I applied through a recruiter. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Oct 2014
Interview
The biggest difficulty with this interview was the jet lag. I had planned to dose myself with caffeen to keep myself alert, but the canteen was consistently out of everything except decaf.
One interviewing consider his job to see how upset he could make me, and see how I would interact. He started off by asking me about things not on my resume, not part of the job, and acted as if I didn't have those experiences I was a bad candidate. Then he lead me to a question about a time I had to fix a serious customer issue. The more negitive I described the problem it the more positive he reacted, as if he was pleased. I fell for this hook line and sinker and actually called a product I had worked on @RAP twice. Granted I was refering to the way the customer reported the problem, but I'm sure that cost me the interview right there. I can't blaim them as you don't want someone who will call a product they worked on @RAP even if is under extreme stress and jet lag. But it leaves this as a bad interview experience.
With most of the interview questions, I felt I did reasonably well. There was two white boarding questions. One of which was trivial, the other was challenging.
The recruiter would provide no feedback.
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
Online Application & Assessment: Candidates apply via amazon.jobs and may be asked to complete online assessments (work simulations or technical tests).
Recruiter Phone Screen: A 30-60 minute interview to discuss your background, interest in the role, and initial behavioral questions.
Technical Phone Screen (For Tech Roles): A 60-minute interview focused on data structures, algorithms, and coding in a shared editor.
Interview Loop (Virtual/Onsite): The final stage, usually 3-5, 45-60 minute interviews held on the same day or over a few days.
Behavioral Questions: These focus on past behavior (STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, Result) mapped to Leadership Principles.
Technical/Functional Questions: Problem-solving, system design, or domain-specific questions.
Bar Raiser Interview: One interviewer is a "Bar Raiser," a neutral employee from another team tasked with ensuring hiring standards remain high.
Hiring Committee/Debrief: Interviewers meet to discuss candidate feedback and make a hiring decision.
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