Yet another Amazon job post cliche but I'll still say it. But before that - Thank you @LeetCode and Leetcode community for providing a valuable platform for developers to learn and grow.

YOE - 3
Prep time ~ 2 months more or less (but had been studying DS on and off)
Level - SDE2

My total LC problem solved - 170

I was approached by the recruiter on social media. I spoke to her and asked her to give me some time as I had recently joined another company and had moved to a different state not that long ago. Later pandemic happened and I decided to give it a try (Also, I am a person who would perform better at a gunpoint so decided to schedule next round in a week or so)

1. Online Assessment

Last week of May - I got done with the assessment and got heads up for the next round in the next week

2 questions - 1 Medium Level and 1 Medium - Easy level. Both LC questions

Later, HR scheduled a call and asked for availability and choose a date with a months gap

2. Round 1

First 30-35 min questions
LC hard question (This is one of the most famous questions)

3. Round 2

First 30 min LP questions
OOD question (interesting questions, nothing like the ones in gr***** obj***********)
- had a tough time here but got guided regularly. What I would suggest is think out loud, keep talking
so that they'll know what is your thought process

4. Round 3

First 30 min LP questions
System design question
- I don't have any professional system design experience so was a bit tensed about it but it was fun working on the question.
It was like a discussion with a coworker

Tips - Prep material

1. Gro***** Sys***** wonderful material for starter
2. Youtube Videos - very very helpful - just have a look at every video for a problem and try understanding their mindset.
   For instance, Uber- do it from the book and compare and contrast that with the ones in the videos
3. First, sketch a high-level diagram and then work your way up
4. Always this about scalability, think about fault tolerance. In the end check if you need to add Load balancers, Caches if we need CDN, etc

4. Round 4
First 30 min LP questions
LC hard level code
- had seen this question so I knew its a DP problem but it had a twist so had to change the logic a bit

Ok so what I would like to share is the mindset - most of the people right now are working somewhere, you will have to manage the work, work on your coding skills, OOD prep, System design research, and manage life. It is definitely overwhelming. But what I would suggest is to remove all your thoughts and try to tackle one at a time. There was a time when I got hang of LC so I used to do that when I was feeling lazy or was done reading system design materials. Try to find your routine but don't overthink and don't make a schedule because that never works (I mean I an not a schedule person)

For System design -

You will understand the concepts and designs but its a different ball game when you have to explain it.
Do P-R-A-M-P at least alternate days. Make a template for your self as to how you want to approach the problem

Sketch it on a paper and talk to your self, that way you will come across concepts that you don't have answers to.
Read them up and make a note of it somewhere.

There will be a time where you will feel that you can crack this and most of the time you will feel it is not gonna happen. But try to avoid such thoughts and keep at it. At a point, I felt I will not make it but I could not do this anymore - manage work, life, and prep. So I decided to give it a shot with whatever I know.

In the end, its a process, just enjoy it and give whatever you have it in you. Because later when you look back, you should not feel that you could have done XYZ better.

Sorry the sequence is haywired, just typed whatever came to my mid.

Thanks.