July 29: The Amazon Bar Raiser

A Bar Raiser is an interviewer at Amazon who is brought into hiring loops to be an objective third party.

Source: Dave Anderson, Scarlet Ink
Published: May 2021

The Amazon Bar Raiser

A Bar Raiser is an interviewer at Amazon who is brought into hiring loops to be an objective third party. In addition to their day jobs, Bar Raisers are skilled Amazon interviewers who undergo lengthy training after being nominated and accepted into the program. They are experts in evaluating talent against Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles - identifying candidates who have long-term potential at Amazon.

By bringing in somebody who’s not associated with the team, the best long-term hiring decisions are made. This helps prevent a bad hire because “the team is overloaded with work right now and just needs someone to start ASAP.” This also ensures that every team has at least one highly experienced interviewer on their loops.

Every person hired should be better than 50 percent of those currently in similar roles – that’s raising the bar. Bar Raisers help keep the standard high.