I applied online. I interviewed at Amazon (Arlington, VA) in Feb 2025
Interview
Amazon’s Software Engineer (SDE) interview process includes multiple stages: an Online Assessment (OA) with coding problems and work simulations, followed by a Recruiter Call to discuss experience and fit. Next, Technical Phone Interviews (1–2 rounds) assess problem-solving skills using data structures and algorithms. If successful, candidates proceed to Onsite Interviews (4–5 rounds), covering coding (LeetCode medium-hard problems), system design (for senior roles), and behavioral questions based on Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles using the STAR method. The final Hiring Manager round evaluates team fit and leadership skills. If selected, candidates receive an offer with salary negotiations, followed by a background check. Strong DSA knowledge, system design expertise, and familiarity with Amazon’s leadership principles are key to success.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision with incomplete information. How did you handle it?
Interviewed for silicon team. Have only been asked about the domain specific knowledge in 1st round and system design in 2nd round and C coding in 3rd round.
The interviews were 50 mins each.
First round with hr screening - 2 leetcode questions then hr manager screening then the loop which consists of 4 interviews each an hour long. The 4 interview questions they asked where three medium leetcode questions. And one system design interview question about how to shadow deploy a test software to millions of users.
The phone screen went longer than expected, focusing heavily on implementation details. The interviewer really grilled me on my approach to a Least Recently Used (LRU) cache, asking how I'd combine a hashmap with a doubly linked list. I felt well-prepared since I had gone through system design examples on PracHub, which made me comfortable discussing eviction policies. The later rounds included more technical questions and behavioral interviews, but in the end, I received an offer, though I ultimately decided to decline. Overall, I’d say the process was average, with solid questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design and implement a Least Recently Used (LRU) cache supporting get(key) and put(key, value) in O(1) average time. Walk through combining a hashmap with a doubly linked list, eviction policy when capacity is exceeded, and how you'd extend it to handle thread-safe concurrent access.