Update: Thanks so much for responses.

I wanted to share my experience with Amazon and some other companies I interviewed for SDEIII. These are my first Interview experiences with FAANGs.

My journey has only begun, I have multiple interviews coming up, will write about them as and when they happen.
This post is less about interview experience hence not mentioning (companies other than Amazon)
and more about learnings. I hope it can help someone in some way.

It takes a lot of blood and sweat, First thing to do is figure out if the shiny TCs are even worth it. Realistically It may take up to a year of hard work. It's good if you are young and have time but if you have family, you are going to lose some precious moments with them. There will be no work life balance. Not only your work will suffer but also your personal life.

If you are ok with above, below is my advice to anyone who is preparing for the Big companies.

1. Start giving interviews as soon as you have done 50-80 LCs. This is the best advice I can give.
   Do not wait for count to reach some specific number(300+ etc). Fail Fast. It's better to fail in the initial days of your preparation and gain insight than to fail later and lose confidence.

2. Even if Amazon is not your dream company, I would suggest you to prep their Leadership Principles.
   It took me a month and I am way more prepared for the behavioral than required in other companies. It is one less thing to worry about and it gives you an edge over other candidates, these stories are deciding factors for senior positions.

3. You can read all the interview experience you want but your's may still be unique and different.

4. You would either go blank or wont stop speaking due to nervousness. People act strange in interview settings, figure out what mistakes you make and make those mistakes early (refer point 1) and learn from it so you can avoid them.

5. Prepare for system design along with LC. In one of the initial phone screens I was asked System design and was caught off guard since I never knew it would come up in the first round. I was saving sys design prep for later stages. Thankfully, I knew the template, asked right questions. I was in fight or flight mode, I fought hard and kept asking questions for first 10 mins and drove the conversation, talking every trade off I could think of, throwing different tech options along with what to use when if we care about cost etc. It would have been my best round if I had prepared but given the situation, I think I did great.

6. There may not be any ice breakers such as introduce yourself. In one of the interviews, interviewer directly pasted a problem without even introducing herself or asking about my intro. This also caught me off guard and made me nervous. In the end interviewer said: "I am not sure what your current role is , looks like I didnt ask". I was like yeah but was so tired and lost the will to sell myself at that point lol.

7. Majority of the interviewers will be nicest people you ever met. You may feel like you are working as a team. But dont take their friendliness as a sign interview is going in the right direction. They might go along even if you are wrong. Only solid preparation can help you.

8. You will replay your interview experiences in your head again and again and will drive yourself crazy. Waiting for the result is painful and agonizing period. I say, take a break from LC and studying, watch motivational movies, spend time with family. Try to forget about what's already done. You will know the results sooner or later.

9. You will anticipate a positive response even if you bombed interviews. Because miracles do happen lol. This is human nature. Again, try not to think of outcome, take vacation if you can.

10. There may come a time when you are failing a lot and start questioning yourself. You might lower your expectations and accept the first company that gives you offer. Dont get discouraged, it doesn't mean that you failed. It just means that you are burnt out. It doesn't mean that you dont have the capabilities. Accept whatever offer you have at hand and Try again for your dream companies. Two things can happen here:
    ( A-) You realize this is your dream company and wont bother applying ever again to FAANG.
    (happened to my friend, he became VP later on in the same company and earning equal to what you'd get at FAANG + better WLB)
    (B-) If not, You may not even need much preparation next time around. Focus on your personal life and family and try again later.

As for my experiences, I went from freezing in my interviews to constantly talking and had answers for everything. Sorry for the long post, these are my personal experiences, just writing them down in hopes someone finds this post useful in some way. All the best!!