The Amazon Online Assessment is the first major screening step for most graduate, business and operations roles. In 2026, the assessment usually contains two parts: the Workstyle Assessment, which is Amazon’s culture and preference questionnaire and the Work Simulation, which evaluates your ability to make decisions in realistic Amazon scenarios. This guide explains every part of the assessment, provides example questions and offers strategies that match Amazon’s real scoring approach.
What the Amazon Online Assessment Includes
The Amazon Online Assessment is usually completed in one sitting and most candidates finish in about 45 to 75 minutes. The exact format depends on your role and location, but the most common structure in 2026 includes:
- Workstyle Assessment. A preference questionnaire that evaluates how closely your natural behaviour aligns with Amazon’s Leadership Principles.
- Work Simulation. A scenario based exercise where you read team messages, review short data summaries and choose how you would respond in realistic Amazon situations.
- Optional data interpretation tasks. Some roles include light numerical questions or charts to interpret.
The assessment is usually untimed, however Amazon encourages completing it without long breaks. Their scoring model compares your decisions to behavioural patterns observed in successful Amazon employees.
The Workstyle Assessment
The Workstyle Assessment shows you statements such as “I prefer taking quick action when something needs to be done” or “I like gathering more information before making a decision”. You rate how much each statement represents you. There are no correct answers in a traditional sense, however Amazon evaluates the consistency of your behavioural tendencies. Responses that reflect Ownership, Customer Obsession, Bias for Action and Learn and Be Curious tend to align more strongly with Amazon’s culture.
The Work Simulation
This section contains short workplace scenarios that simulate real Amazon team environments. You may need to prioritise tasks, analyse simple metrics, respond to a customer issue or choose the best communication approach for your team. Your decisions are scored based on how well they reflect Amazon’s Leadership Principles and how consistently you apply these principles throughout the exercise.
- Evaluating trade offs between speed and accuracy
- Choosing actions that protect customer experience
- Taking accountability for issues instead of redirecting responsibility
- Using available data to support your decision
Amazon values consistency, clarity and principle driven thinking. Even a few answers that conflict with each other can reduce your overall score.
Work Simulation: Example Questions and Scoring
The Work Simulation reflects real Amazon decision making. Every option is scored based on how well it aligns with Amazon’s Leadership Principles. Amazon evaluates patterns rather than isolated answers. A candidate who steadily applies Ownership and Customer Obsession across the assessment will score higher than someone who gives one excellent answer and several conflicting ones.
What Amazon Looks For
High scoring candidates typically show the following behaviours:
- Customer Obsession. You prioritise long term customer impact, even when it requires more time or effort.
- Bias for Action. You prefer progress over hesitation, and you take initiative without waiting for perfect information.
- Ownership. You take responsibility for issues and do not redirect accountability.
- Learn and Be Curious. You analyse available data, ask questions and think critically.
- Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit. You express concerns respectfully when needed, but you support the final decision once made.
You are part of a team working to improve delivery speed for a specific region. A colleague suggests a new process that appears promising, but the early data shows mixed results. Some deliveries are faster, however new customer complaints have also appeared. Your manager is not available and the team asks for your recommendation.
- A. Approve the colleague’s idea for full rollout because the team needs quicker progress.
- B. Stop the process immediately and return to the previous method until your manager returns.
- C. Review the available data and run a small targeted pilot before making a broader decision.
- D. Ask another team to validate the idea so responsibility is shared.
Answer: C
Explanation
Option C reflects Ownership, Learn and Be Curious and a reasonable level of Bias for Action. You analyse evidence, take initiative and limit customer risk. Option A ignores customer complaints, option B is overly cautious, and option D shows low Ownership.
You review the number of delayed packages for three fulfilment centres.
- Centre A: 12,000 packages, 6 percent delayed
- Centre B: 8,500 packages, 4 percent delayed
- Centre C: 15,000 packages, 3 percent delayed
Question: Which centre experienced the highest number of delays?
- A. Centre A
- B. Centre B
- C. Centre C
- D. Centres A and C had the same number
Answer: A
Explanation
Centre A: 12,000 × 6 percent = 720 delays Centre B: 8,500 × 4 percent = 340 delays Centre C: 15,000 × 3 percent = 450 delays Centre A has the highest number of delays.
Workstyle Assessment and Behaviour Patterns
The Workstyle Assessment measures your behavioural tendencies and checks how consistently these tendencies align with Amazon’s culture. There are no trick questions and no technical knowledge is required. Amazon evaluates consistency across related items rather than any single answer.
How Amazon Interprets Your Behaviour
Each question belongs to a behavioural cluster that represents one of Amazon’s Leadership Principles. The system checks whether your answers within each cluster follow a stable pattern. Consistency is a key part of the scoring model.
| High Scoring Pattern | Low Scoring Pattern |
|---|---|
| Responses consistently show Ownership across several similar items. | Some answers show Ownership while others avoid responsibility. |
| Decisions rely on evidence and curiosity when information is limited. | Behaviour changes from data driven to impulsive with no clear pattern. |
| Customer impact is prioritised in both short term and long term scenarios. | Customer focus appears in some answers but disappears in similar questions. |
Amazon rewards a steady and principle driven profile. The goal is not to choose extreme answers. Instead, your behaviour should show stable patterns that reflect the Leadership Principles.
What This Means for You
- Give answers that reflect your natural behaviour and apply that behaviour consistently.
- Avoid switching between cautious and confident decisions without a clear reason.
- Focus on principles like Ownership and Customer Obsession when you respond.
If your decisions follow the same reasoning style throughout the test, you will naturally perform well in the Workstyle Assessment.
Tips for the Amazon Online Assessment
- Think in terms of Amazon’s Leadership Principles. They influence almost every scoring category.
- Be consistent in your behavioural tendencies. Contradictions lower your Workstyle score.
- Use evidence in the Work Simulation. Even small data points help you make stronger choices.
- Protect customer experience. Amazon prioritises customer impact above internal convenience.
- Avoid extreme answers unless the scenario clearly requires it. Balance is often rewarded.
FAQ
Most candidates complete the assessment in 45 to 75 minutes. Amazon recommends doing it in one sitting to maintain consistent decision making.
Many candidates find it moderately challenging. The questions are not technically complex, but the scoring is based on how consistently your decisions match Amazon’s Leadership Principles.
The Workstyle Assessment does not have a traditional pass or fail score. However, low consistency or low alignment with Leadership Principles can reduce your overall score and may affect whether you progress in the hiring process.
Most candidates hear back within two to five business days. Timing can vary depending on hiring volume in your region.
Amazon usually requires candidates to wait between six and twelve months before retaking the assessment. Attempts are tracked to ensure fairness across the hiring process.
Amazon does not publish a specific pass mark. Instead, your responses are compared to behavioural profiles from strong Amazon performers. Consistency and principle aligned reasoning are the most important factors.
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