Amazon Maintenance Technician Aptitude Test (Ramsay Test) & Interview Process Preparation – 2024

What Is a Machine Maintenance Worker in Amazon?

Machine maintenance workers or maintenance technicians are responsible for making certain safety regulations and policies are adhered to, preventative maintenance is conducted on time, and that maintenance is done well to meet high standards. Maintenance technicians are also responsible for providing high levels of equipment availability through the means of continual improvement.

Some responsibilities an Amazon Maintenance Technician will be required to complete are:

• Making health and safety practices a primary focus
• Handling planned preventative maintenance on all equipment on site
• Deal with breakdowns and communicate clearly with parties affected to efficiently fix the issue
• Send feedback and suggestions for improvement to areas found from breakdowns, to the line manager
• Support senior maintenance technicians (if the position is a junior maintenance technician)

Amazon’s Hiring Process for Maintenance Technicians

Since maintenance technicians are responsible for a great deal of equipment and deal with any troubleshooting needed for the equipment as well as a host of other things, the screening and recruitment process for job-seekers and graduates interested in the position is different from that of other positions in the company, both in terms of the interview and the pre-employment exams. The interview will involve more in-depth questions. Tips for practice answers are provided for these questions in the article. Maintenance technicians will still practice for the regularly required online aptitude assessments, but they have three other examinations focused on technical and machine-oriented issues as well.
 

Interview Process

Maintenance work is a much more hands-on job than that of an analyst or office worker. Applicants will be asked questions to test whether they have the appropriate aptitude in electrical and mechanical areas and have experience in a variety of areas including planned preventative maintenance systems, fault finding within MHE/Automation systems, and ability to read and understand mechanical and electrical drawings. As such, questions asked will be focused on screening applicants for these areas and other similar areas. The answers will then be substantiated by the online and on-site psychometric exams and pre-employment assessments maintenance technicians are required to take during the recruitment process. Below are some of the common questions maintenance technician graduates and job-seekers may be asked during the hiring process and tips for answering them. In preparation for the interview, take time to prepare and practice your answers.

• What kind of equipment or facilities have you worked with in the past?
  An employer asking this question is looking to learn more about the candidate’s work history to determine if they have the experience necessary. This is a good opportunity for job-seekers to show the employer that the required expertise is present. Provide the interviewer with enough details about the equipment and facilities that they can gain an accurate knowledge of your past experience.
• If several machines break down at once, which would you repair first and why?
  When asked this question, focus on answering in a way that demonstrates good judgment and solid time management skills. If necessary, ask for further details of the hypothetical situation in order to better answer the interviewer’s question. How you answer will depend on what information is given with the question.
• What types of repairs do you enjoy doing, and what kinds do you struggle with?
  The goal in answering this question is to highlight strengths and frame weaknesses in a way that paints them positively. One way to do this is to start with the repairs you enjoy and are good at and then talk about the ones you struggle with along with what you have done in the past to improve these areas of difficulty. This shows interviewers that you are dedicated to shoring up weaknesses.
• How do you troubleshoot problems with equipment, and what experiences can you give to support your answer?
  The main area of interest here is technical skill. Use this opportunity to show the interviewer that you do have the technical skills the job requires and talk about the experiences that taught you to troubleshoot problems with equipment in that way. If you have a fair amount of experience in the field, then this will be easier for you than it would be for those who are recent graduates. If you are a recent graduate, you can use experiences from your schooling or apprenticeship to support your answers in this part of the recruitment process since you will not yet have the job experience in most cases.

Amazon Maintenance Technician Assessments

Job-seekers and graduates looking for a maintenance technician position have three pre-employment assessments that they may be required to take in addition to the tests discussed on the main page about Amazon’s psychometric testing and hiring process. Many of these tests can be taken online, and the aptitude test will be done online after the application is completed. Preparation is, as always, key to success. These tests and tips to help you prepare are discussed below:

• Ramsay Mechanical Aptitude Test
  Mechanical aptitude tests are used for screening candidates in fields relating to engineering or technical knowledge. This exam allows the company to assess the candidate’s ability to work in the environment they would need to work in on the job. The questions will cover topics surrounding mechanical problems including questions about moments, levers, springs, various tools, and understanding-based questions about basic electric circuits. Prior experience and knowledge are needed to do well on this exam. The test is mainly geared toward assessing the likelihood that an individual will succeed in a maintenance trainee or apprenticeship program but is also used in applications such as Amazon’s hiring process to evaluate potential employees.
• Maintenance Technician Assessment Test 1 and 2
  The Amazon maintenance technician test 1 and 2 are equivalent exams for assessing above journey-level C for maintenance technicians. The tests are both technical in nature and measure the knowledge and skill of the graduate or job-seeker at the lowest level of a maintenance technician. The tests are typically around 120 items long and multiple choice. The tests may involve testing of candidates’ knowledge of machinery or other physical concepts. The exam typically tests topics such as forces and motion, energy, electrical circuits, voltages, and currents. You will likely only take one of these two exams since they are equivalent in the information they test. As long as you prepare and practice for a mechanical aptitude test, you should have enough preparation to take either of these exams.

Conclusion

As is the case for any position, make sure your preparation focuses not only on the exams specific to your position but also on the other exams Amazon requires. These pre-employment exams are often required of graduates and job-seekers during the recruitment process. The screening and hiring process for Amazon’s maintenance technicians is difficult and rigorous. Use the tips above to help you with the interview process. Passing the online psychometric tests will require extensive practice, and being ready for the interview process requires you to do your research and prepare your answers for common questions ahead of time. If you take the time to prepare and review, however, you should do well in the process.