Status: Working as SDE 2 in a startup in India
YOE: 2 yrs 1 month
Background: B.Tech. (Computer Science) from a Tier-3 College
Current Location: Delhi NCR

I was reached out by a tech recruiter sourcing for Amazon on LinkedIn. Recruiter was a bit hesitant at first as it usually requires 3+ years of experience to be considered for SDE 2 and I had less than of 2 years at that time. Also, Amazon focuses a bit more on OOPS and I didn't have that extensive experience with OOPS as where I am working, all code is written in a procedural manner. Still, she gave me an opportunity because I had experience in LLD/HLD as I was completely owning a Vertical from Tech Side in my current org. The whole process took around 1 month.

There were total 5 Rounds (1 Online Test, 4 Virtual Interviews). The rounds were not taken in the order as I was told by the recruiter. So, I am not sure which was actually the Hiring Manager Round as there were two rounds who were taken by Software Development Managers. Though I was expecting 5 Interviews but yeah, here is how they were structured.

Round 1 (Online Test)

This was a fairly easy test. Had two LC Medium Questions. Time given was 90 minutes but completed it in around 25 mins. There was also a Psychometric Test and Feedback which is mandatory to fill to be considered for the role. Took around 15 mins to do that.

Round 2 (LP + HLD)

• Couple of questions on Amazon Leadership Principles. (10 - 15 mins) (This will be constant for every interview. And Trust me, It matters a lot)

• He asked me regarding my recent projects in which I faced any challenges. Basic Architecture of it. How did I solve for the challenges ? How did I managed the trade-offs ? etc. (15 mins)

• High Level Design (30 mins) (I would say it was an Easy-Medium System Design Question)

  Overall, I answered all the questions asked. So, this round went really good.

Round 3 (Problem Solving)

• Couple of questions on Amazon Leadership Principles. (10 - 15 mins)

• Jumped Right into Coding Questions after that

  • First was based on Linked Lists (LC Medium). I explained the approach and coded it in 15 minutes. This went well.
  • Second was Based on Tree Traversal (Difficulty Level: Somewhere in the middle of LC Medium and LC Hard). I was able to crack 70-80% part of it but was getting stuck in multiple corner cases. Tried solving with different approaches but was not able to find 100% correct approach. I was really close to it though. Time was up. I thought this went really bad as I didn't even start coding for it but Interviewer explained me the correct approach at the end and told that he was only expecting approach for this question, not the code. Huh, that was a sigh !

  Overall, It was good. Not a perfect one but crossing an acceptable threshold of performance expected in an interview. The code which I wrote for the first question was crisp and clean, I think that would have been a plus point.

Round 4 (LLD)

• Couple of questions on Amazon Leadership Principles. (10 - 15 mins)

• Low Level Design (Won't be able to share the problem as per the NDA norms). (45 mins)

  • Clarified Requirements and Use Cases
  • Focused on One Use and went on to LLD of that
  • APIs and their request/response formats
  • Database Schema and Which Database I am choosing
  • Further optimisations and normalizing the DB for read queries as the system was read heavy.

  This was an interesting round. Although, I did not do good in it as compared to previous two. Some optimisations which I did later, I think I should have done it in the first place. Was also lacking confidence at times.

Round 5 (Logical and Maintainable Code)

• Couple of questions on Amazon Leadership Principles. (10 - 15 mins)

• Coding Question - Based on Expression Evaluation

  • It was an LC Medium Question
  • But in this round specifically, the focus was on clean and perfectly structured code. I was aware of it. So, I explained approach the first and did dry run for some cases. Took a minute and made up a structure of code in mind. Started writing code along with explaining the interviewer.

  This round was a Perfect One.

Overall, All 4 interviewers were really polite and motivating. Never felt nervousness in any of the interview.

As I was thinking there is one more round left and overall it was going positive. Thought, they would call and schedule the next round. But instead they said that we are done with interviews and we have got the feedback. Will be finalising on your candidature tomorrow and will share the decision. Got the call next day that my feedback is positive and I have been selected. :)

Some Tips:

1. Amazon Problem Solving Questions would stay around LC Medium Questions only. So, Practice as much medium ones as you can. I bought LeetCode Subscripton just recently and It paid off.
2. Spend some good time in understanding and making examples for Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles. This matters a lot when a candidate is evaluated. As I worked in a small startup, I had a lot of exposure and did a lot of projects, I had multiple examples for each and every LP
3. Stay Confident. When you are giving interview. Just don't think it's going good or not. Your complete focus should be on solving the problem in front of you.

I haven't accepted the offer yet as I am also interviewing with Google. A couple of rounds are left. Based on that will choose. I ll also write a post soon sharing my experience with Google. Fingers Crossed.

Hope, this motivates you.

Comments and Answers:

1. How Many LC Questions did I solve and How did LC Premium benefited me ?

See, I was generally preparing for the interviews. Not specifically for Amazon. So, I solved much more than it could have been required.
Total: 391 (Easy: 132, Medium: 195, Hard: 64)
Solved the daily challenge everyday.

How LC Premium benefited ?

Editorials : Most of the Editorials which are hidden are the best ones. Gives you much more clarity about the solution.
Company Wise Prep: I solve 90 % of Google's and Amazon Card Questions
Gave 10-15 Mocks
All at one place will save you a lot of time. Yes, you will be able to find solutions on other websites, but most of the time either the explanation will not be that clear or problem will be a little different. Even if you save 5 mins and solving 200 Questions. You will save 5 x 200 = 1000 mins. This is significant if you are preparing along with a hectic job.
Honestly, the price you will pay for LeetCode Premium will be negligible if it helps you to land a good job. You will never regret spending on it for sure.*