I applied online. I interviewed at Amazon in Jun 2013
Interview
I applied about one month ago. Then after two weeks, I got an email from recruiter in Amazon asking me to do an online assessment in 6 days. I've done it last night. The questions are relatively simple, people who have gone through data structures can solve it without too much thinking. It was 3 questions in up to 90 minutes. The hard part is for each question, I have to write down description of approach, assumptions, which data structures used and why, analysis on complexity, and code comments. It took me more than 10 minutes to get these documents done (one can easily tell I am not native speaker btw:) )
There was another session for behavior test after finished 3 questions. Things about whether you think you are creative, or what will you do if you find a minor bug near deadline. All self-selection questions.
I just finished the first-round. Long before I get a position. Since I have to select whether get offer or not. Better to select a yes for good luck :) Wondering if I can update later
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Writing documentation for 3 test questions took me a big way too long time.
I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Bengaluru) in Jun 2013
Interview
Applied online and got a call from the HR for 1:1 interviews on a Saturday
Interview rounds were on Problem solving, Algorithms, Data structures, Coding
There was no phone screen/written test.
First 2 rounds were at similar level (later got to know that SDE-1s took these interviews),
Candidate was called for further rounds, if at least 1 round was "Meets Amazon standards" and another "Not sure".
If any of these interviews went bad, candidates were eliminated immediately.
These interviews were 1 hour each, mainly focusing on data structures and coding.
Third was Hiring Manager round, where in both technical and HR questions are asked. This round spanned for 1.5 hours, Varied questions were asked. Approach is checked, and time was given for difficult questions,
Fourth was Culture Fit round (1 hour), Interviewer was late and apologized twice for the same.
This round was to check if one is right fit for the role at amazon. This round surprisingly had a data structure question. Then, on current project, challenging situation, why should we hire, etc.
Fifth was another technical round, This time with senior interviewer (SDE-2 or SDE-3), again for Problem solving, Algorithms, Data structures and Coding.
There was a puzzle to solve at the end.
Feed backs after interview rounds were prompt and regular. I was informed that I was selected the next day after last round. The offer letter was dispatched in another 4 days.
All Interviews took place at Amazon office in WTC building, Except first round, where interviewer started off with questions straight away, all other interviewers were friendly.
In general, I felt interviewers very smart and also work environment seemed good.
PS: Good Lunch was provided for the candidates who had to wait for second round :-)
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given a n (large number) lists of customers who visited n webpages on n (large number) days, design a data structure to get customers who have visited the website on exactly "k" days and should have visited at least "m" distinct pages altogether.
Was then asked to improvise the solution as much as possible