Interview: Amazon Sr. Financial Analyst (Amazon Web Services)

Summary

Joe, a senior financial analyst at Amazon's AWS Business Insights and Analytics team, shares his career journey from equity research to corporate finance at Red Hat and his MBA at Duke. He discusses his Amazon interview process, the importance of preparation and referrals, and his current role's focus on managing business reviews and financial metrics. Joe highlights the cultural shift to Amazon's fast-paced environment, the challenge of work-life balance, and offers advice for aspiring Amazon finance professionals, emphasizing the importance of understanding one's goals and the value of learning from diverse roles.

Takeaways

• 😀 Joe is currently a Senior Financial Analyst at Amazon, working on the BIA team within AWS.
• 🎓 Early in his career, Joe aspired to work in equity research on Wall Street but pivoted to financial data providers and pursued his CFA.
• 🏫 He transitioned from equity research to corporate finance at Red Hat, where he also earned his MBA through Duke's weekend executive program.
• 🤝 Joe's first interview with Amazon resulted in a job offer for a Financial Analyst role, not the Senior Financial Analyst role he interviewed for.
• 📈 He initially took a role at a late-stage startup for management experience but was laid off during COVID, which led to his current opportunity at Amazon.
• 🔄 Joe's role at Amazon involves managing daily and weekly business reviews, focusing on revenue and growth metrics for AWS.
• 💼 The cultural shift from Red Hat to Amazon was significant, with Amazon valuing speed and directness more than consensus-building.
• 📝 Amazon's emphasis on writing skills was a new challenge for Joe, requiring clarity and structure in communication.
• 🚀 Joe enjoys the visibility his role provides into AWS's financial performance and the opportunity to interact with senior leaders.
• 🤔 The biggest challenge for Joe is the tactical distance from the details of specific services, requiring reliance on other teams for insights.
• ⏰ Work-life balance at Amazon is a personal responsibility, requiring clear communication with managers about workload and priorities.

Q & A

What is Joe's current position at Amazon?

Joe is currently working at Amazon as a Senior Financial Analyst on the BIA (Business Insights and Analytics) team within AWS.

Why did Joe change his career from equity research to corporate finance?

Joe wanted to get closer to the business and understand what it's like to be within a company itself, rather than being an outsider in equity research.

How did Joe prepare for his interviews at Amazon?

Joe prepared for his interviews at Amazon by getting referrals, seeking perspectives from classmates who worked at Amazon, and even doing a mock interview which helped him with direct feedback.

What was Joe's experience with the interview process for Amazon's finance roles?

Joe's interview process involved behavioral questions and a case question during his first interview, but no financial modeling exercises. His second interview also did not include case or financial modeling questions.

What are the three primary objectives of Joe's team at Amazon?

The three primary objectives of Joe's team are to manage the daily business review (DVR), the weekly business review (WBR), and similar work on a monthly basis.

How does Joe's role at Amazon differ from traditional finance roles?

Joe's role is non-traditional as it does not involve forecasting or building robust financial models in the traditional sense. It focuses more on managing business reviews and analyzing metrics.

What cultural aspects of Amazon did Joe find challenging?

Joe found the speed of decision-making and the culture of writing at Amazon to be challenging, especially the need to prioritize and communicate clearly about his workload and boundaries.

What advice does Joe have for those wanting to join Amazon in the finance field?

Joe advises potential candidates to understand their motivations for joining Amazon, to be prepared to work backwards from their goals, and to focus on the visibility and communication skills they can gain from the role.

How does Joe handle work-life balance at Amazon?

Joe handles work-life balance by prioritizing his tasks, communicating his workload with his manager, and being clear about his boundaries to ensure that he is not overwhelmed.

What is Joe's perspective on the visibility and communication aspects of his role?

Joe appreciates the visibility his role provides into the overall organization and the opportunity to participate in senior leadership meetings, which allows him to understand how they think about the business.