Amazon | SDE | Reject
Anonymous User
1447

I want to share my virtual interview experience with Amazon USA that happend yesterday.
Total 5 rounds + Online Assessment (2 questions)
Applied online 1 month back and recrutier contaced me the same day. I completed OA in week and then received invitation for onsite interview. But later it was changed to virtual interview due to COVID-19.

Profile:
MS with 4 Years of experience. (Currently not working as a SDE)

Round 1 ~ 60 mins

  1. 30 minutes LP
  2. String problem which can be solved using a BFS or DP technique. I started with BFS, but interviewer confused me and suggested me to check backtracking to solve the problem. I'm not sure how good my solution was, but interviewer seemed to accept the logic when I ran through the example using backtracking method.

Round 2 (~ 60 mins) (Probably bar raiser)

  1. 30 minutes LP
  2. OOPS design. Very simple problem. I totaly bombed this as I work in python enviroment and don't follow all the design principles. I designed and added some constructors and 2 methods but missed to add another method. Unnecessarily created complex logic similar to an old Java example I remembered. I didn't utter a single word like data encapsulation, abstraction. Used inheritence feature while designing. Interviewer wasn't really engaged during the entire interview session and I felt I was speaking to myself about the design. Interviewer only went through the design logic 5 minutes before the end of the interview.

Round 3 ( ~ 60 minutes) (Shadowing)

  1. 15 minutes LP + 15 minutes LP at the end
  2. High Level System Design: 30 mintues. Similar to collecting data from large number of small components from the field. I did okay as I had only 30 minutes. I explained how I would use design a couple of high level components mainly data base and application layer which does some specific task. Asked about why I would choose a particular technique and why I would save all data and some other questions. I explained to him and interviewer seemed happy. I forgot to mention caching and load balancer components while designing. But before concluding the interview I said I would add those components as well, but interviewer said that they are not expecting a perfect design but want to see whether I know the trade offs when I choose a particular component and design. (Not sure how well I performed. Interviwer had a happy face)

Round 4 ( ~ 60 minutes) (Hiring Manger)

  1. 60 mintes LP. I did okay. I'm not sure if I followed STAR structure. I used to start my anwer with the SITUATION, but forgot to mention TASK, ACTION and RESULT. I used to follow a story pattern. Interviewer would ask me what is the result and many follow up questions and also wanted to know why I would want as SDE instead of workig in my current field.

Round 5 ( ~ 60 minutes) : (Shadowing)

  1. 15 mintues LP
  2. 1 BFS problem to search nearest path. I anwered and presented my solution in 5 mintues. I had to walk through one example in another 5 mintues. I had plently of time left, so interviewer asked me bunch of extended questions and I answered them all and it was a good round. I had 15 minutes to ask questions.

Thanks Leetcode Community. Is there any chance of getting offer?

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