I applied through other source. The process took 3 days. I interviewed at Amazon (Tempe, AZ) in Aug 2017
Interview
I was sent a link to a screen sharing platform, there would be live coding during the interview. I was to confirm first I could access it. I was told the coding could be in one of a handful of languages; Java, C++, Python, Ruby, etc. Since it has been some years since I wrote production level code, I chose Python. Probably not the best choice since I only know the basics. On the day of the interview, I received a phone from the interviewer 2 hours before the scheduled time. I was surprised and my interview routine was not shaken. I'm not sure if this was on purpose or not the interviewer claimed it was a mistake on by the person who scheduled it. After a discussion, we decided to keep the original time for the interview. I shouldn't of let this bother me but it did.
The official interview started at the correct time, re-introduced ourselves and discussed how the coding would go. There also was a short summary of what the job duties were and past projects the team has worked on. The interviewer said they didn't know Python but that was ok. We completed the coding segment, then I was given time to ask questions. I asked specific questions about the organization of the projects, team members, experience of the team, things that would make a job fun or a pain. The whole interview lasted 60 minutes.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
code a function that takes 2 parameters and an algorithm, print out all the numbers between the 2 parameters that completes the algorithm
The technical round focused on a DSA problem about finding the closest points to the origin, where I was asked to explore multiple approaches like sorting, heaps, and quickselect. It felt straightforward, and I was ready for it thanks to the time I spent on PracHub brushing up on similar questions. The interview also included a behavioral section, but overall, I found the process to be very easy. Happy to say I received an offer, which I gladly accepted!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
K Closest Points to Origin - given an array of points on the 2D plane and an integer k, return the k closest points to the origin (0,0). Walk through sort-by-distance O(n log n), heap-based O(n log k), and quickselect O(n) average; discuss when to prefer each based on the relationship between n and k.
Tough interview.
The Process: Automated Online Assessment (OA) with 2 coding questions and a system simulation, followed by a 4-round virtual Loop. Every single round started with 20 minutes of intense, behavioral behavioral questions diving into Amazon's Leadership Principles, followed by 25 minutes of technical coding or system design.
Amazon interviews are a test of mental endurance because you have to switch from deep behavioral storytelling straight into complex coding which can be so difficult. I used Apex Interviewer to practice the cognitive context switch. Running through their live-coding workspace helped me ensure my technical communication and architectural structures remained sharp and automatic, even after spending the first half of the interview defending my past project metrics. I fed the practice AI questions I extracted from glassdoor and gothamloop.
In the end, the offer was way lower than I hoped.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design the backend inventory tracking and placement service for a global fulfillment network, ensuring strict transactional consistency across multiple regional warehouses during peak shopping events.
Initial screening call with recruiter followed by a 1 hr hacker rank question on DSA. The final round was a panel consisting of 4 interviews ranging from technical design, more DSA and behaviour questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a time when you disagreed with your team and how you resolved it
