STATUS: Final Year [2021], B.E. Computer Science and Engineering, Tier-3
POSITION: SDE 1
LOCATION: Bangalore, India
DATE: June 14, 2021

Note: I have done a two months remote internship at a startup and am working as web developer with a cyber security community since July 2020.

Timeline [Application -> Interview]

• (23/02/2021) Received email asking if I would be interested in being contacted for job opportunities at Amazon. [Yes, ofcourse]

• (23/02/2021) Received another email with job profile and links for application.

• (24/02/2021) Received online assessment link to be completed by (28/02)

• (28/02/2021) Completed test [ Last moment 😬]

• Heard nothing regarding the test for more than a month but kept receiving test link emails for different positions at amazon.

• At one point I was "Under Consideration" for 4 different positions!

• (08/04/2021) Received email that they will not be moving forward with my candidature.

• (29/04/2021) Received email that I have cleared the Online Assessment and got invited for interviews.

• (14/06/2021) Technical Interview Round 1 and Round 2

• (24/06/2021) Received a call that they will be moving forward with my candidature and scheduled the remaining 2 rounds of interview.

Online Assessment

• 105 Mins Coding Challenge and Coding Approach (Explain approach in detail)
• 15 Mins Work Style Survey
• 5 Mins Feedback Survey

Interview Preparation Guidance Call

• This is basically a prep call conducted by the recruiters wherein they explain the interview process, tell you what to expect during an interview and address common questions. This is generally a group session with other candidates.

• I inquired regarding the "will not be moving forward" email I received few days before and they informed me that it was because earlier they were not considering 2021 graduates for that position but now they have started considering them. So voila!

Interview Delay

• Was informed that since most of the candidates have requested to delay the interviews (due to university exams) they will be conducting it in June.

Technical Round 1 & 2

Round 1:

• The interviewer joined after 10 mins, introduced himself and asked me to introduce myself.

• Asked me a few questions from my resume.

• He shared the first question, on Strings, and I started by asking a few questions.

• I started giving out an approach way more complicated than the actual solution.

• NOTE: I am saying "actual solution" because the question was generic and had a straight DS application. However, I failed to see it initially. (because I had not been practicing 😬)

• After a few minutes, he said "think of a DS" and the solution hit me.

• I discussed the solution and coded it.

• He asked me to dry run and test the code first and only then tell him - "I am ready"

• He gave me some edge cases and my code did not consider one of them.

• I picked up that case instantly but my code actually needed a lot of modification to adjust that case.

• A lot of time was wasted here and we actually moved on to another question after discussing time and space complexity.

• He shared the second question. Again, a generic question.

• Seemed like he needed to observe if I can optimize the solution and discuss trade-offs.

• I discussed the approach and coded it. Tested it.

• He asked me what will I do if he asked me to optimize it.

• I explained the alternative approach. We discussed the time and space complexity of both the solutions.

• He then asked me a few behavioral questions related to Amazon's Leadership principles referencing my resume and projects.

• He seemed interested in my participation in robotics and we discussed that in depth.

• He asked me if I had any questions and was done!

Round 2:

• She shared the first question after pleasantries.

• One can call it a generic question but it was a nightmare for me because I hate Scheduling problems.

• I struggled while cracking the solution. However, coding it was really simple.

• NOTE: The interviewer was really patient and open.

• We discussed time and space complexity and moved on to another question.

• She asked me, “how are you with trees? "Good, I guess" - My answer.

• She gave me a question about trees. It was a mixture of popular tree questions we see.

• I explained the solution. It was simple. Here, coding was a little complex.

• I coded the entire solution. Tested it and we discussed the time and space complexity of the solution.

• She asked me if I had any questions for her and wrapped up.

Result

• The recruiter called back to inform me that they were moving forward with my candidature and wanted to schedule final rounds of the interview.
• However, I had to decline the invitation.

Conclusion

• I felt my interviewers were testing my knowledge of basic DSA and my ability to code. Like speed and conciseness.

• They didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that I missed the simple approach initially, as long as I pivoted sharply and picked up the pace during coding.

• Time and Space Complexity were a major part.

• and Amazon leadership principles ARE important for Amazon's interview!

Hope this helps.
All the best!

Ps.
Read my,
Google Interview Experience
Microsoft Interview Experience