AmazonAmazon SDE I Interview Experience — Selected
Hi everyone! Sharing my Amazon SDE I interview experience in case it helps someone preparing for Amazon or similar Software Development Engineer roles.
I recently went through the Amazon University Talent Acquisition (AUTA) hiring process for the Software Development Engineer I role for the Bengaluru location.
Online Assessment
The OA had 2 DSA problems:
Moderate Hard
Very Hard
I solved the 1st completely and the 2nd partially (7/15 testcases passed).
There was also a Work Simulation and Work Style Assessment.
Round 1 — DSA
Duration: 70 minutes
There were 2 DSA problems — 1 Medium and 1 Hard.
1. Similar to Jump Game 2
2. Binary Tree Cameras
Round 2 — DSA + Leadership Principles
Duration: 90 minutes
This round had 2 DSA problems (1 Medium, 1 Hard) + 4 LP-based questions.
DSA
1. Remove K Digits — Stack
2. Minimum Cost to Reach Destination in Time — LC 1928
Leadership Principles
The questions were:
Tell me about a time you were proud of your work.
Tell me about a time you dove deep and optimized something.
Tell me about time where you completed a project on your own.
Tell me about how will you communicate if you think you will miss deadline.
The interviewer had 4 year exp (4 years at Amazon, SDE2).
Round 3 — BAR RAISER
Duration: 35 minutes
This was the toughest round for me.
The interviewer asked:
Can you describe a complex problem you encountered that required in-depth research, development of proof of concepts, and exploration of multiple solutions to address the issue?
LPs: Deep Dive, Earn Trust, Customer Obsession
We discussed my work for only ~25 minutes, but this was the toughest round.
The interviewer had 15 year exp (11 years at Amazon, SDM).
My Takeaways
Prepare stories and LPs very very seriously. Think of follow-ups and prepare answers for all possible scenarios.
For DSA, go from Brute → Better → Optimal, explain every single thing that you are thinking, give good variable names, debug, and complete the dry run.
Also, don't underestimate the Bar Raiser round. My third round was only 35 minutes and I thought I had bottled it, but I still received positive hints from the interviewer and eventually got the offer.
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