I applied online. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA)
Interview
One of the the more unpleasant interview experiences of my life. Interviewers were cold and unwilling to share any information beyond their "portfolio of question". Their "coding quiz" (which, in concept, is quite reasonable) asked some of the most bizarre questions, much of what I believe had little to do with "real life" applications - they were more attuned to a sophomore or junior-level undergrad, and, quite frankly, were a poor barometer to ascertain one's skill as a software engineer. I was, and still am, left puzzled as to how these folks make intelligent decisions on whom to hire - I believe they're turning away (and turning off) many highly talented people.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Their absurd quiz. Why would you ask someone to author a search algorithm from scratch when there are so many good ones available in open source and on various chat boards and blogs. A smart software engineer would never design one from scratch - he/she would look at what's been previously done (after all, it's NOT a new problem; it's been solved and optimized numerous times over), and select/adapt for one's specific application. I fail to see how this "quiz" helps differentiate good candidates from poor ones (IMO, it does quite the opposite).
I applied through a staffing agency. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in May 2026
Interview
There were a total of 2 rounds:
The first round was with an SDE II on Data Structures/Algo - Leet code questions mainly
The second rounds was with an SDM Behavioral/System Design - Leadership principles and past work experience impact.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Amazon in Feb 2026
Interview
Recruiter explicitly mentioned that the Technical Phone Screen interview did not contain any Behavioral question but the interviewer definitely asked 3 behavioral questions.
The coding problem was utterly garbage, it was a pretty trivial problem that anyone that knows DFS would be able to solve. That is not appropriate for a SDE 2 role. Not even useful to demonstrate candidate skills
PS: They care a lot more about what you've accomplished than whatever you can accomplish based on your skills
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1. Tell me about a time when you had to meet a tight deadline
2. Tell me about a time when you had to do more than what you were required to do
3. Tell me about a time where you made a significant impact on a customer
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Amazon (Bengaluru) in Sep 2025
Interview
5 rounds of interviews
1. OA (2 Medium Hard Questions along with some Work Related Assessment which tested design related concepts)
2. HLD
3. DSA
4. LLD
5. Bar Raiser
Technically, the questions were of medium difficulty and with good polish, you should be able to solve these questions. The main challenge in Amazon is of the Leadership Principles which involve citing real work experience in the STAR format.
1
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