What Is a Bar Raiser Interview at Amazon?

A Bar Raiser interview is the round in an Amazon interview loop conducted by a Bar Raiser: a trained interviewer from outside the hiring team whose job is to protect hiring quality. The Bar Raiser assesses you against Amazon's Leadership Principles and the role's requirements, and makes the final hire decision together with the hiring manager.

As of October 2026, Amazon's candidate page says you'll likely meet two to seven people in your loop, which may include managers, teammates, stakeholders and a Bar Raiser, described as someone from another team focused on hiring quality (Amazon's interview loop page). Amazon's article on the program says its goal is to bring objectivity to interview loops and to make sure every new hire is better than 50% of their would-be peers in similar roles ("What is an Amazon bar raiser?"). The program dates to 1999, when then-CIO Rick Dalzell founded it, according to an AWS careers article.

The loop is the last stage of Amazon's hiring process, after the application and, depending on the role, assessments and a phone screen. So a Bar Raiser interview is part of what other companies would call a final-round interview. For terms like loop and debrief, see our interview glossary.

What a Bar Raiser does

Here is Amazon's own description of the role, summarized.

• Who they are: volunteers from teams across the company, in roles from software engineering and product management to HR and marketing. They aren't on the team you'd join.
• How they're chosen: nominated by their manager, peers or other Bar Raisers, then trained on the 16 Leadership Principles, including shadowing experienced Bar Raisers. Amazon says training takes three months to a year.
• As an interviewer: evaluates you against core competencies and the outcomes the role needs, with a long-term view of what's good for Amazon rather than one team's immediate need.
• As a decision driver: runs the debrief so the discussion stays data-driven, and makes the final decision with the hiring manager.
• As a coach: models good written feedback and trains other interviewers.

How a Bar Raiser interview works

1. It sits inside your loop. Amazon lists a Bar Raiser among the people you may meet, and says each interview lasts around 45 minutes to an hour. It doesn't say which slot is theirs.
2. The questions are mostly behavioral. Amazon says its interviews focus on behavioral-based questions guided by the Leadership Principles. The AWS article adds that Bar Raisers look at functional skills, Leadership Principle alignment and your capacity to grow.
3. Expect detailed follow-ups. Amazon says it's the interviewer's job to guide the conversation and get the details they need, so expect questions about your own actions, your reasoning and your results.
4. Feedback is written down. Amazon says interviewers take detailed notes to share with the rest of the team.
5. The debrief decides. Interviewers give their view to the Bar Raiser and hiring manager, who make the decision. Amazon says the program avoids having one person make the hiring decision.
6. You hear back. As of October 2026, Amazon says to expect a response within five business days.

Bar Raiser vs hiring manager vs other interviewers

You don't need to work out who the Bar Raiser is. Amazon's advice is to treat each interviewer the same, and it says there's no need to tailor your answers to an interviewer's role.

What a Bar Raiser interview looks like in practice

This is an example exchange we wrote, not a transcript of a real interview.

• Question: "Tell me about a time you made an important decision without all the data you wanted."
• Your story, in brief: A supplier failed two days before a launch. You checked the three facts you could verify that day, chose a backup vendor at a higher cost, and the launch shipped on time.
• Follow-up 1: "What data were you missing, and what did you do about it?" This tests judgment and Bias for Action.
• Follow-up 2: "What would have happened if you were wrong?" This tests whether you treated a reversible decision differently from an irreversible one.
• Follow-up 3: "What did it cost, and would you make the same call again?" This tests ownership, Frugality and whether you learned from it.

The follow-ups carry much of the weight. A story you lived through holds up under them; a story polished from a template often doesn't.

How to prepare for a Bar Raiser interview

1. Map stories to the Leadership Principles. Amazon's own interview-tips article suggests one or two work anecdotes for each principle. Our guides to all 16 Leadership Principles and Leadership Principle example answers help you fill the grid.
2. Structure, then go deeper. Amazon names the STAR method as one way to structure answers, not the only way. It asks for a clear beginning, middle and end, specific details and "I" rather than "we." Have the second layer ready: numbers, options you rejected and what you'd change.
3. Include failures. Amazon says not every story has to be a success; what matters is what you learned and how you grew.
4. Rehearse with follow-ups. Amazon's tips include practicing on your own, mock interviews and recording yourself. CoPilot Interview's Mock Interview builds questions from your résumé and an Amazon job description, reads them aloud, and scores each spoken answer out of 10 with what to fix and a model answer. For a full plan, see our Amazon mock interview script, how to pass the Amazon behavioral interview and the Amazon interview help page.

Common mistakes

• Trying to spot the Bar Raiser. Amazon says to treat every interviewer the same, so changing your approach per person only adds risk.
• Team stories with no "I." The Bar Raiser needs to know what you did, not what the team did.
• Results without numbers. Amazon's guide asks for data or specific outcomes where you have them.
• Only success stories. A well-told failure with a clear lesson is evidence too.
• Criticizing past employers. Amazon's tips article warns against oversharing negative details about past jobs, managers or colleagues.
• Reusing one story across the loop. Interviewers share notes, so repeated stories show less range.

FAQ

Does every Amazon interview loop include a Bar Raiser?

Amazon's candidate page lists a Bar Raiser among the people you may meet in your loop, as of October 2026. It does not promise one in every loop or say which interview is theirs, so prepare every round to the same standard.

Can a Bar Raiser veto a hire?

Amazon's own pages do not use the word "veto." They say the Bar Raiser makes the final hiring decision together with the hiring manager, and that the program avoids having one person make the decision. Candidate guides often call this veto power, which is an informal reading rather than Amazon's wording.

How do I know which interviewer is the Bar Raiser?

You may not, and you do not need to. Amazon advises treating each interviewer the same and says it is not necessary to tailor your answers to an interviewer's role.

Is the Bar Raiser interview harder than the other rounds?

Amazon does not rank its rounds by difficulty. Bar Raisers are trained interviewers who take a long-term view, so your stories need to hold up under detailed follow-up questions. Prepare all rounds the same way.

What does raising the bar mean at Amazon?

It means each new hire should be better than 50% of their would-be peers in similar roles, according to Amazon's article on the program. It ties to the Hire and Develop the Best principle, which says leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion.