The Amazon SDE Coding Assessment

The Amazon SDE coding assessment is a challenging assessment designed to thoroughly evaluate an individual’s knowledge and practical ability. You can do several things to help you perform to the best of your ability in these assessments.

Practice tests

Before completing assessments, ensure that you practice tests with the types of questions you will be asked to sit. Practicing means, you become familiar with how the questions are structured and the test format.

Simulate test conditions

Many of the SDE coding assessments are timed tests. Simulating test conditions by practicing tests under timed conditions and in a room free from distractions means you simulate the pressure you will feel when you take the test itself. You can then practice strategies to keep you calm when it comes to taking the test itself.

Know the Amazon leadership principles

The Amazon workstyle questionnaires are based on Amazon’s leadership principles. Refreshing your memory of these principles means that you are aware of the characteristics and traits Amazon looks for in its employees and can bear these in mind when answering the questions.

Ensure you are well rested

Amazon assessments are lengthy and require you to focus entirely on the questions. To do this, it is essential that you have had a good night’s sleep before test day and have eaten and are well hydrated.

The assessments are timed assessments that also evaluate an individual’s capacity to work under pressure. If you feel one part of the assessment hasn’t gone well, it is important to stay calm. Don’t dwell on things but remain positive and focused on answering the remaining question to the best of your ability.

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About Amazon

Let's prepare for assessments.

Before we get into the details of assessments, take some time to learn about Amazon, get to know our business teams, and “meet” a few Amazonians.

Leadership Principles

Next, dive into our Leadership Principles. We use our Leadership Principles every day, whether we're discussing ideas for new projects or deciding on the best approach to solving a problem. It is just one of the things that makes Amazon peculiar. All candidates are evaluated based on our Leadership Principles. The best way to prepare is to consider how you’ve applied the Leadership Principles in your previous professional experience.

Customer Obsession

Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job".

Invent and Simplify

Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here". As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.

Are right, A Lot

Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.

Learn and Be Curious

Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.

Hire and Develop the Best

Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.

Insist on the Highest Standards

Leaders have relentlessly high standards - many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and driving their teams to deliver high quality products, services and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.

Bias for Action

Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.

Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size or fixed expense.

Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.

Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.

Deliver Results

Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.

Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer

​Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what’s next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees’ personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.

Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility

​We started in a garage, but we’re not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them.

About assessments

At Amazon, one of our highest priorities is hiring and developing the best, and we work hard to raise the performance bar with every hire. Amazon uses online assessments as one way to help us get to know you better, and we design them to measure key characteristics required for success in a role. Assessments also allow us to assess applicants consistently and equitably, as every individual is provided with the same experience and information needed to complete the assessment. Depending on the position, we may ask you to take an assessment during the application process or send it to you separately after you’ve applied. The type and number of assessments will depend on the role you apply for and in some cases, must be completed within a certain timeframe. The two common types of assessments are work style assessments and work sample simulations.

WORK STYLE ASSESSMENT

These assessments are centered around Amazon’s peculiar culture and Leadership Principles, and typically take 10-20 minutes to complete. In these assessments, we ask you to choose the extent to which a statement represents your work style. For instance, we may ask you which of the two statements "I like for things to be clearly structured,” or “I look forward to the opportunity to learn new things," best describes you.

WORK SAMPLE SIMULATION

These assessments ask you to complete virtual tasks related to a specific position and typically take 20 minutes - one hour to complete. They may ask you to make decisions based on our Leadership Principles, complete activities critical to success at Amazon, and demonstrate your problem-solving, prioritization, and interpersonal abilities. Depending on the role you are applying for, the assessment may ask you to interpret data from a chart, answer a customer question, choose how to resolve an issue, multitask, or find the right information from multiple sources.

• For any Software Development Engineer I & II applicants we recommend reviewing our Software Development Topics to help you prepare for technical evaluations and interviews. For all other roles, no advance preparation is required to complete the assessment(s). Just be yourself and do your best.
• Some questions may ask about your work style. Try not to overthink them or spend too much time on any one question. We want to get to know the authentic you, as there are many types of successful people at Amazon.
• Before starting your assessment, read any information provided carefully since things like timing, deadlines, and assessment types can vary depending on the team.

The formalities

• Most assessments are conducted virtually unless administered as part of a hiring event or on-site interview day.
• During your assessment, be in a quiet and comfortable place with no distractions.
• Review provided instructions carefully, as some assessments must be completed by a particular date. If an assessment deadline is missed, we’re unable to grant extensions. Many assessments are also timed, so be sure to set aside an appropriate amount of time.
• All assessments require the internet, have a computer with a reliable connection and access to email. You will be notified of any additional technical requirements in advance.
• If you have a disability or medical condition and need an accommodation , such as an ASL interpreter or a different interview format, or if you have physical accessibility needs, please reach out to us as we are committed to making reasonable provisions for all individuals.
• Technical assistance is available for all assessments should you experience a disruption that you cannot resolve (e.g. assessment freezes or crashes). If an issue occurs, use the contact information provided in the assessment.
• We take your data privacy very seriously. To learn about how we store your results review our privacy policy.
• All assessments must be completed solely by the applicant.

Amazon supports pay equity. We will not consider a candidate’s current or historical compensation when determining whether to offer employment or in determining any aspect of offer compensation for any candidate or role located in the United States.

After assessments

• In most cases, you will be notified via email if we’re moving forward with your application. You can also check your status any time in our application portal.
• After you complete the assessment, certain roles may require you to participate in a phone/virtual interview, or come on-site for an in-person interview, which allows us to dive deeper into your skills and experience to learn even more about you. To help prepare, explore our prep guides for phone and in-person interviews.

Have more questions?

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Amazon Workstyle Assessment: Evaluation and 14 Leadership Principles

Software Development Engineers (SDEs) are the minds behind many of Amazon’s technical innovations. Many talented software developers are vying for job positions at Amazon, so competition is fierce.

To successfully pass the Amazon recruitment process you will need a carefully planned out preparation strategy. This strategy should focus on and consider what Amazon is looking for from its software development engineers.

This guide will help you specifically prepare for your Amazon SDE online assessment and Amazon’s interviews.

All about the 2024 Amazon Online Assessment

The Amazon Software Development Engineering online assessment is the test you will be asked to complete if you apply for a coding or technology-based role at Amazon. You may need to complete the SDE online assessment if you apply for an internship position, are a new graduate, or you are hoping to fill a more experienced role. The assessment typically features a technical section on coding and behavioral assessments.

For developers applying for internship or graduate positions, the Amazon SDE online assessment generally features the following:

• Code debugging questions
• A coding assessment
• A technical problem-solving exam (covering hypothetical situations that are particular to your job role)
• A personality assessment

For more experienced software developers, the assessment will likely include the following:

• Two coding questions, which you will need to solve
• A coding approach questionnaire
• A work style personality assessment

Amazon SDE New Grad and Internship Online Assessment

Amazon oa1 (part 1) – code debugging:.

The initial online assessment (OA1), features a series of seven debugging questions. You will have 20 minutes to complete these questions. You will be shown a problem and a section of code. The section of code should, theoretically, solve the problem. However, it doesn’t due to the presence of a bug. You will need to work out what the bug is and fix the code.

You will be given a specific amount of time (approximately 3 mins) to complete each one of the seven questions. Three coding languages are used in this online assessment: C, C++, and Java.

Amazon OA2 (Part 2) – Coding and Workstyles:

The next online assessment (OA2), features a set of two data structures and algorithm problems. You will be given a specific amount of time to solve each of the questions (approximately 30 mins). Your code has to compile for both questions before you can move on to the Amazon interview stage of the recruitment process.

You will be given the chance to compile your code as many times as you choose prior to presenting your solution. You will be able to use any of these eight languages: C++, C#, C, Java, Python, Swift, Ruby, and JavaScript. Keep in mind that Amazon’s recruiters will be looking for optimization and efficiency from your solutions, and not simply brute force.

Amazon OA3 (Part 3) – Technical Problem Solving:

Two sections make up the third online assessment (OA3):

Section 1 – an interactive video simulation of a day-to-day routine of a software development engineer at Amazon. You will be shown different scenarios and will need to decide how you would react to the given situation. You will have two hours to complete this section.

Section 2 – a series of 24 logical reasoning multiple-choice questions. You will have 35 minutes to complete this section. Your problem-solving skills will be assessed as will the speed at which you complete the questions. You should aim to answer as many questions as possible within the 35 minutes you have.

Amazon Online Assessment for Experienced Positions (SDE 2)

Software developers applying for experience positions will need to complete the following assessments:

• Amazon Coding Assessment (105 minutes)
• Amazon Workstyle Assessment (about 15 minutes)
• Feedback Survey (5 minutes)

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Amazon Workstyle Assessment FAQ

How difficult is the amazon sde interview.

Amazon coding interviews are highly demanding. The questions are particular to Amazon making them all the more challenging. You will need to be familiar with Amazon’s Leadership Principles, as these principles are central to Amazon’s culture and operations.

Who can apply for Amazon SDE?

Graduates with a solid understanding of Computer Science, ideally with a degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related field. Applicants should have several years of software engineering experience. It’s important to note that applicants who have previously applied for a position as an SDE at Amazon, in the last 6 months, can not apply.

How do I become an SDE at Amazon?

It is important to read through the job description posted by Amazon carefully when applying for a role as an SDE at Amazon. You will need to go through a rigorous hiring process, to land a job at Amazon as a software development engineer. As part of this recruitment process you will need to successfully pass the Amazon SDE Online Assessment Test.

What is the salary of SDE in Amazon?

Amazon offers competitive compensation for its employees. The standard Amazon Software Development Engineer salary is approximately $120,000 per year. Software Development Engineer salaries at Amazon can, however, fall between approximately $63,000 – $202,000. As salary amounts can vary, it is best to check the job description of the specific SDE job role you wish to apply for.

How do I prepare for Amazon SDE online assessment?

The most effective way to get ready for the Amazon SDE online assessment and interview is to rely on practice materials that closely resemble the actual SDE assessments. This will make sure that you will know exactly what will be waiting for you on the day of your assessment and interview.

3 Key Tips for the Amazon Online Assessment and Interviews

1. become familiar with the culture at amazon.

Many candidates overlook the importance of this step. Prior to spending hours preparing and practicing for your Amazon SDE Online Assessment Test, you should check to see that Amazon is a good fit for you.

If you know any engineers who currently work for Amazon or anyone who used to work for them, seek them out and ask them questions. Find out what the culture at Amazon is like and see if it suits your outlook and personality.

You should also take time to familiarize yourself with Amazon’s leadership principles. These principles will not only give you an idea of what to expect from a job at Amazon, they will also help you prepare for your Amazon interviews.

2. Know what to expect from your Amazon interviews

You will need to answer 3 question types when you attend your Amazon interview: coding, system design, and behavioral . Here we will focus on behavioral interview question preparation.

When you are asked a behavioral interview question, it is of key importance that you are able to show your interviewer that you have an in-depth understanding of Amazon’s Leadership Principles. Amazon uses its leadership principles as the basic structure against which they assess and evaluate all potential new recruits.

3. Practice with friends and colleagues

You may only get to a certain point by practicing by yourself. One of the key obstacles that you will face with the coding interview questions is that you need to tell the interviewer what you are doing while you are doing it.

To become comfortable with this type of “thinking out loud” we suggest that you practice coding interviews with a friend or family member. This will help you get used to the idea of explaining your thought process as you code.

How to Ace the Amazon Online Assessment and Interviews?

Prior to even attending an interview at Amazon, you will typically be invited to complete one or more of Amazon’s online assessments. The Amazon Software Development Engineering online assessment is the exam you will need to pass if you are applying for a coding or technology-based role at Amazon. While this may appear to be a daunting task, with the right tailored preparation you can maximize your chances of success.

At Prepterminal, our psychometric test experts have specifically designed a course to help you thoroughly prepare for your Amazon SDE online assessment and Amazon interviews. Our course features video-based course material to keep you engaged while you learn. Our practice questions and mock tests mirror the style and content of Amazon’s real SDE Online Assessment Test, so you can approach the assessment with confidence.

Created by: Matthew Appleyard

Psychometric tutor, prepterminal test expert, 1426 students, 4.3 , 174 reviews.

I’m Matthew, Prepterminal’s Amazon Assessment expert. Any questions about the course? Let me know at [email protected]

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Essential Work Style Assessment Tools

A person’s work style includes the behaviors and traits that affect their performance and interactions with others. At HRDQ, we offer a full range of work style assessment tools to assess these features in your employees and identify opportunities for improvement. Explore the featured work style assessments from HRDQ below to find the right options for you—and browse the full HRDQ Style Suite for even more assessments, workshops, and training materials.

Personality Style at Work

The first assessment you should start with is Personality Style at Work . This assessment outlines four primary personality types—direct, spirited, systematic, and considerate. Each type possesses three driving factors that guide an individual’s actions, decisions, and approach to life. Learning how we work in these ways allows us to better express our needs and forge healthy, productive relationships within the office.

What’s My Time Style

Assess your team’s time management style with What’s My Time Style . Individuals will learn how to utilize their personality type to maximize their time and minimize time-management weakness. This assessment also helps employees work with other team members who prioritize their time differently.

What’s My Communication Style?

Dive into a half-day experiential workshop on how to become an effective communicator with this comprehensive training program. Just as the name sounds, What’s My Communication Style? includes an assessment that identifies an individual’s communication style and its coinciding characteristics. From here, participants will discover how their style affects communication, learn how to pick up on other people’s communication styles, and identify ways to “flex” their style to convey information effectively.

What’s My Team Member Style

What’s My Team Member Style is a fantastic team-building assessment . Employees will become aware of the way they interact in the team environment and how other participants perceive them as part of the team. Combining these two reflections allows individuals to better understand their behaviors and how to improve upon them so they can improve cooperation with their colleagues.

Negotiation Style Profile

Are your employees required to negotiate on a daily basis? If so, the Negotiation Style Profile is a powerful assessment and training workshop to improve their skills. There are five negotiation styles—defeating, accommodating, collaborating, withdrawing, and compromising. Participants will learn their style and the strengths and weaknesses that come along with each type. Once the training is complete, they’ll have the ability to take a win-win approach to negotiation and an action plan to continue to strive for improvement.

Problem Solving Style Inventory

Every supervisor should consider using the Problem Solving Style Inventory . A short assessment will be given to you and your team. The results provide both you and your team’s preferred problem-solving profile. You can use this data to bridge the gap between the problem solving techniques you currently use and the methods that work best for those you manage.

What’s My Coaching Style

Those in leadership roles need to learn how to coach and encourage their teams to produce best results. That’s where What’s My Coaching Style comes in. This assessment and workshop helps participants develop an awareness of their behavioral patterns, learn skills to adapt their behavior to others, and identify key techniques to build rapport. By the end of the workshop, participants will have an actionable plan to apply what they’ve learned in the workplace.

What’s My Leadership Style

Another fantastic work style assessment and training workshop for those in upper management is What’s My Leadership Style. This program takes a comprehensive approach to leadership by identifying participants’ strengths and weaknesses as superiors and providing skills to “flex” their style and interact more effectively with their team. The course offers great insight to both new and experienced leaders.

More Assessments & Training Materials from HRDQ

If you’d like to discover more essential work style assessment tools from HRDQ, explore our full collection in the HRDQ Style Suite. This virtual library is filled with easy-to-use personality style assessments that can help improve many facets of organizational life.

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About our author

Bradford r. glaser.

Brad is President and CEO of HRDQ, a publisher of soft-skills learning solutions, and HRDQ-U, an online community for learning professionals hosting webinars, workshops, and podcasts. His 35+ years of experience in adult learning and development have fostered his passion for improving the performance of organizations, teams, and individuals.

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How to pass the Amazon Technical / Functional Interview - Questions and Assessments

The approach to interview questions, how to interact with the interviewers, and how to deal with potential failure..

This post is a part of a series. This post summarizes the Amazon technical / functional interviews. I also have a post on the Amazon Leadership Principles / Behavioral interview , and a post on the overall Amazon interview and hiring process .

My Leadership Principles article became very popular over the years. It walks people through how to think about the Principles, and the related questions they would be asked in the interview process. This article has helped dozens of people get jobs at Amazon. I even had a few of them join my teams.

That article had originated from my notes to friends and family to help them with pending interviews at Amazon. I also had notes on pending technical interviews, but I hadn't gotten around to writing that up in article format until now.

While this article is written from the point of view of passing the Amazon technical interview, most major technology companies have similar interview processes. The discussion below should benefit anyone interviewing anywhere for a technical position.

As an upfront warning, I don't plan to list specific questions asked in these interview processes, because they are all over the internet. You can use LeetCode for interview practice, and find plenty of sample questions on websites such as Glassdoor for any type of job. This article is about the approach to the technical interview, not the specific questions themselves.

Interview Loop Structure

Companies want to avoid hiring someone without the necessary leadership or skills to be successful. When organizing an interview loop, the interviewers are generally split between asking questions to evaluate the candidates leadership and their skills. Leadership evaluation at Amazon is oriented around the leadership principles. The technical skills evaluated will depend on the job position.

When I refer to specific technical skills, these are the functional abilities you’ve built up over the years through a combination of work experience and education. For a software engineer this would be things like coding, algorithms, or information architecture. Product managers, machine learning scientists, and marketing managers would all have their own questions to get at the core skills of the job.

Leadership related questions are usually related to your previous experience. Something like ‘ Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a peer, and how you resolved it. ’

Skills are usually evaluated differently, by directly asking questions about how to solve a question. Rather than reflecting on how you have used your skills in the past, they probe for specific knowledge you need to be successful in this job. Questions such as ‘ Draw a diagram of how you would build a video streaming service from scratch. ’

Why assess technical skills in this way?

There are constraints and limitations on the interview process.

The best way to interview would be to hire someone who claimed to have the skills you need, and then observe them over the next few months. This is occasionally done for internships, and some startups have experimented with try-out employment. In general though, this is expensive for the team to ramp up the new hire, and is a drain on resources.

We could ask candidates how they have solved real life complex problems in the problems. However, we can't gauge the actual technical complexity of the problem, we would need to spend too much time understanding the context of the solution, and we have no way of telling if the candidate could solve similar problems in the future.

You could try to assess someone with real life problems. Perhaps something your team is actually struggling with. However, almost all real life have a massive amount of context associated with them. Getting the candidate ramped up on the situation and the tools involved would be a significant time investment for the team and the candidate. Additionally, this problem would not be easily repeatable, and it would be hard to compare the performances of other candidates.

The Technical Interview

Winston Churchill once said ” …it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time… ”

For those of us who have interviewed hundreds or thousands of candidates, the technical interview is the worst form of interview, except for all those other forms which have been tried from time to time.

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How to Prepare for an Amazon Assessment in 2024 (Study Guide)

Congratulations – you’ve made the first step to further your career by applying for a role at one of the leading retail giants in the world!

With over 700,000 employees, the opportunities (and competition) for a place at Amazon are high.

Before being offered an interview with Amazon, you’ll be given one of Amazon’s online assessments to complete. With the right practice and mindset, there is no need to stress over these assessments!

In this guide, we will help you prepare for the Amazon assessment so that you can go in confident. We will cover:

• What the Amazon Assessment Test is
• Answers to common Amazon assessment test questions
• How the recruitment process works
• How to prepare for the Amazon work simulation test
• The most common Amazon assessment tests
• Common mistakes to avoid.

Let’s get into it!

Table of Contents

What is the Amazon Assessment Test?

When you apply for a role at Amazon, you will likely be sent one or more Amazon online assessments as part of the recruitment process. This helps the company identify the candidates most well-suited to each role. It also aims to give everyone a fairer chance in the hiring process from day one.

The amazon assessment tests are designed to evaluate your characteristics and skills. They will be sent to you during the application process or after you have applied and usually have a time limit in which to complete them.

The two most common types of assessment are the following. Whichever role you apply for your assessment will likely include one or both.

• Workstyle assessment
• Work sample simulation

The work style assessments usually take 10 to 20 minutes to complete and are centered around Amazon’s leadership principles. You can expect to be asked to rank to what extent certain phrases describe you.

The work sample simulation usually takes 20 minutes to an hour and relates to the specific role you are applying for. It may ask you to make decisions based on Amazon’s leadership principles.

Find Answers to Common Amazon Assessment Questions

You will find that there are commonly used questions in the Amazon assessment tests. One of the best ways to prepare for the test is to be aware of what questions recur, and regular themes.

Practice assessments use these recurring questions and allow you to think about your answers well before taking the real test. There are various tests available on Job Test Prep, including:

• Amazon Work Style Assessment – A personality test sent to almost all applicants
• Amazon Work Simulation Assessment – A test that looks at your analytical skills, decision-making ability, and leadership skills.
• Amazon Area Manager Assessment – A practice test covering a wide range of tested topics

Other Amazon Tests-Including Pathway Tests, MBA Assessments, Financial Analytics, and more.

How Does the Amazon Recruitment Process Work?

How does the recruitment process for Amazon work as a whole? Let’s dissect it so you know exactly what to expect at every stage.

• Application form and resume screening
• Assessment test or tests
• Phone Interview
• Virtual interview or on-site assessment center

The recruitment process is fairly long, but also methodical and predictable. If you prepare yourself at each stage and align yourself with Amazon’s core values throughout the Amazon assessment process, you will boost your chances of success.

Prepare for the Amazon Work Simulation Assessment

The Amazon Work Simulation Assessment is considered one of the hardest Amazon​​ tests. The assessment is unique in the fact that it puts you in the shoes of someone who works at Amazon and asks you to resolve various scenarios that may occur.

There are various practice tests that can help you become familiar with the types of questions asked. You can expect 5 modules, which take 50 minutes to complete.

Each module will test your decision-making skills, reasoning, and alignment with Amazon’s Leadership Principles. 

Taking a couple of practice tests, and familiarizing yourself with these leadership principles, are some of the best ways to prepare for the assessment.

What is Amazon looking for?

Ok, so we have seen Amazon’s recruitment process, but what are they looking for in their candidates? Amazon calls itself ‘earth’s most customer-centric company,’ therefore whatever the role, Amazon always highly rates customer-obsessed workers. Of course, the necessary skills will vary depending on the role, but a good rule of thumb is to become very familiar with Amazon’s leadership principles. Amazon uses these principles as the underlying framework against which they evaluate every new hire.

Amazon’s Leadership Principles are:

• Customer Obsession
• Invent and Simplify
• Are Right, A Lot
• Learn and Be Curious
• Hire and Develop the Best
• Insist on the Highest Standards
• Bias for Action
• Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit
• Deliver Results

Amazon’s Most Common Assessment Tests

Let’s take a look at Amazon’s most popular assessment tests. We will go through what to expect with each one and how best to prepare.

Amazon Work Style Assessment

Amazon’s work style assessment is Amazon’s most common assessment. It is designed to assess the personality of the candidate and judge the way that they work. Amazon uses this test to determine how well the candidate will fit in with the company’s unique workplace culture .

You can expect to see a number of pairs of statements and you will be asked to indicate the one that most represents you. Here’s an example of the kind of statements you might see.

a) I am happy to ask for help as soon as I encounter a problem. b) I am happy to ask for help once I have first attempted all ways of resolving the issue myself.

The work style test is judged entirely against Amazon’s leadership principles. Amazon looks for people that will take on and apply the principles in their work. While you should be honest when answering the questions, it can be very helpful to keep your answers aligned to these principles.

Can you prepare for the personality test? Yes, you can certainly familiarize yourself with the formats of pre-employment personality tests . This will help you feel prepared and answer in line with what employers are looking for. Learn more about pre-employment personality tests from Job Test Prep and get in-depth practice, tips, and analysis.

Take Amazon Assessment Test Now

Amazon SDE Online/Coding Assessment

The Amazon Software Development Engineering online test is the exam you will be given for technology-based and coding roles. These can be for internship positions, new graduates or experienced roles. The test usually includes a technical section on coding as well as behavioral assessments.

For the more junior roles like internships and graduates, the assessment usually includes code debugging, a coding test, a technical problem-solving test that simulates hypothetical role-specific situations, as well as a personality test. More experienced software developers will instead be asked to solve two coding questions, a coding approach questionnaire, as well as a work style personality test.

How to prepare? The best way to be fully prepared is to check out some similar practice questions, prep advice, and tips. Check out this prep guide, tips, and inside info by taking the test below to boost your chances of passing the Amazon coding and behavioral assessments. Make sure to learn Amazon’s leadership principles as these will be used to judge the behavioral tests.

Amazon Area Manager Assessment (Manager In Operations)

The assessment for area managers, also known as the Manager in Operations Virtual Job Tryout, is aimed to determine how well-suited your skills, experience, and personality would be to perform in the role. There are 5 different sections to the test which are the following:

• Work scenarios – this section is a situational judgment test that presents you with hypothetical situations you might face in the role. You will need to indicate what you would be most likely to do in response.
• Manage your day – this section involves prioritizing tasks based on their importance.
• Run your area – specific to the area manager role, you will need to answer questions based on information or reports provided.
• Tell us your story – this section is about getting to know you and your past experience and how relevant it is for the role.
• Describe your approach – this section evaluates your personality where you are asked to indicate which statements represent you the most.

The area manager assessment takes around 45 minutes to complete. Some questions can be tricky, for example, work scenario questions may not always have one clear correct choice.

Make sure to be well versed in Amazon’s leadership principles as they will use these to grade your responses. If you would like to see how a real exam looks and do some practice questions with solutions, check out this sample test .

Amazon Maintenance Technician Test

If you are looking to work in a maintenance role, you will probably be given the Amazon maintenance test. It was developed by the Ramsay Corporation, the creator of two of the industry’s most popular mechanical skills tests .

It covers a range of technical topics such as electrical theory and control circuits, tools and equipment, power transmission, preventative maintenance, and print reading. There are 75 questions that are asked back to back so you need to be ready to work under pressure.

It is a tough test that needs highly specialized knowledge, and from when you receive the test invitation you only have 5 days to prepare. Therefore it is vital to prepare well and become totally familiar with the exam format and question types beforehand.

The best way to do this is by taking some simulation practice exams. The Amazon maintenance test PrepPack from Job Test Prep includes very realistic practice questions, exam time limits, and in-depth solutions and descriptions that can help get you ready in no time.

Amazon Control Systems Tech/Lead Test

The Amazon Control Systems Tech/Lead Test is very similar to the Maintenance Technician Test. This exam, however, has a heavier focus on electricity, electronics, and robotics. It is given to candidates applying to be systems technicians and team leads.

The test is a professional knowledge test conducted by Ramsay Corporation, the world’s top provider for technical exams. It tests the technical skills of candidates in a number of different topics listed here:

• Schematics, Electrical Print, Logic Reading
• Mechanical Elements
• Process Control
• Electrical Theory
• Computers, PLCs, DCS
• Power Distribution
• Automation and Robotics

The test generally lasts around 90 minutes and you have five days to complete it after receiving the actual test invitation. The questions will be multiple choice with 4 options each. Learn more about the test here and check out the free sample questions to make sure you are ready to pass with flying colors.

Amazon Financial Analyst Excel Test

Want to become a financial analyst at Amazon? First, you must pass the Excel assessment. This assessment will be sent to you after the initial resume screening or during the interview phase. You will need to show your skills and prove your competency in different features of excel. These include:

• Macro creation
• Document properties

As well as the excel exam, you will also need to do some behavioral and case study interviews. These can be either virtual or in person. The case study interview involves being presented with a hypothetical, realistic workplace dilemma or task. You will need to think about and suggest a solution while explaining the thought process behind your answer.

How do you prepare for the excel exam? It is a good idea to study the features and areas of excel listed above. Make sure you are well versed in formulas and formatting as well as the layout of the program. You can also get specific practice questions and study guides for the Excel assessment for financial analysts with Job Test Prep’s PrepPack .

Amazon Hiring Simulation

This online assessment is about giving you a realistic look at the actual experience of an Amazon employee. You will be given some context into what your simulation will look like, and then be presented with emails and instant messages from your virtual team.

You will be given the information necessary to solve the problems you are given, such as charts, data or spreadsheets. Using this, along with your skills, you will need to answer questions and solve the issues that arise in the simulation.

The questions you are given will usually come with a set of different responses to choose from. You will be evaluated on your skillset and ability to multitask, prioritize and put Amazon’s leadership principles into action.

Amazon Solutions Architect & Cloud Support Associate Assessment

So this exam is for candidates applying for solution architect roles at Amazon Web Services. You will be evaluated on both specific technical skills as well as on behavioral competencies and preferences. The exam has five different sections which are the following:

• Hiring simulation – this section of the exam includes real-life simulation scenarios in the workplace.
• Amazon work style assessment – covered previously this is the personality test in the exam.
• General technical knowledge – this part is to evaluate your role-specific technical skills.
• Proficiency interest survey – here you show your proficiency in four different areas of technology.
• Technical indicator assessment

How do the technical assessments work? The general text focuses on system design, compute, cloud migration, and cloud design and will assess your proficiency across the areas. Proficiency interest will include multiple-choice questions which are objective and situational-based questions.

While the behavioral tests are graded against Amazon’s leadership principles. The Cloud Support Associate assessment follows almost exactly the same format. The exam takes a total of 75 to 90 minutes.

Amazon MBA Online Assessment

If you are an MBA or masters level graduate applying for a full-time role, you will likely be given the Amazon MBA online assessment. This may also be applicable for some internships. The online MBA assessment is broken down into three different sections, each with different question types. These are:

• Work simulation – this section will present you with simulation business cases that you may face when working at Amazon.
• Work style assessment – this section of the exam is a personality test that measures how well suited your characteristics, attitude, and way of working are for the role.
• Career experience survey – this is a questionnaire where you must give your preferences for the MBA roles available.

As always make sure you know Amazon’s leadership principles inside out as your answers will be measured against these.

Amazon Assessment Test for Warehouse

With more than 175 fulfillment centers worldwide, there are a vast variety of jobs to be found in the Amazon warehouse . If you are applying for one of these roles you will probably be asked to take an online exam called the Amazon Associate Game On Virtual Job Tryout.

This assessment is designed to evaluate how effectively you could perform in one of these roles. It also reviews how much your attitude and approach align to Amazon’s core values. The assessment is usually split into two sections which are the following:

• Tell us your story – this part of the test asks candidates about their past personal and professional experiences. It will dig into your background, work ethic, personality, and workplace approach. It consists of 22 questions, each with multiple choice answers. You will also see statements to which you must choose how far you agree or disagree.
• Stow Pro – if you like games, you might enjoy this part of the test. It focuses on the type of work a warehouse associate might do such as packing, sorting, and stocking. The format is three simulation games within a warehouse.

You might have to virtually pack items on shelves, place items into a shopping bag, or load up the correct packages.

Is it possible to prepare for this test? Make sure you have accurately read the job description so you know what kind of tasks you would be expected to do. Make sure you are familiar with Amazon’s leadership principles and think about how your past experience is relevant to the role.

You can find online practice tests to prepare for behavioral & personality assessments. Job Test Prep is also working on a PrepPack practice test and study guide which is coming soon.

Tips for Preparing for the Amazon Assessment

Luckily, there is plenty you can do to prepare for the Amazon Assessment. Here are some of the best ways to prepare for the test, so that you are confident on the day:

1. Research company values:

Amazon has various company values. Knowing what these are, and how to naturally weave these into your answers, is a great place to start.

Amazon is looking for people who will fit their ethos and will be assessing you to see if you are a good fit.

Company values include:

• Customer obsession rather than competitor focus
• Passion for invention
• Commitment to operational excellence
• Long-term thinking.

2. Practicing Behavioral Questions

One of the most challenging assessment questions in the Amazon hiring process are the behavioral questions.

Behavioral questions are designed to assess how candidates have handled specific situations in the past. These questions are based on the belief that past behavior is a good indicator of future behavior.

Amazon is guided by a set of leadership principles. The questions used in the test often align and reflect them. Practicing these questions in practice tests and learning their guiding Leadership Principles are great things to do in preparation.

3. Time Management

Oftentimes, the Amazon Assessments will have some component of time pressure to them. Taking practice tests is a great way to learn how to manage your time, and know when to skip over a question that is taking too long.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

There are undoubtedly some commonly made mistakes that can cost securing an interview at Amazon. Luckily, you can learn from the mistakes of others and ensure you do not repeat them!

Some Common Mistakes to Avoid include:

• Not Reading Instructions Thoroughly: One of the most common mistakes is rushing through instructions. Take the time to read and understand each question or task before attempting to answer! Taking practice tests is a great way to know what to expect, and gauge how much time you have.
• Poor Time Management: Amazon assessments often have time constraints.

Failing to manage your time properly during the assessments can leave you with incomplete sections or rushing answers at the end.

Practice time management with timed tests well in advance to avoid this.

• Lack of Preparation: Some candidates underestimate the importance of preparing for Amazon assessments.

Whether it’s a behavioral interview or a technical test, being unprepared can significantly impact your performance. Read up on Amazon’s guiding principles and commonly asked questions, and take practice tests to avoid being underprepared!

• Ignoring Amazon’s Leadership Principles: Amazon emphasizes its Leadership Principles throughout the hiring process.

Failing to align your responses with these principles during written assessments may be a missed opportunity to showcase your fit with Amazon’s culture.

Now we have covered the most popular online Amazon assessment types and you should be feeling more prepared for what awaits. Whatever your skillset and wherever your sights are set in the world of Amazon, stay calm, prepare and go get ‘em.

Related Study Guide – How to Prepare for Amazon TRMS Assessment?

1. Can you fail Amazon assessment test?

Yes, you can fail the Amazon assessment test . However, the majority of people who take the test pass it.

2. How do I crack the Amazon assessment test?

The Amazon assessment tests are difficult tests that measure your skills and abilities. To crack the test, you need to practice and prepare for it. The best way to do this is by using practice tests and studying the material thoroughly.

3. Are Amazon assessments hard?

Amazon assessments can be hard, but they are also a great opportunity to show your skills and strengths. The best way to prepare for an assessment is to practice as many questions as possible and to be familiar with the types of questions that are typically asked.

4. What is the Amazon assessment?

The Amazon assessment is a test that Amazon gives to potential employees. The test is designed to measure cognitive ability, problem-solving skills, and personality traits.

5. What if I miss Amazon online assessment?

If you miss Amazon’s online assessment, you may not be eligible for the role you are interested in. However, there may be other opportunities at Amazon that you may be interested

6. How long does an Amazon assessment take?

Each test varies in the length of time it takes to complete. Tests such as the Work Simulation tests take about 50 minutes to complete, while other tests such as the Work Style Assessment take 15 minutes to complete.

Sarah is an accomplished educator, researcher and author in the field of testing and assessment. She has worked with various educational institutions and organisations to develop innovative evaluation methods and enhance student learning. Sarah has published numerous articles and books on assessment and learning. Her passion for promoting equity and fairness in the education system fuels her commitment to sharing insights and best practices with educators and policymakers around the world.

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6 Work Styles and How to Work with Each

Discover six types of work styles within your team. Leverage the strengths of each to enhance collaboration and productivity in the workplace.

Workplace collaboration doesn’t always come naturally.

Have you ever wondered why some team members work seamlessly together while others seem to constantly struggle to find common ground?

The reason isn’t necessarily personality clashes or people simply not getting along. It might be diverse work styles.

The reality is that not everyone has the same approach to work. Everyone has unique perspectives, preferences, and strengths, and those aren’t always going to align.

As a leader, it’s crucial to recognize the power of work styles in shaping team dynamics. When you understand everyone’s work style, you can draw on each person’s strengths and foster a more collaborative unit.

In the article, we dissect six work styles and help you uncover which ones best align with you and your team members so you can all reach your full potential.

What is a work style?

A work style is a personal approach or method of working. It’s about how you prefer to tackle tasks and what works best for you so you can accomplish your work effectively.

Everyone on your team might have a different work style. Some people thrive on structure and order, while others prefer a more flexible and creative approach.

Regardless of how each person works, understanding and embracing different work styles can lead to increased productivity and job satisfaction.

Why is understanding work styles important?

Imagine you’re a team leader with an important project on your hands and a team of diverse individuals. In an ideal scenario, everyone would work seamlessly together, using their strengths and collaborating to achieve goals.

Research shows that  49%  of employees want more collaboration, but two out of three believe that their company won’t make changes in order to create a more collaborative environment.

By understanding personal work styles and looking for ways to foster a more unified workforce, you can live up to these expectations, improve collaboration, promote inclusivity, and optimize productivity.

Enhanced collaboration

The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that by 2024, companies with collaborative work environments will have  30%  lower staff turnover, higher productivity, and higher revenue per employee.

Investing effort into understanding your team’s work styles will help you find common ground and unlock more  effective ways to collaborate .

This will help you foster a culture of respect and appreciation, leading to improved outcomes and greater success for your team.

Cultivate inclusivity

Creating a culture of inclusivity, which the workforce is increasingly demanding, starts with workers understanding and learning each other’s work methods.

‎Familiarizing ourselves with different approaches lets us accept and adapt to different perspectives and preferences. A more inclusive work environment promotes belongingness, strengthens team dynamics, and contributes to overall success.

Improved productivity

Once you have a clear idea about how your team works, you can tailor workflows and tasks to match each individual’s strengths and preferences.

Matching specific tasks with the unique strengths of each work style will maximize output and performance, bringing you closer to  operational excellence .

6 work styles

Let’s take a look at six common work styles to better identify how your team works.

‎Independent/logical

The independent/logical worker is like a skilled architect, meticulously planning and constructing their work with precision. They’re self-reliant and prefer to navigate their work autonomously. With a strong reliance on logical thinking and rational decision-making, they strategically chart their course to accomplish their goals.

Work style example:

A software developer who prefers working alone on coding tasks and relies on data and evidence to make decisions.

• Completes tasks efficiently and independently
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
• Able to work well with minimal supervision

Weaknesses:

• Struggles with collaborative tasks and micromanagement
• Poor communication skills and limited perspective
• Difficulty adapting to sudden changes and unexpected situations

Cooperative

Cooperative individuals are often the “glue” that holds a team together. They thrive in group settings and value teamwork and consensus, and collaborating and actively engaging with others energizes them. Their ability to foster strong relationships and contribute to a collective effort makes them valuable team players.

A project manager who excels in collaborative environments, enjoys leading team discussions, and facilitates group decision-making to achieve project goals.

• Excellent team players
• Skilled at building relationships
• Open to diverse perspectives and ideas
• Slow decision-making
• Difficulty working independently and making individual decisions
• Lack ideas when working alone

Proximity-driven individuals value closeness and personal interaction. They prefer working in close physical proximity to their team members, appreciating face-to-face engagement.

While they can tackle tasks independently, they crave the immediate feedback and connection that comes from working closely with others.

A sales representative who likes prospecting alone but prefers in-person interactions and engaging with customers directly.

• Balanced between solo and collaborative work
• Quick to provide and receive feedback
• Strong ability to build rapport
• Struggles with remote or distributed work environments
• Distraction or noise may affect focus
• Dependent on immediate response

Supportive individuals excel at creating a positive work environment, as they tend to prioritize helping others. They have a natural inclination toward providing emotional support and fostering teamwork. Their strengths lie in empathy, teamwork, encouragement, and creating an inclusive company culture.

A human resources coordinator who listens to employees’ concerns, provides emotional support, and organizes team-building activities.

• Excellent at fostering teamwork
• Adept at providing emotional support
• Strong listening and empathy skills
• Prioritizes others’ needs over personal work
• Difficulty asserting opinions and setting boundaries
• Tends to avoid conflict or confrontation

Detail-oriented

Detail-oriented individuals are known for their meticulous attention to detail. With a high standard and a keen eye for spotting errors, they ensure that tasks are completed with the utmost precision. They excel in roles that require careful analysis, organization, and a focus on the finer aspects of a project.

An accountant who triple-checks company finance records, diligently reviews numbers, and conducts comprehensive audits.

• Meticulous and thorough in their work
• Close attention to detail and accuracy
• Minimizes risks and errors
• Works at a slower pace
• Easily loses sight of the big picture
• Less inclined to take risks or embrace ambiguity

Idea-oriented

Idea-oriented individuals are the trailblazers of innovation, constantly pushing the boundaries and thinking outside the box. Their knack for unconventional thinking and imaginative problem-solving makes them the go-to person for tackling complex challenges. They get excited when exploring uncharted territories and bringing new possibilities to any team or project.

A marketing strategist who constantly generates innovative ideas to challenge traditional marketing approaches.

• Highly creative and fast thinkers
• Adaptable to change and emergencies
• Inspire large-scale change
• Difficulty implementing ideas
• Highly unstructured work style
• Impatient with routine or repetitive tasks

‎5 questions to ask yourself to find your work style

Discovering your and your team’s work styles is essential for fostering effective collaboration. Ask yourself these five key questions to better understand your work style:

1. How do I communicate?

Are you a passive listener or an active communicator? Reflect on whether you tend to listen more than speak or actively engage in discussions. Understanding your communication style will help you discover how you connect with others.

People with a logical work style may communicate via data-based arguments, while people with an idea-oriented work style may communicate through storytelling.

2. What is my role?

Consider the specific responsibilities and tasks you’re usually in charge of. Then, reflect on the parts of a team project that you naturally gravitate toward.

Employees with a detail-oriented work style may excel in roles that require meticulous attention to accuracy, such as quality control or data analysis. Cooperative individuals, on the other hand, may find themselves doing more collaborative tasks that involve teamwork, such as coordinating project timelines.

3. What kind of work engages me?

Are there specific tasks or projects that you especially enjoy doing? What makes you feel fulfilled in your job? Understanding the types of work that engage you is crucial for aligning your work style with your interests and strengths.

Someone with an independent/logical work style may enjoy tasks that involve solo problem-solving and strategic thinking. Proximity-driven individuals, on the other hand, may thrive in hands-on tasks that involve direct collaboration and immediate feedback, such as group problem-solving or interactive workshops.

4. How do I spend my workday?

When you have multiple projects or responsibilities to juggle, how do you  plan your work week ? Consider the amount of time you allocate for each task.

Are you someone who prefers structured schedules and  time-blocking , or do you thrive with a more flexible and spontaneous work approach? Your time allocation habits can reveal information about your work style and how you manage your workload.

A detail-oriented teammate may rely on task lists, deadlines, and time management techniques like the  Pomodoro Technique  to plan their week. A cooperative teammate might spend more time setting up team meetings to evaluate progress and use  project management tools  to strengthen teamwork.

5. How do I approach conflicts?

Understanding how you approach conflicts provides insights into your work style because it influences how you handle disagreements, problem-solving, and collaboration with others. When you have a disagreement with a colleague, observe whether you avoid the conflict, seek a compromise, or assert your position.

‎Supportive work styles prioritize maintaining relationships and resolving conflicts through open communication and active listening to find common ground. Idea-oriented work styles usually approach conflicts through open dialogue, too, but their focus may be on collaborative brainstorming to address the conflict in a different way.

Take a work style assessment test

The five questions above act as a guide to help you find your team’s work styles. However, if you want a more comprehensive understanding, you can also take a personality test, such as:

• The  Myers-Briggs Type Indicator  (MBTI) test
• The revised NEO Personality Inventory
• The SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire

Tips for improving collaboration with people of different work styles

It’s natural for everyone on a team to have a different work style. And being able to accept, appreciate, and adapt to different approaches is the foundation of a cohesive and successful team.

Let’s get down to how you can bridge the gap between various work styles for better teamwork and productivity.

Identify your team’s work styles

Get to know your team’s work styles like you know your favorite TV characters. Take the time to understand each member’s unique approach to work, recognizing their preferences, strengths, and areas for growth.

You’ll be able to better align tasks and responsibilities, optimize collaboration, and create a high-functioning work environment for everyone.

You can use tools like  Motion  to track how much time everyone on your team spends on specific tasks. That way, you’ll have a clearer picture of their work patterns and be better able to identify areas where they excel or need support.

Pair tasks with strengths

Pairing tasks with strengths is a powerful strategy for maximizing productivity and engagement within your team.

Delegate tasks  and projects that align with each employee’s capabilities and preferences so that work is assigned to the most suitable employees.

‎Motion’s automation intelligently  delegates tasks  to make managing your team’s workflow a breeze.

Manage each work style accordingly

Don’t expect to manage all your employees in one way. Instead, learn to adapt your management and leadership approach to accommodate different work styles.

According to  MIT Sloan Management Review  contributor Curtis L. Odom, leaders need to adapt to the workplace and provide the necessary resources and support for workers to reach their full potential.

With team members who are independent or detail-oriented, set a meeting time and prepare your case. Provide data-backed evidence, and make sure you follow through when you agree to something.

Cooperative and supportive team members tend to respond better to softer and more intimate approaches. It’s important to communicate openly with them and show appreciation for their contributions.

You can approach a worker who prefers a proximity work style face-to-face, provide immediate feedback, and give them opportunities for autonomy and decision-making within their role.

Since idea-oriented workers value innovation and creativity, encourage them to brainstorm and offer flexibility in their approach to problem-solving. Setting clear goals and deadlines can help them stay focused and organized.

You can also use Motion to help you  keep track of project progress  and team schedules to more effectively tailor your guidance approach.

Foster respect by building connections

Encourage your team to understand and appreciate each other’s work styles, as this not only strengthens work relationships but also promotes mutual respect.

A good way to help different work styles connect and collaborate is to establish  effective communication  channels for feedback, idea sharing, and collaboration.  Eighty percent  of workers prefer immediate feedback, which highlights the importance of providing timely input and support.

‎Motion helps you create an  employee feedback system  for real-time feedback, which enhances collaboration and productivity across different work styles. Fostering open communication, understanding, and appreciation of diverse work methods leads to a supportive and productive team with members who complement each other.

Motion empowers all work styles to work better together

Managing people isn’t easy, but with the right management methods and tools, you can bridge the gap between different work styles and build a collaborative and productive A-team.

Motion provides the necessary support for managing diverse workers with features like automated task allocation, progress tracking, and instant communication channels.

We want to help you cultivate a work environment where different work styles are understood, respected, and optimized for collective success.

So take the next step and  empower your team with Motion  today.

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• Work Style Assessment: What's...

Work Style Assessment: What's Your Work Style?

5 min read · Updated on December 13, 2021

What's your preferred role at work? How do you like to manage others? Find out.

A successful team balances each other out in the workplace. The best teams aren't made up of only those who are strong at organizing and coordinating. Likewise, they're not made up of only those who are strong at taking charge. Rather, the teams that work best together are those with a mish-mash of personalities and work styles – those who can take charge, those who can organize, those who can innovate, and those who can get tasks done. Balance.

Where do you fit in this mix of work styles? Identifying your strengths through a work style assessment can help provide the answer. From there, not only you can use this new insight to improve your current workplace relationships, you can also use it to better understand yourself so you can communicate your strengths through your resume and the interview process.

Let's start the career interest test below. Choose one of two options presented for each row that fits you the closest. For example, in Row 1, choose between A or B. In Row 2, choose between A or C.

Answer this question for every row: “I like work assignments which enable me to:”

Work style assessment results.

If you scored highest in A, your work style and defining characteristics are listed below:

Work style: Focuser (Self-Starter)

You like to: focus

You want to know: the task at hand

Your preferred roles are: taking charge and working independently

You are concerned with: practicality

You manage by: directing

Your managing style is: authoritative

You want to be: productive

You value: experience

You follow: strong leaders

You work well with: clear goals

Your focus is on: outcomes

You want to have: authority

You learn best by: doing

If you scored highest in B, your work style and defining characteristics are listed below:

Work style: Relater (Enthusiastic)

You like to: relate

You want to know: big picture

Your preferred roles are: coordinating and facilitating

You are concerned with: teamwork

You manage by: organizing

Your managing style is: democratic

You want to be: flexible

You value: participation

You follow: focus of group

You work well with: broad goals

Your focus is on: involvement

You want to have: influence

You learn best by: observing and participating

If you scored highest in C, your work style and defining characteristics are listed below:

Work style: Integrator (Finisher)

You like to: integrate and understand why

You want to know: significance

Your preferred roles are: problem-solving and diagnosing

You are concerned with: innovation

You manage by: planning

Your managing style is: self-directed

You want to be: self-reliant

You value: questioning

You follow: personal reasoning

You work well with: ideas/input

Your focus is on: input

You want to have: time to assess

You learn best by: listening

If you scored highest in D, your work style and defining characteristics are listed below:

Work style: Operator (Detailer)

You like to: operate and understand how

You want to know: details

Your preferred roles are: monitoring and analyzing

You are concerned with: documentation

You manage by: controlling

Your managing style is: systematic

You want to be: accountable

You value: compliance

You follow: policy

You work well with: systems

Your focus is on: procedures

You want to have: boundaries

You learn best by: repetition

How do you feel about your results? Do they align with your past experiences in the workplace? Our hope is that you learned something about yourself. Use this newfound knowledge by playing up your work style strengths in your resume. Also, use these insights to better inform the answers you may use in an interview. The more you can showcase yourself in an accurate, strength-focused way, the better off you will be.

Ready to incorporate these learnings into your refreshed resume? Hire a TopResume writer today!

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How to Create a Resume With No Education

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Know Exactly What to Expect & How to Pass the Amazon Work Simulation Assessment

Each of the practice tests below comes with full explanations and solving tips

• One-time Payment (the pricing plans differ only in their license durations)
• Amazon Work Simulation: 10 practice tests
• Amazon Work Style Assessment: 1 practice test
• Amazon Hiring Simulation: 1 practice test
• Amazon Assessment Test
• Amazon Hiring Simulation Practice

Know Exactly What to Expect & How to Pass the Amazon Work Simulation Assessment

The Amazon Work Simulation is a realistic assessment that puts you in the shoes of an Amazon worker.

It includes 5 modules and takes up to 50 minutes to complete. Each module takes you inside a typical day at Amazon and asks you to resolve complicated work scenarios. Here's an example of a scenario that resembles a question from the real test:

A co-worker asks you to review a report he's presenting in the next managers' meeting. While reviewing the document you spot a calculation error that may mislead customers. How would you address this error?

To correctly answer this question, you should rely on Amazon's Leadership Principle #7 - “ Insist on the Highest Standards .”

Passing the Amazon Work Simulation requires an  intimate acquaintance with Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles and the ability to decide which principle outweighs the others in each scenario .

Using the Work Simulation practice package, you'll quickly learn which Leadership Principle fits best in every scenario and what are the most effective responses.

Mastering this crucial skill will not only help you ace this assessment, but will also come in handy later in the interview process, which is heavily based on these principles .

Shlomik , Amazon Test Expert at  JobTestPrep .

JobTestPrep offers accurate practice simulations and prep guides for more than a dozen of Amazon assessments. Learn more about the  Amazon online assessment or their  Hiring Process to make sure you get the job you need!

Amazon Work Simulation Practice Overview

10 Work Simulation Practice Modules

Each of the practice modules simulates a module from the actual assessment and includes similar details and questions.

All questions come with answers and in-depth explanations that focus both on the Leadership Principles behind the questions and explain the effectiveness of every response.

One Full Work Style Assessment Practice test

The Work Style Assessment is a personality test that usually comes after the Work Simulation. It evaluates your work behaviors to see if they fit Amazon's unique culture and Leadership Principles.

The practice simulation includes 40 questions that highly resemble the statements you’ll see on the real assessment.

Each question is coupled with an answer and a detailed explanation of the preferred answer choice and the Leadership Principle that the question targets.

One Amazon Hiring Simulation Practice Test

The Amazon Hiring Simulation is a less common version of the Work Simulation but it's still being sent to some candidates.

The assessment evaluates your logical reasoning skills and your personality traits.

To be on the safe side in case you receive it, we included a practice test that resembles the actual assessment. Each practice question comes with an answer and a detailed explanation for the favorable answers and which Leadership Principles to focus on.

Aiming for a managerial position? Learn everything you need with our Leadership Assessment Test guide. You will also find Amazon Work Simulation practice on our Amazon SDE PrepPack.

Amazon Work Simulation Mini Guide

The Work Simulation Test is like jumping into a lake without knowing how deep the water is. Head first.

Essentially, this test asks you to face real work dilemmas that an Amazon worker (or "Amazonian") might encounter. Let's say you are an Amazon Program Manager and Black Friday Deals are coming up that YOU are in charge of. You are asked to decide which product should get the most visibility. What do you do?

Well, in this assessment, you’ll be presented with operational data (cost for example) and different opinions from team members. Then, after a series of emails, you’ll need to choose the right product.

Here's 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 your  calculated response , and in return, you’ll get feedback and full explanations  made by assessment center experts based on those 16 leadership values.

What Should You Expect on The Amazon Hiring Simulation Test?

There is a reason the Work Simulation test goes by many names (job simulation and hiring simulation). In the past Amazon used a different kind of assessment, based on the same ideas. From our experience, you are less likely to get the "Amazon Hiring Simulation Test", but should still practice it in these cases:

• You received an email telling you that you need to take only a work simulation test and a work style assessment. In that case, you should practice both the work and the hiring simulation tests.
• You got an email specifically indicating that you need to pass a hiring simulation test.

After receiving an invite from Amazon to take an online Hiring Simulation assessment, you’ll have seven days to complete the task (including another work-style assessment).

Hiring Simulation Test Structure

The test is split into four sections. In each, you'll be given three questions about an occurring work scenario. In each question, you'll need to either rank or rate possible responses to the scenario.

The first two sections are more analytical . In these sections, you'll be given hard data that you'll need to base your responses on, such as graphs and tables.

In the last two sections, you'll get scenarios that focus on your compatibility with Amazon’s values , or “ Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles ” as Amazon likes to put it (formerly known as Amazon's 14 LPs).

In these sections, the data you'll be given will be vaguer so you’ll need to make a decision based on Amazon's principles. For instance, Amazon sees customer obsession as a core value so  your answers should reflect that on the test.

Hiring Simulation Sample Question

Let's see a sample question that depicts the questions in the  first two sections . Start by reading the memo, and then take the data below it into account before proceeding to rate the possible responses -

Based on the available data, rate the following options from 1 to 4. Rate "1" for most needs to be improved and "4" to least needs to be improved  (each rating option can be used more than once).

In this question, your goal is to identify trends and rate them according to their urgency for improvement. When we rate , we judge an option in relation to itself and not in relation to other options, but we keep the same scale for all our ratings.

What is a trend? A trend is a general direction in which something is changing.

Try to recognize trends by looking at the given data.

Referring to the first option, there are two factors which we should check their trends when determining how to rate it. The first factor is the number of transactions, and the second is the percentage of crashes of the server. We can identify the trend for each and check if there is a correlation between them. We can see that while the number of transactions goes down (100 → 85 → 70) the % of crashes of the server goes up (+1% → +1% → +1%). Option 1 says that the problem is that the server crashes due to many transactions, but according to the data, the percentage of crashes stays positive- so there is no correlation between the two factors; therefore, this option is not relevant and we can rate it "4" .

Referring to the second option, the relevant row which we should look at is row three. According to the data, the percentage does not change so much (+1% → +1% → +1%), but the fact that it stays positive means that there is a growth of the problem. If you try to look at it on a graph, it looks like this:

There is a slight linear growth of the problem, thus we should rate it "2" .

Referring to the third option, in the first row (% Payment method was not accessible to a customer), there is a noticeable upward trend from 3% on the first week, to 5% on the second, and 9% on the third. This trend shows an escalation in a bad situation, and thus it needs to be improved immediately. We can rate the third option to be "1" .

Referring to the fourth option, on the second row (% Payments declined for an unexpected reason) we see the opposite: a noticeable downward trend. The meaning of this trend is that every week there are fewer situations that payments are declined for an unexpected reason. This is a totally positive thing thus we can rate the fourth option to be "4" .

As you can see, this work simulation question requires great judgment and logical skills. But there's another main reason understanding it is crucial - The way you choose to answer helps Amazon assess your prioritization and way of thinking as a potential worker.

Inside the Amazon Hiring Simulation preparation pack, you’ll be able to practice the same questions with full explanations and feedback. That way, you can make sure you are truly prepared for this unique assessment and proceed to the next steps in the hiring process.

Amazon Work Simulation Tips

Don’t worry about time: The Amazon Work Simulation test is pretty much untimed (there's a running clock but it is 2 hours longer than needed). Also - some questions take longer to answer than others.

Study Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles: They take it seriously and expect you to do the same. it is important to familiarize yourself with Amazon’s 16 leadership principles .

Find somewhere quiet: The questions ask you to deal with complex work scenarios, and that requires concentration. Find somewhere where you won’t get distracted.

Practice in advance: Like with any test, practice is the surest way to pass. With this test, it’s even more meaningful – The Amazon Work Simulation is a one-of-a-kind test that feels unfamiliar to many. Take practice tests before taking the real assessment; This might really help you to gain an advantage over other candidates on your way to getting into Amazon.

Amazon Work Simulation FAQs

The key to passing the Work Simulation assessment is knowing what to expect on the test and preparing in advance. This job simulation test is unique to Amazon’s recruitment process and is designed to fit Amazon’s values and principles.

The Hiring Simulation, as opposed to the Work Simulation, not only evaluates your critical thinking skills and use of Amazon's Leadership Principles but also assesses your analytical and numerical skills. using various tables and other graphic elements.

Amazon’s Work Simulation test is very complex and tests logical abilities, along with a candidate’s judgment and personality. Amazon is very specific about who it hires with most candidates failing to pass their assessments.

The Work-Style Assessment is a personality test that is usually given with the Work and Hiring Simulations. The Preparation includes a simulation for this assessment as well.

The assessment is pretty much untimed, but the test takes between 35-50 minutes to complete. Not including the Work-Style assessment that takes about 15 minutes.

Read About Other Popular Amazon Online Assessments

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• 6 work styles and how to help team memb ...

6 work styles and how to help team members discover theirs

Work styles refer to the unique ways that people get their work done. By determining your team members’ work styles, you’ll be better equipped to motivate them and set them up for success. In this article, we explore some common work styles and walk through how you can fit together on a team.

Workplace collaboration isn’t always a walk in the park. However, bringing diverse minds together can also be a very powerful thing. More collaborative teams lead to increased productivity, creativity, and growth opportunities.

What are work styles?

Work styles are the ways your personality impacts your work. It’s about what you enjoy doing, the way you naturally work, and what you’re good at. Understanding your work style is key to advancing in your career goals and synergizing with others.

Unfortunately, over-indexing on personality types and other identifiers can often cause you to develop limiting beliefs , or restricting judgments about yourself. These can diminish your self-esteem, cause impostor syndrome , introduce negativity to an otherwise positive collaborative space, and damage team morale.

This is why it’s important not to let your personal work style define you. Rather, it should empower you to capitalize on your strengths, improve your weaknesses, and understand how to work better with others.

6 working styles to understand team member behavior

While not everyone can be neatly defined by one work style, understanding the six main working styles can help you better understand yourself and your team members. Only then can you provide everyone with what they need to do their job well. Below we explore six types of work styles.

We encourage you to first understand your own working style before identifying those of your team members. This will help you notice and avoid any biases you may have about work as you help your team members.

1. Independent or logical

Key strengths: Determined, hardworking, skilled at creating unique and visionary work

Areas to improve: Poor communication, not easy to manage, often overlook the planning phase

Independent or logical team members, also known as doers, need their own space to do great work. Supervision and micro-managing aren’t your cup of tea, as you’d much rather tackle problems solo.

You tend to be great at problem framing —you can look at an obstacle and analyze it to come up with a logical, well-formulated solution. This often results in unique and visionary ideas that deliver a lot of value.

However, with this lone wolf work style, you might struggle with more collaborative work. You may feel that your focus gets derailed by instruction and idea sharing, resulting in a lack of planning and communication.

Example team member with an independent or logical working style: Consider a wide-eyed entrepreneur. You create your own compass rather than following another’s. When told how to dream or where to place your focus, you often struggle to put forward your best work.

2. Cooperative

Key strengths: Great communicator, highly interpersonal

Areas to improve: Performing independently

On the opposite end of the work style spectrum, we have the cooperative worker. You love teamwork in the workplace and thrive when giving and receiving feedback.

Rather than writing ideas in a notebook, you prefer to express your ideas verbally and develop them with the help of the group. For this reason, cooperative team members tend to excel at communication.

Of course, as the opposite of the independent worker, individuals with a cooperative work style often struggle to work alone. Ideas may not come as naturally without collaboration, or you may feel restless without frequent team interaction.

Example team members with cooperative working styles: Hiring managers and project management specialists often fall into the collaborative category. Not only is your work highly interpersonal, but you value having your ideas seen by another set of eyes before implementing.

3. Proximity

Key strengths: Adaptable, balanced

Areas to improve: Not all projects allow for a solo/teamwork balance

With a proximity work style you perform a careful balancing act—you value solo work without sacrificing collaboration. You may prefer to take a task and work it out yourself, then return to the team and receive feedback to make your work better.

People with this style reap the benefits of autonomy without needing to isolate themselves from their team members. You also benefit from socializing and receiving help, making proximity one of the most adaptable work styles.

While there isn’t much that proximity team members can’t do, not every work environment allows for this perfect balance between interaction and heads-down work. Creating a spreadsheet usually doesn’t have a “collaboration stage” just as a team meeting doesn’t always offer time to think and work alone.

Example team members with proximity working styles: Due to the adaptability of proximity working styles, you can perform well in nearly every area of business, from management to finance to marketing.

4. Supportive

Key strengths: Emotionally intelligent , self-aware, skilled at mediating conflict, excellent at facilitating collaboration

Areas to improve: Can get distracted, may struggle to make tough decisions

Think of the most empathetic team members in your organization. Chances are, they have a supportive work style. Supportive team members strive to form strong relationships and improve team morale . This often makes you a great mediator and peacemaker when conflict arises.

Supportive team members have a superpower: keen emotional sensitivity. If someone on your team is having a bad day or struggling to complete tasks, you’ll be the first to notice. You can lean on them to identify an unspoken problem that may, in the moment, just feel like some tension in the air.

However, emotional intelligence can also be distracting at times. When there’s a major decision to make but something doesn’t feel quite right to the supportive worker, you may not be able to move forward until it’s worked out.

In the same vein, supportive team members may feel uncomfortable confronting a disruptive teammate, as you may worry about that team member’s reaction.

Example team members with supportive working styles: Managers and members of your operations or HR team may have supportive work styles, as your jobs require attention to your team’s needs. Team members who step up for volunteer roles, such as event planning or mentor programs, may also fall into the supportive work style.

5. Detail-oriented

Key strengths: Strategic, thoughtful, practiced at minimizing risks, effective at providing order and stability

Areas to improve: Working slowly, getting too caught up in details, seeing the big picture

If you need someone who dots every “i” and crosses every “t,” look to the detail-oriented worker. Also known as learners, these individuals are first to read the fine print. If you fit this style, you tend to be extremely strategic and data-oriented, thinking through small details that could become bigger issues down the road.

You can trust a detail-oriented team member to minimize risk, like correcting errors before a document ever touches the boss’ desk. Accuracy (specifically in wording and grammar) matters a lot to you, to the point that there’s very little room for imperfection.

Of course, detail-orientation can sometimes feel overwhelming. Nothing is perfect, yet the detail-oriented worker doesn’t settle for anything less than perfection. This can cause you to quickly experience burnout and fatigue. It can also stall a project’s progress.

Example team members with detail-oriented working styles: Writing, editing, and teaching are professions that attract many detail-oriented team members. 

6. Idea-oriented

Key strengths: Optimistic, inspiring to others, effective at facilitating change

Areas to improve: Unstructured, may neglect details, often fail to follow-up

The opposite of the detail-oriented work style is the idea-oriented work style. These big-picture thinkers help facilitate large-scale change. Essentially, you put away the magnifying glass and pull out the telescope.

While idea-oriented team members inspire their teammates to dream outside the box, you don’t tend to organize details well. It’s a highly unstructured work style that often places the brunt of the work on people who are better at planning.

Example team members with idea-oriented working styles: Idea-oriented individuals are typically in more artistic or big-picture company roles, such as marketing, graphic design, or even senior leadership.

How to find your work style

So, what is your work style?

Since work styles are often subconscious, it isn’t always easy to notice which one fits you best. As we mentioned before, not everyone will cleanly fit into one of these work styles. Some people may be a cross between two or more of them.

To help determine your work style, we’ll explore some tips that will help you better understand your work style and those of your team members.

1. Consider how you communicate

We often associate the ways we communicate with our personalities. Certain communication styles correlate very closely with specific types of people. For example, people who communicate directly tend to be more extroverted and less sensitive.

The same goes for working styles. Idea-oriented individuals tend to be charismatic individuals that speak loudly and use hand gestures to communicate their ideas. On the other hand, supportive individuals often prefer one-on-one communication with their peers and are active listeners. You’ll likely see them making eye contact, nodding their heads, and allowing their emotions to show on their faces.

2. Think about what type of teammate you are

Imagine yourself collaborating on a project with a team. Without over-thinking, what part of the project do you gravitate toward?

Do you want to outline the project plan then step back? If so, you might have an idea-oriented work style.

Do you prefer talking through the project with the whole team before getting started? If so, you might have a collaborative or supportive work style.

Do you want to complete the bulk of the project yourself? If so, you might have an independent or logical work style.

Are you the teammate who stays up late the night before to proofread everything and make edits? If so, you might have a detail-oriented work style.

When working with a team, you likely adopt the role that makes you feel most helpful. While this inclination may be subconscious, paying attention to it can help you determine your work style.

3. Pay attention to what engages you

When you’re on the job, what makes you feel happiest?

Do you feel a sense of accomplishment when organizing things and checking tasks off your to-do list ? This points to detail-orientation.

Do you enjoy creating an agenda for a meeting , but then allow the meeting conversation to naturally ebb and flow? This points to a proximity work style.

Do you feel most fulfilled helping your fellow team members complete complicated tasks? This points to collaborative and supportive work styles.

Work styles aren’t just about what you’re good at. They’re also about what you love doing—what makes you feel job satisfaction.

4. Record how you spend your time

Often, there’s some dissonance between what we want to do and what we spend most of our time doing at work. Pay close attention to how you allocate the hours of your day.

If you’re spending far more time than you need to on a certain task, this task probably doesn’t align with your work style. While you may not be able to cut that task out altogether, you can move forward with greater awareness and potentially find ways to make it more doable.

On the other hand, if you notice that you breeze through a task that takes your team members several hours or days to complete, you may have found your forte.

5. Determine your conflict style

How do you approach conflict ? Are you avoidant, do you compete to win, or do you seek opportunities for compromise?

Conflict styles can connect to certain work styles better than others. For example, those with an independent work style may welcome conflict because you don’t fear disagreement with the group, whereas those with a supportive work style may attempt to avoid conflict or resolve it as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, it’s difficult to pinpoint an idea-oriented individual’s conflict style without knowing more about their personality. You may lean independent and believe your ideas are perfect without others’ interference, or you may lean cooperative and love when others contribute their controversial ideas.

6. Take a personality or work style test

Often, the workday can distract you from self-reflection, making it difficult to pinpoint your work style. That’s where personality and work style tests come in.

These tests simulate scenarios and ask pointed questions about how you would act in those situations. Here are some common personality and work style tests:

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): The MBTI has gained a lot of traction in recent years. It determines one’s personality based on four sets of factors: introversion/extraversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving. There are 16 personality possibilities, and where you fall can tell you a lot about your work style.

Revised NEO Personality Inventory: This personality test determines where you stand in relation to five personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The acronym OCEAN can help you remember these traits. Where you stand often says a lot about how you work.

SHL Occupational Personality Questionnaire: This questionnaire helps bridge the gap between personality type and work style. It determines how one’s personality traits and behavior influence work performance. This is a great tool for determining whether someone is a fit for a job, though it shouldn’t stand alone.

While these tests can provide some insight, you shouldn’t assign a work style based solely on a personality test. Instead, take results with a grain of salt. They’re just one piece of the puzzle as you work to understand yourself both inside and outside of the office.

Empowering different work styles to collaborate

Working with a cross-functional team of diverse work styles can be tricky. People have different priorities, skills, and ways of operating.

However, this is also what makes diverse teams so impactful. They’re great at problem-solving and always bring creative ideas to the table. If you’re wondering how to get your team of different work styles to collaborate well, we map out a strategy below.

1. Identify everyone’s work styles

Identifying team members’ work styles requires careful observation. Notice signs such as the length of their emails, how long they spend on projects, and their communication style to categorize them using the work styles outlined above.

Another great way to identify work styles is to assign your team a project and watch how each person chats with their team members. It should quickly become apparent what gives each person energy and satisfaction.

2. Leverage the strengths of each team member

Nobody wants to do work they don’t enjoy and aren’t equipped to do. Now that you know your team members’ strengths, you can assign them the team roles that best fit their work style.

For example, a detail-oriented team member may struggle to brainstorm a new product idea. If so, try pairing them with an independent team member or an idea-oriented team member who can support them.

Likewise, a supportive or collaborative team member likely won’t excel at developing a project plan at their desk. Try to find a way for them to plan while engaging with the group, encouraging idea sharing, and helping to overcome roadblocks.

This isn’t to say that team members should only be assigned tasks that perfectly align with their work styles. New projects outside of one’s comfort zone present the opportunity to learn and grow. Rather, when challenged with something new, team members should always be equipped with the support they need to succeed.

3. Coach team members according to their work style

As we’ve already established, work style and personality go hand-in-hand. It should come as no surprise that one’s work style says a lot about how they prefer to learn. When coaching your team, remember to cater your efforts to their individual style.

For example, it’s important to approach coaching independent team members carefully. They’re hyper-sensitive to micromanagement, so you’ll want to treat them professionally and give them creative control.

Cooperative team members, on the other hand, respond very well to feedback. In fact, feedback and idea sharing are at the core of their work style. Even further, detail-oriented team members may need extensive and detailed feedback. Otherwise, they may return to your office with a long list of clarifying questions.

4. Represent different work styles on your team

While you likely won’t have every work style together in one place (unless you’re working with a very large team), it’s important to bring together as many styles as possible. This diversifies the strengths you have available and will make your team an unstoppable force.

Imagine a team filled entirely with analytical, detail-oriented team members. Not only would progress toward any goals move very slowly, but the team would likely struggle to come up with anything innovative or creative.

Likewise, a totally idea-oriented team would have no structure—nobody to write down the ideas, build them out, and create a step-by-step plan out of them.

Create a room full of diverse minds

Solving business problems isn’t a job for one type of brain—it’s a job for many. As projects become increasingly complex, you need several perspectives and skill sets to tackle them. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to use your work style and those of your team members to improve company culture and accomplish something great.

To encourage teamwork and active communication, try team collaboration software . From aligned goals to increased productivity, Asana can help.

Related resources

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WSA ™

Working styles assessment ™, melissa a. messer, mhs, and heather ureksoy, phd, related products, browse products a-z.

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The WSA assesses a person’s work-related personality traits—the traits that are related to effective job performance.

Features and benefits

• The only workplace personality assessment that uses the current Occupational Information Network (O*NET) terminology. The personality traits measured by the WSA can be compared to the traits associated with hundreds of current occupations listed in the O*NET database.

Applications and settings

• Helps users understand their own work preferences and approaches, allowing them to identify potentially satisfying occupations and providing the foundation for work with a career counselor.
• Helps hiring managers identify the working styles they value in employees and select applicants based on the degree to which they possess those working styles.

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• The Assessment Booklet includes 14 agree-or-disagree statements for each of the 18 constructs measured.
• The User’s Workbook helps examinees organize their results, generate a list of their own top 10 working styles, and match those styles to potential occupations.
• For the counselor or HR professional, the Score Summary Sheet provides a fast way to score and organize the working styles of a client or job seeker.
• Online administration and report generation is now available through PARiConnect. Two report types are available: an Interpretive Report for users and a Personnel Selection Report for hiring managers.
• Standardization sample consisted of 739 individuals ages 17-70 years closely matched to U.S. Census statistics.

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