Jeff Bezos hired her because she answered these two questions well: what did she say – Infotechnology.com

In 2002, Jeff Bezos, the founder of the American online sales giant Amazon, He interviewed Ann Hiatt and hired her after asking only two questions.

From that moment until 2005, Hiatt was the right hand of Bezos and served as its executive business partner.

Today, the former Amazon employee runs her own consulting firm and recalls the curious first encounter she had with the billionaire.

Around this time, Hiatt submitted his resume “without much thought” and received a call for an interview as a junior assistant to Bezos. After several consecutive interviews, Hiatt had a meeting with the founder and at the time, CEO of Amazon.

Bezos He was waiting for her in the conference room with a pen in hand and standing right in front of a blackboard. As soon as he arrived, they greeted each other and asked him just two questions: “I want you to estimate the number of glass panels in the city of Seattle (the US state where Amazon’s main offices are located). I’ll do the math.” the tycoon told Hiatt.

To solve the problem, the candidate estimated the population of Seattle and then, from there, broke down the total number to assume that each had a home, a mode of transportation, offices and schools.

“We got into all the scenarios, groups, anomalies and possible ways to account for these exceptions,” the former employee of Bezos said in a timely manner.

Once they finished doing the calculations, Bezos went on to the next question: “Which are your career goals?”. Hiatt responded that Amazon had proven to be a company of people who are ambitious and passionate about changing the world; and admitted that he wanted to be like them and learn what they knew.

Finally, Bezos hired her on the spot.

“I was measuring my potential by asking questions that would explore whether I had the determination, courage and motivation to run at his pace and be brave enough to constantly jump with him and level up,” Hiatt opined years after the interview.

The 3 Questions Jeff Bezos Asks Himself To Know If He’s Hiring The Right Person

In 1998, in a letter to his shareholders, Bezos unveiled the three questions that helped you choose the right people for your company.

1. Would you admire this person?

“If you think about the people you have admired throughout your life, they are probably those from whom you have learned something or whom you have taken as an example.. In my case, I always tried very hard to work only with people I admired, and I encourage those who work here to be just as demanding of their peers. Life is too short to do otherwise, “he wrote Bezos to its shareholders.

2. Will this person improve the effectiveness of the sector?

One of Jeff Bezos’s concerns at the time was Amazon’s growth and scalability. “The level should go up,” he said, adding: “At that point any of us should be able to look and say, ‘The level has gone up a lot, how much. I’m glad I came in here at the time. ‘”

In this line, the company’s philosophy is that hiring an employee has a long-term perspective: “This is a core value that has been at Amazon since its inception,” he concluded. Bezos.

3. In what area could this person be a superstar?

In a 2018 interview, Jeff Bezos gave a curious example of an employee who was a champion in a national spelling bee: “There is a person here who is a national spelling bee. I suspect that doesn’t help her much in her daily activities, but it makes everyone’s job more difficult. fun, since you can occasionally throw a quick challenge at him: ‘Spell onomatopoeia! The reason you want people like that is because they promote innovative thinking,’ “he said.