Went through the Amazon commercial sales loop last fall, targeting an account executive role on the AWS mid-market team. Going to share the full structure because when I was prepping I couldn't find much that wasn't vague.
Process: recruiter screen, then a written exercise, then a 'role play' with the hiring manager, then a three-round panel (two AEs and one sales manager from a different team).
The written exercise caught me off guard. They gave me a scenario: a prospect in retail with vague cloud pain points, limited budget, and a competing proposal from Azure. They wanted a one-page 'pitch prep' outlining how I'd approach the call. This is basically testing whether you can run a discovery process on paper. I focused on what questions I'd ask before pitching, not on the features I'd lead with. That framing went over well.
Role play: I sold them AWS Managed Services to a skeptical CFO character. They pushed back hard on cost and migration complexity. What they're watching: do you control the call, do you actually listen and adjust, do you close or let it drift. I've done a lot of sales role plays and this one was legitimately realistic.
Panel: every question was behavioral with LP framing. 'Tell me about a time you lost a deal and what you did next.' 'Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager on forecast.' 'Describe a deal that took more than 12 months to close.' They want evidence you can handle long complex cycles, not just transactional volume.
What I think separates strong candidates here: You have to translate your past deals into the Amazon / AWS context. If you sold enterprise SaaS, explain the equivalent of 'migrating a customer's compute workload.' Show you understand the buying motion. Data on your deals. ARR, ACV, cycle length, number of stakeholders in the room. Vague stories don't land. The LP 'earn trust' principle comes up constantly. They want to hear how you build relationships inside accounts over time, not just how you close.
Offer timeline was about 5 weeks total. Comp was structured weirdly compared to non-Amazon sales roles. Base was lower than market, variable had a high ceiling but ramping to full attainment in year one is genuinely hard on new accounts.