problem solving interview questions amazon

Cracking the top Amazon coding interview questions

Landing a job at Amazon is a dream for many developers around the globe. Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world, with a workforce of over half a million strong.

For you to join them, you’ll need to complete their unique interview that combines technical and leadership knowledge.

Today, we’ll walk you through everything you need to crack the Amazon technical interview , including questions and answers for coding problems and a step-by-step tech interview prep guide .

Amazon Leetcode Questions

Amazon is a dream company for many developers. To get yourself a job at Amazon, the most important part is to practice your interview skills and apply for the correct position. Make sure you thoroughly look at the job description to ensure that it matches your skill set. The next step is to practice some Amazon Leetcode Questions. Solving Leetcode problems is an exceptional way to practice your coding skills.

Educative has curated a collection of Amazon-specific LeetCode problems to facilitate focused practice. There’s no need to feel overwhelmed by the vast array of over 2000+ LeetCode problems. With this select set, you can practice and develop the logic necessary to tackle all the coding problems typically encountered in Amazon interviews. We’veve also added 40+ commonly asked Amazon coding interview questions for you to practice and improve your skills. For detailed lists of questions curated to help you ace the Amazon coding interviews, Educative-99 and Educative-77 are the perfect places to start.

Today, we will go over the following:

45 common Amazon coding interview questions
Overview of Amazon coding interviews
How to prepare for a coding interview

Wrapping up and resources

Answer any Amazon interview question by learning the patterns behind common questions. Grokking Coding Interview Patterns in Python Grokking Coding Interview Patterns in JavaScript Grokking Coding Interview Patterns in Java Grokking Coding Interview Patterns in Go Grokking Coding Interview Patterns in C++

problem solving interview questions amazon

45 common Amazon technical coding interview questions

1. find the missing number in the array.

You are given an array of positive numbers from 1 to n , such that all numbers from 1 to n are present except one number x . You have to find x . The input array is not sorted. Look at the below array and give it a try before checking the solution.

Click here to view the solution in C++, Java, JavaScript, and Ruby.

Runtime Complexity: Linear, O ( n ) O(n) O ( n )

Memory Complexity: Constant, O ( 1 ) O(1) O ( 1 )

A naive solution is to simply search for every integer between 1 and n in the input array, stopping the search as soon as there is a missing number. But we can do better. Here is a linear, O ( n ) O(n) O ( n ) , solution that uses the arithmetic series sum formula. Here are the steps to find the missing number:

Find the sum sum_of_elements of all the numbers in the array. This would require a linear scan, O ( n ) O(n) O ( n ) .
Then find the sum expected_sum of first n numbers using the arithmetic series sum formula
The difference between these i.e. expected_sum - sum_of_elements , is the missing number in the array.

2. Determine if the sum of two integers is equal to the given value

Given an array of integers and a value, determine if there are any two integers in the array whose sum is equal to the given value. Return true if the sum exists and return false if it does not. Consider this array and the target sums:

Memory Complexity: Linear, O ( n ) O(n) O ( n )

You can use the following algorithm to find a pair that add up to the target (say val ).

Scan the whole array once and store visited elements in a hash set.
During scan , for every element e in the array, we check if val - e is present in the hash set i.e. val - e is already visited.
If val - e is found in the hash set, it means there is a pair ( e , val - e ) in array whose sum is equal to the given val .
If we have exhausted all elements in the array and didn’t find any such pair, the function will return false

3. Merge two sorted linked lists

Given two sorted linked lists, merge them so that the resulting linked list is also sorted. Consider two sorted linked lists and the merged list below them as an example.

Runtime Complexity: Linear, O ( m + n ) O(m + n) O ( m + n ) where m and n are lengths of both linked lists

Maintain a head and a tail pointer on the merged linked list. Then choose the head of the merged linked list by comparing the first node of both linked lists. For all subsequent nodes in both lists, you choose the smaller current node and link it to the tail of the merged list, and moving the current pointer of that list one step forward.

Continue this while there are some remaining elements in both the lists. If there are still some elements in only one of the lists, you link this remaining list to the tail of the merged list. Initially, the merged linked list is NULL .

Compare the value of the first two nodes and make the node with the smaller value the head node of the merged linked list. In this example, it is 4 from head1 . Since it’s the first and only node in the merged list, it will also be the tail. Then move head1 one step forward.

4. Copy linked list with arbitrary pointer

You are given a linked list where the node has two pointers. The first is the regular next pointer. The second pointer is called arbitrary and it can point to any node in the linked list. Your job is to write code to make a deep copy of the given linked list. Here, deep copy means that any operations on the original list should not affect the copied list.

This approach uses a map to track arbitrary nodes pointed by the original list. You will create a deep copy of the original linked list (say list_orig ) in two passes.

In the first pass, create a copy of the original linked list. While creating this copy, use the same values for data and arbitrary_pointer in the new list. Also, keep updating the map with entries where the key is the address to the old node and the value is the address of the new node.
Once the copy has been created, do another pass on the copied linked list and update arbitrary pointers to the new address using the map created in the first pass.

5. Level Order Traversal of Binary Tree

Given the root of a binary tree, display the node values at each level. Node values for all levels should be displayed on separate lines. Let’s take a look at the below binary tree.

Here, you are using two queues: current_queue and next_queue . You push the nodes in both queues alternately based on the current level number.

You’ll dequeue nodes from the current_queue , print the node’s data, and enqueue the node’s children to the next_queue . Once the current_queue becomes empty, you have processed all nodes for the current level_number. To indicate the new level , print a line break ( \n ), swap the two queues, and continue with the above-mentioned logic.

After printing the leaf nodes from the current_queue , swap current_queue and next_queue . Since the current_queue would be empty, you can terminate the loop.

6. Determine if a binary tree is a binary search tree

Given a Binary Tree, figure out whether it’s a Binary Search Tree . In a binary search tree, each node’s key value is smaller than the key value of all nodes in the right subtree, and is greater than the key values of all nodes in the left subtree. Below is an example of a binary tree that is a valid BST.

Below is an example of a binary tree that is not a BST.

There are several ways of solving this problem. A basic algorithm would be to check on each node where the maximum value of its left sub-tree is less than the node’s data and the minimum value of its right sub-tree is greater than the node’s data. This is highly inefficient as for each node, both of its left and right sub-trees are explored.

Another approach would be to do a regular in-order traversal and in each recursive call, pass maximum and minimum bounds to check whether the current node’s value is within the given bounds.

7. String segmentation

You are given a dictionary of words and a large input string. You have to find out whether the input string can be completely segmented into the words of a given dictionary. The following two examples elaborate on the problem further.

Given a dictionary of words.

Input string of “applepie” can be segmented into dictionary words.

Input string “applepeer” cannot be segmented into dictionary words.

Runtime Complexity: Exponential, O ( 2 n ) O(2^n) O ( 2 n )

Memory Complexity: Polynomial, O ( n 2 ) O(n^2) O ( n 2 )

You can solve this problem by segmenting the large string at each possible position to see if the string can be completely segmented to words in the dictionary. If you write the algorithm in steps it will be as follows:

The algorithm will compute two strings from scratch in each iteration of the loop. Worst case scenario, there would be a recursive call of the second_word each time. This shoots the time complexity up to 2 n 2^n 2 n .

You can see that you may be computing the same substring multiple times, even if it doesn’t exist in the dictionary. This redundancy can be fixed by memoization, where you remember which substrings have already been solved.

To achieve memoization, you can store the second string in a new set each time. This will reduce both time and memory complexities.

8. Reverse Words in a Sentence

Reverse the order of words in a given sentence (an array of characters).

The steps to solve this problem are simpler than they seem:

Reverse the string.
Traverse the string and reverse each word in place.

9. How many ways can you make change with coins and a total amount

Suppose we have coin denominations of [1, 2, 5] and the total amount is 7. We can make changes in the following 6 ways:

Runtime Complexity: Quadratic, O ( m ∗ n ) O(m*n) O ( m ∗ n )

To solve this problem, we’ll keep an array of size amount + 1 . One additional space is reserved because we also want to store the solution for the 0 amount.

There is only one way you can make a change of 0 , i.e., select no coin so we’ll initialize solution[0] = 1 . We’ll solve the problem for each amount, denomination to amount, using coins up to a denomination, den .

The results of different denominations should be stored in the array solution. The solution for amount x using a denomination den will then be:

We’ll repeat this process for all the denominations, and at the last element of the solution array, we will have the solution.

10. Find Kth permutation

Given a set of ‘n’ elements, find their Kth permutation. Consider the following set of elements:

All permutations of the above elements are (with ordering):

Here we need to find the Kth permutation.

Here is the algorithm that we will follow:

11. Find all subsets of a given set of integers

We are given a set of integers and we have to find all the possible subsets of this set of integers. The following example elaborates on this further.

Given set of integers:

All possile subsets for the given set of integers:

Runtime Complexity: Exponential, O ( 2 n ∗ n ) O(2^n*n) O ( 2 n ∗ n )

Memory Complexity: Exponential, O ( 2 n ∗ n ) O(2^n*n) O ( 2 n ∗ n )

There are several ways to solve this problem. We will discuss the one that is neat and easier to understand. We know that for a set of n elements there are 2 n 2^n 2 n subsets. For example, a set with 3 elements will have 8 subsets. Here is the algorithm we will use:

12. Print balanced brace combinations

Print all braces combinations for a given value n so that they are balanced. For this solution, we will be using recursion.

Runtime Complexity: Exponential, 2 n 2^n 2 n

The solution is to maintain counts of left_braces and right_braces . The basic algorithm is as follows:

13. Clone a Directed Graph

Given the root node of a directed graph, clone this graph by creating its deep copy so that the cloned graph has the same vertices and edges as the original graph.

Let’s look at the below graphs as an example. If the input graph is G = ( V , E ) G = (V, E) G = ( V , E ) where V is set of vertices and E is set of edges, then the output graph (cloned graph) G’ = (V’, E’) such that V = V’ and E = E’. We are assuming that all vertices are reachable from the root vertex, i.e. we have a connected graph.

Memory Complexity: Logarithmic, O ( l o g n ) O(logn) O ( l o g n )

We use depth-first traversal and create a copy of each node while traversing the graph. To avoid getting stuck in cycles, we’ll use a hashtable to store each completed node and will not revisit nodes that exist in the hashtable. The hashtable key will be a node in the original graph, and its value will be the corresponding node in the cloned graph.

14. Find Low/High Index

Given a sorted array of integers, return the low and high index of the given key. You must return -1 if the indexes are not found. The array length can be in the millions with many duplicates.

In the following example, according to the key , the low and high indices would be:

key : 1, low = 0 and high = 0
key : 2, low = 1 and high = 1
ke y: 5, low = 2 and high = 9
key : 20, low = 10 and high = 10

For the testing of your code, the input array will be:

Runtime Complexity: Logarithmic, O ( l o g n ) O(logn) O ( l o g n )

Linearly scanning the sorted array for low and high indices are highly inefficient since our array size can be in millions. Instead, we will use a slightly modified binary search to find the low and high indices of a given key. We need to do binary search twice: once for finding the low index, once for finding the high index.

Let’s look at the algorithm for finding the low index. At every step, consider the array between low and high indices and calculate the mid index.

If the element at mid index is less than the key , low becomes mid + 1 (to move towards the start of range).
If the element at mid is greater or equal to the key , the high becomes mid - 1 . Index at low remains the same.
When low is greater than high , low would be pointing to the first occurrence of the key .
If the element at low does not match the key , return -1 .

Similarly, we can find the high index by slightly modifying the above condition:

Switch the low index to mid + 1 when element at mid index is less than or equal to the key .
Switch the high index to mid - 1 when the element at mid is greater than the key .

15. Search Rotated Array

Search for a given number in a sorted array, with unique elements, that has been rotated by some arbitrary number. Return -1 if the number does not exist. Assume that the array does not contain duplicates.

The solution is essentially a binary search but with some modifications. If we look at the array in the example closely, we notice that at least one half of the array is always sorted. We can use this property to our advantage. If the number n lies within the sorted half of the array, then our problem is a basic binary search. Otherwise, discard the sorted half and keep examining the unsorted half. Since we are partitioning the array in half at each step, this gives us O ( l o g n ) O(log n) O ( l o g n ) runtime complexity.

Overview of the Amazon technical coding interview

To land a software engineering job at Amazon, you need to know what lies ahead. The more prepared you are, the more confident you will be. So, let’s break it down.

Interview Timeline: The whole interview process takes 6 to 8 weeks to complete.

Types of Interviews: Amazon coding interviews consist of 5 to 7 interviews. This includes 1 assessment for fit and aptitude, 1-2 online tests, and 4-6 on-site interviews, also known as The Loop.

The Loop: The onsite interviews include 1 to 3 interviews with hiring managers and 1 bar raiser interview to evaluate Amazon’s 14 leadership principles.

Coding Questions: Amazon programming questions focus on algorithms, data structures, puzzles, and more.

Hiring Levels: Amazon usually hires at entry-level 4 (out of 12 total), and the average salary for that level ranges from $106,000 to $114,000 yearly.

Hiring Teams: Amazon hires based on teams. The most common hiring teams are Alexa and AWS.

Programming Languages: Amazon prefers the following programming languages for coding questions: Java, C++, Python, Ruby, and Perl.

Amazon’s 14 leadership principles

Though coding interviews at Amazon are similar to other big tech companies, there are a few differences in their process, in particular, the Bar Raiser . Amazon brings in an objective third-party interviewer called a Bar Raiser, who evaluates candidates on Amazon’s 14 Leadership Principles. The Bar Raiser has complete veto power over whether or not you will be hired.

It is unlikely that you will know which of your interviewers is the Bar Raiser. The key is to take every part of the interview seriously and always assume you’re being evaluated for cultural fit as well as technical competency.

Below are the 14 values that you will be evaluated on.

How to prepare for an Amazon coding interview

Now that you have a sense of what to expect from an interview and know what kinds of questions to expect, let’s learn some preparation strategies based on Amazon’s unique interview process.

Updating your resume

Make sure you’ve updated your resume and LinkedIn profile. Always use deliverables and metrics when you can as they are concrete examples of what you’ve accomplished. Typically recruiters will browse LinkedIn for candidates.

If an Amazon recruiter believes that you are a good match they will reach out to you (via email or LinkedIn) to set up a time to chat. Even if you don’t land the job this time, chatting with them is a great chance to network

Prepare for coding assessment

It’s up to you to come to a coding interview fully prepared for technical assessment. I recommend at least three months of self-study to be successful. This includes choosing a programming language, reviewing the basics, and studying algorithms, data structures, system design , object-oriented programming, OS, and concurrency concepts.

You’ll also want to prepare for behavioral interviews .

It’s best to find or create an Interview Prep Roadmap to keep yourself on track.

Prescreen with a recruiter

Expect a light 15-30 minute call where the recruiter will gauge your interest level and determine if you’re a good fit. The recruiter may touch on a few technical aspects. They just want to get an idea of your skills. Typical questions might include your past work experiences, your knowledge of the company/position, salary, and other logistical questions.

It’s important to have around 7-10 of your own questions ready to ask the interviewer. Asking questions at an early stage shows investment and interest in the role.

Online Coding Assessment

Once you complete the call with the recruiter, they’ll administer an online coding test, a debugging test, and an aptitude test. The debugging section will have around 6-7 questions, which you have 30 minutes to solve. The aptitude section will have around 14 multiple-choice questions, dealing with concepts like basic permutation combination and probabilities.

The coding test consists of two questions. You’ll have about 1.5 hours to complete it. Expect the test to be conducted through Codility, HackerRank, or another site. Expect some easy to medium questions that are typically algorithm related. Examples include:

Reverse the second half of a linked list
Find all anagrams in a string
Merge overlapping intervals

Tips to crack Amazon online coding assessment:

Here are a few easily implemented tips to make the Amazon coding assessment more manageable for yourself:

Use your own preferred editor

It is best to take the assessment in a familiar environment.

Read each prompt multiple times through

Sometimes, they may try and trick you with the wording. Make sure that you’re meeting all of the stated requirements before diving in.

Practice with less time than you’re given in the actual assessment

Time-sensitive tests can be stressful for many people. Help to relieve some of this stress by learning to work faster and more efficiently than you need to be.

Phone Interviews

Once you’ve made it past the prescreen and online assessment, the recruiter will schedule your video/phone interviews , likely with a hiring manager or a manager from the team you’re looking to join. At this stage in the process, there will be one to three more interviews.

This is where they’ll ask you questions directly related to your resume, as well as data structures, algorithms, and other various coding questions that apply to the position. You can expect to write code, review code, and demonstrate your technical knowledge.

On-Site Interviews: The Loop

If you have successfully made it through the series of phone interviews, you’ll be invited for an on-site visit. This full day of on-site interviews is referred to as the “The Loop”. Throughout the day, you’ll meet with 4-6 people. Expect half of these interviews to be technical and the other half to assess soft skills. Be prepared to work through questions on a whiteboard and discuss your thought process.

Concepts that Amazon loves to test on are data structures and algorithms . It’s important to know the runtimes, theoretical limitations, and basic implementation strategies of different classes of algorithms.

Data structures you should know: Arrays, Stacks, Queues, Linked lists, Trees, Graphs, Hash tables

Algorithms you should know: Breadth First Search, Depth First Search, Binary Search, Quicksort, Mergesort, Dynamic programming, Divide and Conquer

The Offer / No Offer

Generally, you’ll hear back from a recruiter within a week after your interviews. If you didn’t get an offer, Amazon will give you a call. You’ll likely have to wait another six months to re-apply. Judging that your on-site interviews went well, they’ll reach out to you, at which point they’ll make you an offer, send you documents to sign, and discuss any further questions you have.

Amazon Software Engineer Interview

Amazon is one of the top tech companies worldwide, and the company focuses on hiring only the best talent. Securing a software engineer position at Amazon is not a piece of cake, but with the right guidance, content, and practice questions, you can ace the Amazon software engineer interview.

Amazon software engineer interviews consist of four rounds. A major part of these four interview rounds involves technical interview questions. That is why having a solid grasp of computing fundamentals is crucial. Questions related to arrays, linked lists, strings, dynamic programming, and system design are common. We have mentioned some of the commonly asked questions above, so have a look and practice them thoroughly. For more interview prep questions, you can try Educative-99 , created to help software engineers secure a job at top tech companies.

Besides technical questions, Amazon software engineer interviews also include behavioral questions. Amazon ensures that candidates are the right fit for the company culture, which is why you’ll be asked several behavioral questions as well. The cornerstone of Amazon’s culture is its 14 Leadership Principles. These principles, which include notions like “Customer Obsession,” “Ownership,” and “Bias for Action,” guide every decision the company makes, from high-level strategies to everyday interactions.

This dual approach to assessing candidates ensures that Amazon software engineers can solve complex technical challenges, collaborate effectively, handle difficult situations, and adapt to the company’s fast-paced environment. Hence, candidates must prepare themselves for both technical and behavioral challenges.

Cracking the Amazon coding interview comes down to the time you spend preparing, such as practicing coding questions, studying behavioral interview questions, and understanding Amazon’s company culture. There is no golden ticket , but more preparation will surely make you a more confident and desirable candidate.

To help you prepare for interviews, Educative has created several unique language-specific courses :

Grokking Coding Interview Patterns in Python
Grokking Coding Interview Patterns in JavaScript
Grokking Coding Interview Patterns in Java
Grokking Coding Interview Patterns in Go
Grokking Coding Interview Patterns in C++

Available in multiple languages, these courses teach you the underlying patterns for any coding interview question .

This is coding interview prep reimagined , with your needs in mind.

Happy learning

Continue reading about coding interview prep and interview tips

The Definitive Guide to Amazon Coding Interviews
3 Month Coding Interview Preparation Bootcamp
"Why Amazon?” How to Answer Amazon’s Trickiest Interview Question

Haven’t found what you were looking for? Contact Us

How do I clear my Amazon Coding interview test?

Understand the fundamentals of data structures and algorithms, as Amazon interviews often involve complex problem-solving. Practice coding regularly. Check out the previous Amazon coding interview questions and practice well with them.

Is Amazon coding interview hard?

Amazon coding interviews are very interesting yet difficult to ace. In order to do well, it is crucial to have in-depth knowledge and understanding of data structures and algorithms.

What are the different rounds of the Amazon interview?

Amazon’s hiring process includes six key stages:

Resume review Initial phone interviews A meeting with the hiring manager A writing assessment A series of loop interviews Evaluations by the hiring committee

The most challenging phases are the phone screenings, which can take one or two rounds, and the on-site interviews, which involve four to five rounds.

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The Top 23 Amazon Interview...

The Top 23 Amazon Interview Questions (With Sample Answers)

7 min read · Updated on April 05, 2022

Make sure you prep for your Amazon interview.

Landing an interview with Amazon might feel like one of the most exciting — and intimidating — things to happen to you. Amazon, like most organizations, puts a lot of effort into hiring the right fit for their open positions. As CEO Jeff Bezos once shared, “I'd rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person.”

It says a lot if your resume got past the gatekeepers and into the hands of an Amazon hiring manager. Now, take a deep breath and get prepped for your interview.

How to answer Amazon interview questions

From the lengthy list of interview questions that Amazon candidates share online, you can expect that an Amazon interview will rely heavily on situational and behavioral interview questions .

Behavioral interview questions focus on past behavior as an indication of future job success, while situational interview questions ask how you would handle any number of hypothetical situations. With these questions, you can also pull from past experiences to answer how you would handle the hypothetical situation today or in the future.

From there, you can break behavioral and situational interview questions down further into competencies, such as leadership and communication. Using the STAR method during an interview is an excellent approach to answering these types of questions.

Situation: Set the stage by describing the situation.

Task: Describe the task.

Action: Describe the action(s) you took to handle the task.

Results: Share the results achieved.

What would you do if you found out your closest friend at work was stealing?

You are likely to be asked this question regardless of the position you're interviewing for, especially with cost reduction and shrinkage being top priorities for a company like Amazon. There is really only one way to answer this question that speaks to honesty, integrity, trust, and leadership:

While it would be a difficult situation to find myself in, integrity is essential to me. Plus, stealing is against policy and costs the company's bottom line, no matter how insignificant the theft might seem. I would go to my department manager and report the theft or use the company's recommended reporting policy for such behavior.

Describe your most difficult customer and how you handled it.

Amazon is known for their customer service. If the position you're interviewing for is a customer-facing position, then you can count on a question similar to this. When answering this question, apply the STAR method:

Once, I encountered a repeat customer who was upset that an item he ordered was delayed. It was scheduled to arrive within five days of him ordering it, but due to backlog issues with the supplier, the delivery time was adjusted to be 30 days out. The item was an anniversary gift for his wife, and the anniversary was less than two weeks away.

Obviously, the 30 days would not work for him, and he was close to irate about the situation. I needed to figure out a way to help him receive the anniversary gift on time. I first contacted the supplier to see if there was any way to expedite the order, but the best they could do was get the item to him a couple of days earlier than the revised scheduled arrival date.

So, I then worked with the customer to identify a different supplier that sold an almost identical item. I offered him expedited shipping at no charge, so he would receive the item within three days, and that timing worked for his anniversary date. I also offered him a 20 percent coupon towards his next purchase. He was pleased with the outcome, and he remained a loyal customer.

Tell me about a time you were 75 percent through a project and had to pivot quickly. How did you handle it?

Life happens when we are in the middle of projects, and Amazon leadership will want to know how you handle these types of situations when they occur. You could encounter this question for many different types of roles, including technical and management positions. Your answer should speak to your agility, leadership, and problem-solving skills:

At my last job, I was leading a project that was near completion. Everything was moving smoothly and on-target for timely completion. Then, one of our partners providing one of the software upgrades that were to occur at the 90 percent mark encountered a breach of their systems and was estimated to delay the project by two to four weeks.

I had to review our plans and come up with options to keep the project on target as much as possible. Going with another software provider wasn't a viable option, as the groundwork had been laid to go live with the current provider, and starting over would have delayed the project even more. Instead, we were able to allocate two resources to support the provider in recovering from the breach in less than half of the time that was projected.

As a result, we were able to complete the project only two days after the originally scheduled completion date. Fortunately, since we had built in a cushion for contingencies, we were able to go live on schedule.

20 more interview questions from Amazon

Here are more possible Amazon interview questions you might be asked, broken down into categories.

Behavioral questions

Share about a time when you had a conflict with someone at work. How did you handle it?

Tell me about a time you used innovation to solve a problem.

Tell me about a time when you took a calculated risk. What was the outcome?

Tell me about a time you had to handle a crisis.

Tell me about a time when a team member wasn't pulling their weight. How did you handle it?

Leadership questions

Tell me about a decision you made based on your instincts.

Tell me about a time you used a specific metric to drive change in your department.

Tell me about a time when you influenced change by only asking questions.

What was the last leadership development course you took? What did you gain from it?

Provide an example of a time when you had to complete a project on a budget you felt was too tight. How did you make it work?

Technical and skills questions

How would you improve Amazon's website?

Tell me about how you brought a product to market.

What metrics do you use to influence and drive positive change?

What skills do you possess that will help you succeed at Amazon?

Tell me about a time when you handled a project outside of your scope of work. How did you approach it?

Company-specific questions

Do you know our CEO? How do you spell his name?

How would you introduce Amazon in an elevator pitch?

Which Amazon leadership principle do you align with most?

What does Amazon's ownership principle emphasize?

Do you know how many Amazon leadership principles there are?

Questions to ask the interviewers

During your Amazon interview, have a list of questions ready to ask your interviewer . Your questions should be company-specific. For example:

What do you feel is the biggest challenge Amazon is currently facing?

What do you love about your role?

How would you describe the team I would be working with?

What is a typical day like in this role?

What qualities are required to succeed at Amazon?

Where do you see Amazon in five years?

Are there any new or unique customer trends you're currently experiencing or projecting?

Conclusion

Amazon interviews are notoriously challenging. But remember, you landed the interview — which puts you one step closer to landing the role.

So do your homework and take the time to prepare for the interview. Then, you can show them what you've got with confidence once you're in the interview room.

Unsure how to answer these interview questions? Our expert interview coaches know how to impress all the major companies you may interview for.

Need a prep talk?

Learn how to crush your interview with confidence.

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Amazon Interview Questions: The Ultimate Preparation Guide

Getting an interview at Amazon is a major accomplishment. With thousands of applicants every year and intense competition, securing an interview slot is an achievement in itself. Now you need to put in the work to make sure you ace the interview process.

In this comprehensive guide, we will cover everything you need to know to crush your Amazon interviews, including:

The full breakdown of Amazon's rigorous interview process
How to thoroughly prepare for Amazon's behavioral and technical interviews
Detailed examples of the most common Amazon interview questions
5 techniques to really impress your interviewers
Pro tips and strategies to stand out from the competition
Insights into Amazon's company culture and leadership principles
Recommended resources for practice and study

This guide will equip you with the skills, stories, and knowledge to master your Amazon interviews. Let's dive in!

Chapter 1 - Amazon's Interview Process Fully Explained

The first step to acing Amazon's interview gauntlet is understanding exactly what you will face. Let's break down what to expect in each stage of Amazon's notoriously rigorous interview process.

The Recruiter Phone Screen

Your journey starts with a recruiter phone screen, usually scheduled for 30 minutes. Here's what to expect:

Introductions - The recruiter will give brief background on themselves and ask you to walk through your resume and experience. Be succinct but thorough when summarizing your background.

Motivations - Expect questions about why you are interested in Amazon and the role you applied for. Be specific - do your research so you can speak intelligently about the team, products, and technologies involved in the position.

Experience - The recruiter will probe into details of your work history, especially your major technical projects and accomplishments. Be ready to talk technically about the most relevant parts of your background.

Leadership principles - Some recruiters may ask you to describe how experiences tie back to Amazon's leadership principles. Have these principles on the tip of your tongue and relate your background to them.

Questions - The recruiter will ask if you have any questions. Always have thoughtful questions ready that show your understanding of and enthusiasm for the role.

Next steps - If interested, the recruiter will outline next steps and timelines. This usually involves a technical phone screen.

With practice and preparation, you can ace the recruiter screen and move on to the more difficult technical interviews.

The Technical Phone Screen

If you impress the recruiter, next up is the technical phone screen, usually scheduled for 45-60 minutes. This is often your first coding/architecture interview, so bring your A game. Here's what to expect:

Introductions - You'll be introduced to an Amazon engineer who will conduct the technical interview. Expect them to briefly summarize their role.

Coding - The core of the interview will be data structure, algorithm, and language questions. Think 2-3 mediums from LeetCode. Communicate clearly and check edge cases.

Architecture - Expect at least one system design or object oriented design question. Get clarification, highlight tradeoffs, and explain reasoning.

Experience - The interviewer may ask you to expand on parts of your background relevant to the role. Keep answers clear and concise.

Next Steps - If you pass, next is a full day of on-site final interviews. Ask about recommended preparation.

The technical screen will evaluate both your computer science fundamentals and communication skills. Practice mock interviews extensively so you are comfortable responding confidently to a wide range of technical prompts.

The All-Day Final Interviews

If you successfully navigate the phone screens, you'll be invited to Amazon's headquarters for 4-6 back-to-back interview sessions. This is an all day affair, usually lasting 6-8 hours, including breaks between sessions.

What can you expect during these final on-site interviews?

Diverse interviewers - You will meet with various managers, engineers, and senior leaders from the department you are interviewing for.

Mix of questions - Expect behavioral, technical, and leadership principle questions across your different sessions.

Coding challenges - At least two of the interviews will involve writing code in a relevant language like Python or Java. Brush up on those whiteboard coding skills.

System design - Be ready to discuss approaches to core system design problems like scaling databases or designing highly-available services.

Projects and experience - Interviewers will probe into your resume, past work, side-projects, and qualifications. Be an expert on your own background.

Culture and principles - As an executive frontrunner, Amazon cares about culture fit. Showcase how your values align.

Meals - You'll have lunch with employees and get a feel for Amazon's culture. Use this time to ask good questions and learn.

The final round is intense. Thorough preparation of your stories, technical skills, and thinking is key. You want to enter the office confident and ready to tackle whatever comes your way over the course of this long day.

The Hiring Manager Review

After running through the on-site gauntlet, the final step is review by the hiring manager. The individual interviewers will submit their evaluations and commentary on your performance.

The hiring manager looks at factors like:

Did you pass a majority of the interview bars?
Do the interviewers agree you have the right skills for the role?
Did you stand out in any particular area?
Do you show mission alignment with Amazon's principles?

If the hiring manager gives the thumbs up, congratulations! Expect a call with the official job offer details. Time to celebrate.

However, it's not uncommon for candidates to get rejections at this stage due to mixed interview feedback or concerns raised over the course of the day's assessments.

If you receive a "no" from the hiring manager, you may be able to re-apply and restart the process after 6-12 months. Use the time to brush up your skills and prepare to come back stronger.

Chapter 2 - How to Thoroughly Prepare for Amazon's Behavioral and Technical Interview Questions

You landed an interview at Amazon. Awesome! But don't let up now. The real work starts here. Thorough preparation is what will set you apart. Here is a detailed guide to getting ready for Amazon's behavioral, technical and leadership focused interviews.

Preparing for the Behavioral Interview

Nail the behavioral part of your Amazon interviews by following these preparation tips:

Understand Amazon's Leadership Principles Cold

Amazon's leadership principles are 14 core values that drive their culture and guide employee behaviors. Master them inside and out:

Customer obsession - Earn and keep customer trust above all else. Make their problems your problems and find solutions.

Ownership - Take end-to-end ownership of your work. Don't settle for less than excellence.

Invent and simplify - Solve complex problems with simple, elegant solutions. Cut through ambiguity.

Are right, a lot - Make data-driven decisions, even if unpopular. Base choices on research, analysis and judgement.

Learn and be curious - Be inquisitive. Seek knowledge and truth in all things. Stay hungry to learn.

Hire and develop the best - Only keep stunning colleagues. Coach them towards excellence.

Insist on the highest standards - Expect only the best in quality and performance from yourself and others.

Think big - Create bold, game-changing ideas. Make no small plans.

Bias for action - Move fast. Empower teams to act without constant supervision.

Frugality - Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed creative solutions. Eliminate waste.

Earn trust - Listen closely. Treat others respectfully. Keep your word.

Dive deep - Invest the time to fully understand details, issues and priorities before making decisions.

Have backbone; disagree and commit - Challenge assumptions respectfully. Then unify behind group decisions.

Deliver results - Focus on key inputs and outputs. Set challenging goals and exceed them. Get the right things done.

You will be expected to tie your interview answers directly to demonstrating these principles.

Craft Stories That Showcase Leadership Principles

Practice storytelling by structuring compelling stories from your background that highlight Amazon principles like customer obsession, high standards, and bias for action.

Make your stories concise and impactful. Set the context briefly, build up the challenge, then spend time on the resolution and your actions demonstrating leadership.

Prepare for Classic Behavioral and Situational Questions

Expect Amazon behavioral questions like:

Tell me about a time you had a conflict at work. How did you handle it?
Give me an example of how you solved a difficult problem.
Describe a time you had to deal significant ambiguity. What did you do?

Research common behavioral and situational questions asked at Amazon. Draft stories from your background that set up challenges clearly, walk through your response, and highlight leadership principles you exhibited.

Practice Mock Interviews Extensively

Set up practice behavioral interviews with colleagues and friends. Don't memorize stories verbatim, but practice telling them clearly while highlighting Amazon values.

Get feedback on where your interview skills are strong versus areas that need polish. Refine stories to be clear, concise and impactful.

Mock interviews are the best way to build confidence for real Amazon behavioral and situational questions. Put in the practice time here.

Preparing for the Technical Interview

Amazon's technical interview will rigorously assess your programming, algorithms, system design and computer science skills. Be ready with:

Fluency in Key Data Structures and Algorithms

You need mastery of fundamental data structures like arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, stacks and queues.

Master core algorithms including sorting, searching, recursion, breadth/depth first search, dynamic programming, and common algorithms on trees and graphs.

Spend time implementing key data structures and algorithms from scratch. Understand time and space complexities.

Practice LeetCode, HackerRank, Etc

Work through problems on LeetCode, HackerRank, and other online judges to hone your skills.

Aim to complete at least 50-100 problems across difficulty levels so you have seen a wide range of coding and algorithm challenges.

Focus especially on Amazon-frequent topics like arrays, strings, trees, graphs, hashmaps, sorting, and breadth/depth first search.

Brush Up on Core Object Oriented and System Design Concepts

Study principles like inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation, abstraction, and design patterns.

Review system design approaches for large scale services - load balancing, databases, caching, microservices, etc.

Be able to intelligently discuss options and tradeoffs for designing complex systems like Amazon's platforms.

Do Regular Mock Technical Interviews

Set up practice technical interviews to get comfortable with formulating approaches to new problems while thinking out loud.

Ask your interviewer for detailed feedback on areas like how clearly you communicated, if you considered edge cases, and the efficiency of your solution.

Mock interviews will expose weaknesses and gaps in knowledge to focus your studying. They are instrumental to acing Amazon's technical gauntlet.

Thorough technical preparation and practice will ensure you are comfortable responding confidently to a wide range of technical interview questions.

Mastering Amazon's Leadership Principles

Given Amazon's intense focus on culture and leadership values, you need to go in with a mastery of their leadership principles. Some tips:

Know Examples That Demonstrate Each Principle

Come equipped with stories that highlight owning decisions, bias for action, customer obsession, high standards, and other Amazon values. Have vivid examples ready.

Reference the Principles in Your Responses

Weave connections to Amazon principles like "earn trust" and "are right a lot" into your interview answers. Show you embody these values.

Ask Good Questions About Culture and Principles

When given the opportunity, ask smart questions about how Amazon lives the leadership principles day-to-day. Show your interest.

Do Your Research

Study how Amazon leaders talk about the company's values. Learn from examples of employees demonstrating the principles.

Evaluate Your Own Alignment

Reflect on your own values and principles. How do they align with Amazon's culture? Highlight these synergies.

Mastering Amazon's principles will help you stand out and prove you are mission aligned with their culture. Put in the work here - it will pay dividends.

Chapter 3 - Examples of Common Amazon Interview Questions (With Detailed Answers)

Preparing for Amazon interviews is all about practice. Mastering the content is step one, but you need to hone your communication skills for succinctly responding to prompts.

Let's review some of the most common Amazon interview questions, along with detailed guidance and sample answers to each.

Examples of Common Amazon Behavioral Interview Questions

Behavioral questions are critical in Amazon's interview process. Practice crafting compelling stories that shine light on your background while demonstrating Amazon's leadership principles.

Here are some common behavioral interview questions with sample answers:

Question: Tell me about yourself and walk me through your resume.

Sample Answer: I'm a software engineer with 5 years experience building scalable cloud services...(brief summary of background). I started my career at Acme Co developing APIs in Python. We served over 50 million users so I became well versed in building secure, highly reliable systems. Next I joined Stealth Startup as an early engineer where I designed core infrastructure for their blockchain platform. I opted for a startup so I could gain experience rapidly owning large parts of the system. Most recently, I spent 2 years at Wonder Technologies focused on machine learning applications. Across these experiences, I've consistently demonstrated strengths around diving deep into complex technical problems, taking ownership of my work, insisting on high standards, and keeping the customer top of mind. I'm passionate about leveraging my background in high scale distributed systems and machine learning to help Amazon develop innovative cloud services. That's why I was so excited to apply for this role.

Key Takeaway: Succinctly summarize your background while highlighting relevant experience. Wrap with enthusiasm for Amazon's mission.

Question: Tell me about a time you had to deal with ambiguity on a project. How did you handle it?

Sample Answer: Early in my tenure as lead engineer on the platform team at Wonder Technologies, our product roadmap was very ambiguous. Requirements were vague and it was unclear how features would work. Rather than make assumptions, I scheduled time with product managers and designers to understand their vision, priorities and constraints. I asked probing questions to clarify unknowns and get insights into what success looked like for them. As options became clearer, I put together wireframes and technical proposals outlining tradeoffs so we could pick a direction. By diving deep into the details and insisting on clear requirements before charging ahead, we designed an optimal solution that made customers very happy.

Key Takeaway: Outline the uncertainty you faced, then demonstrate skills like diving deep, interacting cross-functionally, and insisting on clarity.

Question: Tell me about a time you had a conflict at work. How did you handle it?

Sample Answer: As the tech lead on a key project at Acme Co, I had a disagreement with our newest developer about the right technical approach. Rather than assert my perspective, I listened closely to understand their rationale and the assumptions underlying their idea. I asked thoughtful questions, avoiding knee-jerk reactions. To move forward, we collaboratively designed some prototypes to test our hypotheses and figure out which approach was optimal based on data. By keeping an open mind rather than pushing bias, we arrived at a superior solution. Our team learned that listening and experimenting resolves disagreements.

Key Takeaway: Show emotional intelligence and collaboration by being open, curios, and data-driven.

Question: Describe a time when you went above and beyond customer expectations. Why did you do this?

Sample Answer: When I was leading development of a new analytics feature at Wonder Technologies, I proactively reached out to some beta users to understand how they would leverage the reports. One customer detailed an unexpected use case we hadn't considered around correlating web traffic with marketing spend. I proposed building custom aggregations to support their needs, even though it was out of scope. My team worked evenings and weekends to deliver this capability because I knew it would add huge value for that customer's business if we could enable their workflow. Our efforts paid off - they expanded usage significantly after we over-delivered for them. I took the initiative driven by my focus on customer value.

Key Takeaway: Go above and beyond for customers by proactively understanding their needs and delivering solutions.

Question: Tell me about a time you had to explain a complex technical concept to people without technical backgrounds. How did you ensure understanding?

Sample Answer: As a machine learning engineer at Wonder Technologies, our CEO asked me to present our new anomaly detection algorithms to the Board. While technically knowledgable, most of the Board lacked ML expertise. I knew a dense technical presentation would miss the mark. Instead, I built an intuitive analogy using relatable concepts like social media connections to explain concepts like clustering. I kept the session interactive with Q&A time to assess understanding. Based on feedback, I refined my future explanations of our ML approach to focus on the business value delivered versus academic details. My ability to break down complex technical details accessibly helped the Board grasp how our technology differentiated us.

Key Takeaway: Demonstrate you can break down technical concepts and tailor communication for the audience's needs.

Question: Tell me about a time you failed or made a mistake at work. What did you learn from it?

Sample Answer: Early in my first software role out of college, I was tasked with speeding up our customer portal's page load times, which were suffering due to technical debt. I jumped right into overhauling our caching infrastructure without sufficient planning or testing. While well intentioned, this led to outages that impacted customers. I learned the hard way that diving deep into diagnostics, creating rollback plans, and having robust testing discipline is mandatory, especially for critical systems. This experience shaped my approach of being methodical, risk averse, and obsessive about resiliency when modifying production systems today.

Question: Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision with limited information. How did you approach it?

Sample Answer: As the tech lead for a new product launch at Acme Co, we faced constant ambiguity around requirements that made decisions difficult. To plan effectively, I focused the team on small milestones rather than multi-month goals. We reviewed our priorities and unknowns regularly to get everyone aligned. When struggles arose, I drove rapid prototyping and iteration to validate hypotheses and prevent wasted effort. My relentless focus on facts and data helped us course correct quickly. While not every decision was perfect due to uncertainty, this empirical approach optimized our chances of success.

Key Takeaway: Make rational decisions amidst uncertainty by focusing on data, rapid validation, and continuous alignment.

Question: Describe a time when you solved an analytically complex problem. What was your process?

Sample Answer: My team at Stealth Startup faced reliability issues with our Kubernetes cluster that made debugging tricky. Pod failures seemed random and intermittent. I studied patterns in logs but saw no obvious correlations. Rather than conjecture, I decomposed step-by-step what happens when Kubernetes schedules pods. I wrote tools to collect metrics at each stage. After analyzing the data, I discovered resource bottlenecks on specific nodes. By methodically eliminating hypotheses, I uncovered the root cause. This experience demonstrated the importance of having an analytical, patient approach rather than jumping to conclusions when solving thorny technical issues.

Key Takeaway: Demonstrate analytical rigor by collecting data, synthesizing insights, and driving to root causes.

Question: Tell me about a time you had to adapt to a colleague's working style in order to complete a project or achieve your objectives.

Sample Answer: Early in my tenure at Acme Co, I was partnered with a colleague on a key web architecture project who had a markedly different work style. He preferred rapid prototyping versus detailed planning. I tend towards thorough upfront design. To collaborate effectively, I focused our syncs on aligning on project needs and constraints first before debating technical options. When we disagreed, I'd suggest we prototype both our ideas in parallel to see what performed best. By embracing his experimental approach as complementary rather than contrary to mine, we landed on solutions that blended our perspectives. I learned to lead flexibly based on each team member's working style.

Key Takeaway: Adapt your leadership style to get the best from each person. Seek collaborative solutions.

Question: Tell me about a time when you gave a simple solution to a complex problem.

Sample Answer: As a software engineer at Stealth Startup, our automated testing setup had become convoluted with dependencies across services slowing test times. I conducted an analysis identifying redundant test jobs and unnecessary layers of abstraction that had accrued over time. My proposal was to simplify radically - consolidating workflows, eliminating pointless mocks, and focusing tests on core functionality. With this redesign, testing became extremely streamlined. This example highlighted that simplicity and elegance should be design goals even in complex domains. By cutting through convoluted legacy, we can reframe problems in terms of core needs.

Key Takeaway: Seek simple, elegant solutions to even complicated domains by focusing on root needs.

Examples of Common Amazon Technical Interview Questions

Let's review some of the most frequent technical interview questions seen at Amazon, along with approaches for structuring your responses:

Question: Design an LRU cache data structure.

Clarify requirements like cache size, O(1) get, key types, etc.
Propose HashMap and Doubly Linked List. HashMap holds keys and references to nodes in linked list
Put() moves new node to front of list
Get() moves hit node to front of list
When full, remove oldest node from end of linked list

Discuss complexity analysis and possible extensions like adding expiration.

Key Takeaway: Discuss data structures, logic, complexity, and extensions for implementing system requirements.

Question: Given a string, reverse the order of characters in each word within it.

Iterate string word by word using split()
For each word, iterate characters backwards and append to output list
Join output list into space separated string
Consider edge cases like punctuation, numbers, etc.

Discuss algorithm efficiency and optimizations like in place reversal.

Key Takeaway: Walk through logical steps to solve coding challenge. Analyze efficiency and handle special cases.

Question: Estimate how many gas stations are in your city.

Clarify assumptions needed - size of city, any known data points, etc.
Estimate gas stations per square mile based on sample neighborhoods
Calculate total square miles for city
Derive nationwide gas station density per capita as baseline
Compare densities to produce estimate of total gas stations

Discuss assumptions, sensitivity analysis, and approaches to refine estimate.

Key Takeaway: Demonstrate analytical reasoning and data-driven estimation skills. Discuss assumptions and refinements.

Question: Design a system like Twitter to handle massive tweet volume.

Outline core API endpoints like post tweet, get timeline, follow user, etc.
Propose high level architecture - application layer, caching, NoSQL database for storage
Discuss partitioning schemes to handle writes across shards
Optimize timelines for celebrities with high followers using dedicated caches
Scale reads via caching, replication, DB read replicas

Dive into areas like reliability, scaling pain points, and optimizations.

Key Takeaway: Provide system design covering APIs, architecture, partitioning, caching, scale and reliability.

Question: You have millions of users uploading photos. How do you store them efficiently?

Clarify requirements like expected user base, access patterns, and storage limitations
Propose distributed object storage like AWS S3 to manage large volume of unstructured data
Discuss challenges like managing access controls, optimizing latency, handling failures
Suggest optimizations like CDNs for caching, metadata DBs for queries, compression to reduce storage footprint

Emphasize scalability in discussing architecture.

Key Takeaway: Outline architecture to address scale and performance challenges prompted by question.

Question: Given a binary tree, print all root-to-leaf paths.

Traverse the tree recursively, maintaining path in each recursion
Add node to path before recursive call and remove after
When reach a leaf, print accumulated path
Handle formatting output like inserting arrows between nodes

Discuss algorithm complexity and potentially iterative solutions.

Key Takeaway: Walk through key steps in traversal algorithms and handle output formatting.

Chapter 4 - How to Stand Out: 5 Techniques to Impress Amazon Interviewers

Now that you are armed with an understanding of Amazon's interview format, leadership principles, and practice responding to sample questions - let's discuss some pro tips to stand out from the competition.

Implement these strategies to impress your Amazon interviewers and highlight why you are the ideal candidate:

1. Demonstrate Deep Passion for Customer Obsession

Customer obsession is arguably Amazon's number one cultural value. Come ready with vivid stories that demonstrate putting customer needs first.

Frame your background and experience back to examples of delighting customers, solving pain points, and building human centered products.

Ask thoughtful questions around how teams prioritize solving customer problems and gather insights.

Show you live and breathe this principle in all you do.

2. Display Leadership Maturity Beyond Your Years

Interviewers want evidence you can handle ambiguity, make sound decisions, and lead with maturity.

Demonstrate these qualities by highlighting projects or initiatives you drove end-to-end.

Discuss challenges faced pragmatically, rather than complaining or blaming external factors.

Show you can operate autonomously and make shrewd calls in the face of uncertainty.

Come across as unflappable in dealing with stress and obstacles.

3. Balance Smarts with Humility

While intellect and analytical abilities are key, arrogance is a non-starter.

Highlight your capabilities and track record for results without ego or entitlement.

Admit openly when you don't know something rather than trying to fake it.

Embrace mentoring opportunities to showcase you are continually learning.

Check any tendencies towards stubbornness or now-it-all attitudes.

4. Ask Insightful Questions

Interviews go two ways. Asking smart, researched questions impresses interviewers.

Inquire about team challenges, Amazon's future ambitions, org culture, technical architecture, etc.

Focus questions on learning more about the role problems versus just impressing.

Jot down questions as you prep so you enter interviews armed with a list.

5. Demonstrate Alignment with Mission and Values

Interviewers want to know you'll thrive within Amazon's culture.

Do your research to understand Amazon's history, principles, ambitions, and challenges.

Highlight where your skills, values, and priorities align with Amazon's mission.

Get specific on why you are so excited to bring your experience and passion to help Amazon innovate.

Check any misconceptions of Amazon or red flags that contradict their principles.

Sell why this is your dream job aligned with your long term growth.

Implementing these strategies will help you enter interviews with confidence, ace the conversations, and convince Amazon you are mission-focused talent worth investing in.

Chapter 5 - Amazon Interview Preparation Resources

Looking for additional resources to master Amazon's interview process? Here are some recommendations:

Some great books to study include:

Grokking the Coding Interview - Amazon-focused programming interview prep with 200+ practice problems and 5 mock interviews.

Designing Data Intensive Applications - Gives broad and deep technical grounding for system design interviews.

Decode and Conquer - Provides frameworks and practice for approaching case interviews, estimation, and other business prompts.

Online Courses

Recommended online courses include:

Grokking the System Design Interview - Visual course on system design preparation with architecture walkthroughs and coding challenges.

Grokking System Design Fundamentals - Learn system design essentials required for designing scalable and high-performance systems.

Software Engineer Interview Unleashed - Over 21 hours of video focused exclusively on Amazon-specific software engineering interview prep.

Mock Interviews

Some options to get practice include:

Pramp - Free peer mock interviews where you can practice technical prompts and feedback skills.

Interviewing.io - Anonymous mock interviews with senior engineers from top companies like Amazon, then get rated/reviewed.

LeetCode Mock Interview - Structured mock interview platform to practice solving coding challenges with shared editors and voice chat.

The best preparation comes from diligent practice through mock interviews tailored closely to Amazon's actual interview techniques and questions. Leverage these resources to refine your skills.

If you've made it this far - congratulations, you now have exhaustive preparation for nailing the Amazon interview process.

From phone screens to onsite rounds, behavioral prompts to coding challenges, leadership principles to technical architecture - we've covered it all.

You have the knowledge and tools to showcase your experience powerfully while impressing upon interviewers your alignment to Amazon's mission and culture.

Be relentlessly customer focused. Champion high standards. Apply engineering rigor and creativity. Let your passion for innovation shine through.

Keep this preparation guide handy as you practice and refine stories, coding skills, design chops, and communication style.

You are now equipped to master the Amazon interview gauntlet. Go get that offer! Your dream job awaits.

Here are a few more resources on Amazon's tech interview:

System Design Interview Survival Guide (2023): Preparation Strategies and Practical Tips
18 System Design Concepts Every Engineer Must Know Before the Interview.
Ace Your System Design Interview with 7 Must-Read Papers in 2023
Grokking Scalability in System Design

Amazon Interview Questions (15 Questions + Answers)

Are you preparing for an Amazon job interview? If you are, you’re probably wondering what to expect and what questions you’ll encounter. In this article, I’ve compiled the most common Amazon interview questions along with their answers to help you land your dream role.

1) Do you know our CEO? How do you spell his name?

It’s easy to answer Jeff Bezos but the correct answer is Andy Jassy. Amazon has had two CEOs in its history . Jeff Bezos was CEO from 1994 to 2021. Andy Jassy took over in 2021 and is the current CEO.

Sample answer:

"Yes, I'm familiar with the CEO of Amazon, Andy Jassy. His name is spelled A-N-D-Y J-A-S-S-Y. I've followed his work and contributions to Amazon, especially his impactful leadership in AWS before taking over as CEO. His vision for the company's growth and commitment to innovation align with my professional values and aspirations."

Some people might misspell Andy Jassy’s name. By correctly spelling his name, you’re showing attention to detail. Mentioning Jassy's previous role in AWS also demonstrates an understanding of his career and the company's history.

2) How would you introduce Amazon in an elevator pitch?

Your goal is to concisely convey the essence of the company, its core values, and its impact. It's important to showcase your understanding of Amazon's business model, culture, and vision.

"Amazon is a global leader in e-commerce and cloud computing, fundamentally transforming the way we shop and access technology. At its core, Amazon is customer-centric, relentlessly focused on delivering convenience, selection, and value. It's not just an online retailer; it's a technology innovator, providing a platform for millions of sellers and a cloud infrastructure that powers businesses worldwide. Amazon's commitment to operational excellence and long-term thinking positions it uniquely to continuously evolve and lead across industries."

This answer is effective because it highlights Amazon's dual role in e-commerce and cloud computing, acknowledging the scope of its operations.

3) Do you know how many Amazon leadership principles there are?

It's important to not only know the number but also demonstrate an understanding of their significance to Amazon's culture. Amazon has 16 leadership principles .

"Yes, Amazon has 16 leadership principles. These principles, such as 'Customer Obsession,' 'Invent and Simplify,' and 'Think Big,' are more than just guidelines; they are at the heart of Amazon's innovative and customer-focused culture. I find these principles inspiring and align with my professional ethos, especially the emphasis on long-term thinking and continuous improvement. These principles encourage a proactive and inventive approach, qualities I admire and strive to embody in my work."

This answer is effective because it correctly states the number of principles, showing that you've done your research. Mentioning a few specific principles demonstrates a deeper understanding.

4) Which Amazon leadership principle do you align with most?

Choose a principle that genuinely resonates with your professional values and experiences. Also, provide specific examples or scenarios that demonstrate how you embody this principle.

"The Amazon leadership principle I align with most is 'Customer Obsession.' In my previous role, I consistently prioritized customer needs and feedback to drive improvements in our product. For instance, when I noticed a recurring issue reported by customers, I led a team to address it, resulting in a 30% increase in customer satisfaction. This principle resonates with me because I believe that truly understanding and valuing the customer's perspective is fundamental to any business's success. It's about more than just meeting their needs; it's about exceeding their expectations and continuously seeking ways to deliver added value."

This answer is effective because it provides a real-life example that demonstrates how you've applied this principle in your professional life. Mentioning the positive outcome (increased customer satisfaction) also shows the tangible impact of your actions.

5) How would you improve Amazon's website?

Offer thoughtful, innovative, and customer-focused suggestions. Demonstrating an understanding of Amazon's current platform while proposing a feasible enhancement shows your analytical skills and alignment with their focus on continuous improvement.

"To improve Amazon's website, I would focus on enhancing personalized recommendations. While Amazon already excels in this area, I believe implementing AI-driven predictive analytics could take it a step further. For instance, using machine learning to analyze browsing and purchase history in real-time could provide even more tailored suggestions. This approach not only improves the customer experience by making shopping more intuitive and efficient but also increases potential sales by presenting customers with items they're more likely to purchase. Furthermore, these improvements could be coupled with an option for users to give instant feedback on recommendations, allowing the system to continuously learn and refine its suggestions."

This answer is effective because it proposes a concrete, tech-forward solution that aligns with Amazon's innovative ethos. It also links the proposed improvement to potential increases in sales, showing awareness of business outcomes.

6) Tell me about how you brought a product to market

Demonstrate your strategic thinking, project management skills, and understanding of the market. Focus on a specific example from your experience, the process, and the results achieved.

"In my previous role, I led a cross-functional team to bring a new software product to market. The process began with market research to identify customer needs and competitive analysis. We then developed a product roadmap, aligning features with customer pain points. During development, I ensured regular communication between engineering, marketing, and sales teams to keep the project on track and aligned with market expectations. We also involved beta testers for early feedback, which was crucial in refining the product pre-launch. Post-launch, we closely monitored customer feedback and sales data, allowing us to quickly make adjustments. The product was successfully launched on schedule and exceeded first-quarter sales projections by 20%."

This answer is effective because it clearly outlines each step of the process, from market research to post-launch adjustments. Highlighting your role in leading and coordinating cross-functional teams also shows your leadership and project management skills.

7) What skills do you possess that will help you succeed at Amazon?

Align your strengths with the qualities and values that Amazon prioritizes.

Focus on specific skills that are relevant to the role you're applying for and that resonate with Amazon's culture, such as customer obsession, innovation, and bias for action.

"I believe my strong analytical skills, coupled with my ability to innovate and adapt quickly, will help me succeed at Amazon. In my previous role, I consistently used data-driven analysis to inform decision-making, leading to more efficient processes and better outcomes. My innovative mindset was demonstrated when I spearheaded a project to automate certain manual tasks, resulting in a 30% increase in productivity. Additionally, I'm highly adaptable, able to swiftly navigate changes and challenges, as evidenced by my successful management of projects during a major organizational restructuring. These skills, aligned with Amazon's emphasis on customer satisfaction, data-driven decision-making, and continuous improvement, make me a strong fit for the company's dynamic and fast-paced environment."

This answer is effective because it aligns with Amazon’s values. It highlights skills like data-driven decision-making and innovation, which are highly valued at Amazon.

8) Tell me about a time when you were faced with a problem that had several possible solutions. What was the problem and how did you decide what to do? What was the outcome?

Demonstrate your problem-solving skills, analytical thinking, and decision-making process.

Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your response, providing a clear narrative that showcases your ability to assess situations and make informed decisions.

"At my previous job, we faced a significant drop in online sales. My role was to identify the root cause and propose a solution. I led a team to analyze sales data, customer feedback, and market trends. We identified three potential causes: outdated website design, poor search engine optimization (SEO), and inadequate product range. To decide, I conducted a cost-benefit analysis of addressing each issue. Based on our resources and timelines, we prioritized updating the website and improving SEO, as these offered the most significant potential impact in the shortest time. I oversaw the redesign and SEO enhancement projects. Within three months, our online sales increased by 40%, and customer feedback on website usability improved dramatically."

This is a great answer because it starts by clearly defining the problem. Demonstrating the use of data and cost-benefit analysis shows a structured approach to decision-making. Also, the rationale for choosing specific solutions is clear and logical.

9) When did you take a risk, make a mistake, or fail? How did you respond? How did you grow from it?

It's important to be honest and reflective. Focus on a situation where you took a calculated risk or learned from a mistake. Emphasize what you learned from the experience and how it contributed to your personal or professional growth.

This demonstrates self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to learn from challenges.

"Early in my career, I took a risk by proposing a new marketing strategy that deviated from our traditional approach. Despite thorough research, the campaign initially underperformed, not reaching the anticipated audience engagement. I quickly realized the importance of not only innovating but also rigorously testing new ideas before full implementation. I responded by gathering feedback, analyzing the campaign's shortcomings, and adjusting our approach. Through rapid iteration, we managed to turn the campaign around, ultimately surpassing our original engagement goals. This experience taught me valuable lessons in resilience, the importance of flexibility in strategy, and the value of continuous learning and adaptation. It reinforced my belief in the power of innovative thinking, balanced with data-driven decision-making and iterative testing."

This answer is effective because it candidly discusses a professional risk and the initial failure, which shows honesty and vulnerability. The turnaround of the campaign shows your ability to learn and recover from mistakes.

10) Describe a time you took the lead on a project

Emphasize your leadership skills, initiative, and ability to drive results. Structure your answer by highlighting your role, the actions you took, and the impact of those actions.

"At my previous job, we needed to develop a new customer relationship management (CRM) system to improve our client interactions. As the project lead, my goal was to design a system that met our specific needs. I started by gathering detailed requirements from all stakeholders to ensure the system would be comprehensive. Then, I assembled and led a cross-functional team of developers, designers, and business analysts. I organized regular meetings for progress updates and to address any challenges promptly. I also implemented agile methodology to ensure flexibility and continuous improvement throughout the project. The CRM system was completed on schedule and under budget. It resulted in a 25% increase in customer satisfaction scores and a 15% increase in sales team efficiency. My leadership in this project not only delivered a successful outcome but also helped me develop strong team management and strategic planning skills."

This answer is effective because it showcases your ability to take charge and lead a project from start to finish. Detailing the steps you took, like gathering requirements and using agile methodology, demonstrates a thoughtful and effective approach.

11) What did you do when you needed to motivate a group or promote collaboration on a project?

Focus on demonstrating your leadership and team-building skills. Structure your answer by showing how you encouraged teamwork and fostered a collaborative environment.

"In my previous role, I led a project where the team was struggling with low morale due to tight deadlines and high expectations. My objective was to boost team motivation and foster a more collaborative atmosphere. I initiated regular team meetings to openly discuss challenges, progress, and brainstorm solutions collectively. I made sure to acknowledge each team member's contributions and provided constructive feedback. To promote a sense of ownership, I encouraged team members to lead parts of the project based on their strengths and interests. Additionally, I organized informal team-building activities to strengthen interpersonal relationships. This approach led to a noticeable increase in team morale and productivity. The project was completed successfully, meeting all deadlines and quality standards. The team's enhanced collaboration and communication skills had a lasting impact, improving our overall efficiency on future projects."

This answer is effective because it highlights a specific challenge related to team motivation and collaboration. The actions taken show a proactive approach to leadership and problem-solving.

12) How have you used data to develop a strategy?

When answering this question, it's crucial to demonstrate your ability to make data-driven decisions and how these decisions impacted your strategy.

"At my previous job, we were facing declining customer engagement with our email marketing campaigns. My task was to revitalize our email strategy to improve engagement. I started by conducting a thorough analysis of our existing email data, looking at open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. I segmented the data to understand different customer behaviors and preferences. Based on these insights, I developed a new strategy focusing on personalized content and targeted messaging, aligned with customers' past interactions and preferences. We also A/B tested different email formats and timings to optimize our approach. This data-driven strategy led to a 40% increase in email open rates and a 25% increase in click-through rates within three months. Our team's ability to leverage data effectively allowed us to make informed decisions that significantly improved customer engagement."

This answer is effective because it emphasizes how you used data analysis to understand the problem and inform your strategy. Detailing the steps of developing and testing the new strategy shows a thoughtful and systematic approach.

13) Tell me about a time you were 75 percent through a project and had to pivot quickly. How did you handle it?

It's important to demonstrate your adaptability, problem-solving skills, and ability to manage change effectively. Highlight how you navigated the challenge and the impact of your actions.

"In my previous role, we were 75% through developing a new software feature when we received feedback that it wouldn't meet a key client's needs. My task was to reevaluate and adjust our project quickly without significant delays. I immediately called a meeting with my team to reassess our approach. We reviewed the client's feedback in detail and brainstormed potential solutions. Realizing the need for swift action, I reprioritized tasks and reallocated resources to focus on the necessary changes. I also increased communication with the client to ensure our revised approach aligned with their expectations. Despite the mid-project pivot, we delivered the feature on time. The final product not only met but exceeded the client's expectations, leading to a significant increase in client satisfaction and strengthened our business relationship. This experience reinforced the importance of flexibility, clear communication, and client-centricity in project management."

This answer is effective because it shows your ability to respond quickly to unforeseen challenges. Highlighting how you led your team to brainstorm and re-strategize demonstrates effective leadership and problem-solving skills.

14) Describe your most difficult customer and how you handled it

Focus on demonstrating your problem-solving skills, empathy, and commitment to customer satisfaction. Structure your response, to show how you managed the challenging situation.

"At Shopify, I once dealt with a customer who was extremely dissatisfied with the integration of a third-party app on their e-commerce site. My responsibility was to resolve their issue and ensure their satisfaction with our platform. I first listened carefully to understand their concerns fully. I empathized with their frustration and assured them of my commitment to finding a solution. After investigating, I discovered a compatibility issue with their website's theme. I coordinated with our technical team to develop a workaround and provided step-by-step guidance to the customer for implementing the solution. Additionally, I followed up regularly to ensure the issue was resolved and offered additional resources for optimizing their site. The customer was very pleased with the proactive and personalized support. They not only continued using Shopify but also left a positive review, appreciating our responsive and effective customer service. This experience underscored the importance of empathy, thorough problem-solving, and clear communication in managing customer relations."

This answer is effective because it starts by showing empathy and understanding of the customer's problem. Demonstrating how you identified the issue and worked with the technical team highlights your problem-solving skills.

15) What would you do if you found out your closest friend at work was stealing?

It's important to emphasize your commitment to ethical standards, professionalism, and the company's code of conduct. Your response should reflect the seriousness of the situation and your understanding of the appropriate actions to take, regardless of personal relationships.

"If I discovered that a close friend at work was stealing, I would approach the situation with a sense of responsibility and adherence to Amazon's ethical standards. My first step would be to have a candid conversation with my friend to understand the context and verify the facts. Regardless of their explanation, I would explain the seriousness of the situation and the importance of integrity in the workplace. I would then encourage them to self-report the incident to the management. If they were unwilling to do so, I would feel obligated to report the incident myself. It's imperative to maintain a work environment where trust, integrity, and adherence to legal and ethical standards are non-negotiable. While it would be a difficult decision, especially involving a friend, I believe that upholding the company's values and maintaining a trustworthy workplace is paramount."

The answer acknowledges the seriousness of theft and the importance of upholding a trustworthy work environment.

It demonstrates a clear understanding of the need to take action in line with company policies, reinforcing your integrity and commitment to a professional work environment.

What to wear to an Amazon interview to get hired

Wear something comfortable and casual.

Although some roles in Amazon’s fulfillment centers may require certain clothing for safety reasons (such as closed-toed shoes), employees wear everyday clothes in most of their offices. According to Amazon's jobs site , they're interested in what you have to say, not what you’re wearing.

For men, go for a smart-casual button-down shirt or a polo shirt paired with khaki trousers or dark jeans in good condition. Wear closed-toed shoes, like loafers or clean, casual sneakers. You can also add a lightweight, unstructured blazer for a more polished look.

For women, opt for a casual blouse or a smart-casual top combined with tailored pants or dark jeans without rips or excessive embellishments. Wear closed-toe flats or low heels; comfortable shoes are key. Add a cardigan or blazer for layering, if needed.

What to expect from an Amazon job interview

Knowing what to expect during an Amazon job interview can boost your chances of landing your desired role. Here are some things to consider when doing an Amazon job interview:

Check-In Process: Aim to arrive 15 minutes early for your interview. Ensure you have a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license or passport, ready for check-in.

Location: Instructions for reaching the interview location will be sent via email. Note that some Amazon offices are dog-friendly, so please tell them beforehand if you need any accommodations or have allergies.

Interview Format: Expect a blend of questions and discussions focusing on your experience. Prepare detailed examples and aim to provide concise, structured responses.

Interviewers: You'll meet between two to seven people, depending on the role. This group may include managers, team members, stakeholders from related teams, and a Bar Raiser (usually from a different team). All interviewers are focused on assessing your growth potential and how your background aligns with Amazon's core competencies and Leadership Principles. Approach each interviewer consistently, regardless of their role. Interviewers typically take notes on their laptops to ensure they accurately capture your responses.

Duration: Each interview session typically lasts between 45 minutes to an hour. If your interview overlaps with lunch hours, lunch will be provided. Inform your contact or lunch buddy of any dietary preferences.

Remote Interviews: Remote interviews often require Amazon Chime, our video conferencing tool (a step-by-step guide is available). If you're presenting, download Chime to your desktop. You'll receive a meeting ID via email from your recruiting contact. For optimal sound quality, use a headset with a microphone.

Understanding the interviewer’s point of view

During an Amazon job interview, interviewers are keenly looking for traits that align with Amazon's Leadership Principles. These principles are not just guidelines but the cornerstone of Amazon's culture. Here’s how candidates can demonstrate these traits:

1. Customer Obsession: Show that you prioritize and understand customer needs and can innovate on their behalf. Share examples of how you've gone above and beyond to meet customer expectations.

2. Ownership: Demonstrate your ability to think long term and not sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. Show how you take initiative and act on behalf of the entire company, not just your team.

3. Invent and Simplify: Display your ability to develop new ideas and solutions. Explain how you approach complex problems and simplify them for the benefit of the company.

4. Are Right, A Lot: Illustrate your strong judgment and good instincts. Share instances where your decision-making led to positive outcomes.

5. Learn and Be Curious: Convey a strong desire to learn and continually improve yourself. Discuss how you seek to innovate and adapt in your field.

6. Hire and Develop the Best: If you've had leadership roles, discuss how you've hired and mentored team members, contributing to their growth and the company’s success.

7. Insist on the Highest Standards: Show your commitment to high standards and how you’ve consistently delivered quality work.

8. Think Big: Talk about times when you thought outside the box, setting bold directions that inspired results.

9. Bias for Action: Share examples of when you took swift action to address an issue or seize an opportunity, showing your ability to navigate uncertainty and risk.

10. Frugality: Explain how you've accomplished more with less, and how this approach led to resourceful and effective solutions.

11. Earn Trust: Discuss how you build and maintain trust with colleagues and customers through honesty and integrity.

12. Dive Deep: Illustrate your ability to operate at both strategic and tactical levels, and how you ensure no detail is missed.

13. Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit: Share instances where you respectfully challenged decisions and then committed to them once a decision was made.

14. Deliver Results: Focus on times you've overcome obstacles to deliver results within deadlines and quality standards.

15. Strive to be Earth's Best Employer: (if applicable) Discuss how you create a positive, inclusive, and safe work environment and actively work towards enhancing employee well-being.

16. Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility: Explain how you consider the wider impact of your decisions on the community and environment.

Displaying these traits in your responses, supported by specific examples, will show your alignment with Amazon's values and work culture. Good luck!

Team Leader Interview Questions (16 Questions + Answers)
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Reference this article:

About The Author

PracticalPie.com is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

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MOST COMMON Amazon CODING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

15 Most-Asked Amazon Interview Questions With Answers

Amazon is a technology-driven company that relies on its software infrastructure. The giant e-commerce platform needs experts who can optimize its ecosystem. To land your dream job, you must prove your coding skills during the Amazon interview process. If you need help figuring out where to start the preparation, this guide is the perfect place. To help you, we have compiled a list of the top 15 coding questions asked during Amazon interviews. The answers will teach you the fundamental concepts required to navigate difficult problem-solving questions. They will also help you sharpen your coding abilities so that you can learn to code with confidence during the interview .

Amazon coding interviews focus on arrays as they store and manipulate collections of elements. They allow for fast access, insertion, deletion, and searching. Expertise in arrays demonstrates your understanding of data structures and algorithms. Amazon seeks candidates who can handle large datasets and build scalable systems, because these tasks showcase your critical thinking skills and ability to process data efficiently. In a nutshell, you need to show your problem-solving skills through the efficient use of arrays. The best way to prepare is to practice. Brush up your concepts of arrays by solving the following problems:

Find the missing number in the array

Problem Statement

You are given an array containing 'n' distinct numbers taken from the range 0 to 'n'n. Since the array has only 'n' numbers out of the total 'n+1' numbers, find the missing number.

Determine if the sum of two integers is equal to the given value

Problem statement

Given an array of integers and a value, determine if there are any two integers in the array whose sum is equal to the given value.

LINKED LISTS

Linked lists are another important data structure required for Amazon coding interviews. They provide a more cost-effective way of inserting and deleting data elements. With a strong foundation in using linked lists, you can traverse, change, and manipulate data. Moreover, using linked lists in algorithms improves the solution's scalability. See if you can solve these problems:

Merge two sorted linked lists

Given two sorted linked lists, merge them so that the resulting linked list is also sorted.

Copy linked list with arbitrary pointer

You are given a linked list where the node has two pointers. The first is the regular ‘next’ pointer. The second pointer is called ‘arbitrary_pointer’ and it can point to any node in the linked list.

Your job is to write code to make a deep copy of the given linked list. Here, deep copy means that any operations on the original list (inserting, modifying and removing) should not affect the copied list.

You must know all the essential data structures to write the fastest algorithm. A key part of your interview preparation is developing a solid understanding of the application of tree data structure. In the context of Amazon, you can use trees for the following functions:

Storing and retrieving hierarchical data

Building decision trees for machine learning applications

Constructing data structures for natural language processing

Level order traversal of a binary tree

Given the root of a binary tree, display the node values at each level. Node values for all levels should be displayed on separate lines.

Determine if a binary tree is a binary search tree

Given a Binary Tree, figure out whether it’s a Binary Search Tree. In a binary search tree, each node’s key value is smaller than the key value of all nodes in the right subtree, and are greater than the key values of all nodes in the left subtree i.e. L < N < R.

You can extract, transform, and analyze textual data if you are good at string manipulation. Text data plays a crucial role in Amazon due to the website’s use of search queries, product descriptions, and more. You can try solving these problems to see if you're ready for this topic:

String segmentation

Given a dictionary of words and an input string tell whether the input string can be completely segmented into dictionary words.

Reverse words in a sentence

Given a string, find the length of the longest substring which has no repeating characters.

DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING

Dynamic programming is a systematic way to solve complex problems by breaking them down into overlapping subproblems and then solving them. This reduces the computation cost. It is a helpful tool for Amazon because they need it to optimize their system in various ways. This includes the optimization of inventory management, supply chains, route planning, and pricing strategies. Test yourself with this coding problem:

How many ways can you make change with coins and a total amount

Given coin denominations and total amount, find out the number of ways to make the change.

MATH AND STATS

Mathematics and statistics play a significant role in Amazon's business. You can use math and stats to identify patterns and relationships in the vast amount of available data. Having a solid foundation in math and stats will help you with the following tasks: Designing efficient algorit https://www.educative.io/courses/algorithms-coding-interviews-java hms :

Working with machine learning models

Quantitative analysis

Making data-driven decisions

Find Kth permutation

Given a set of ‘N’ elements, find the Kth permutation.

Find all subsets of a given set of integers

You are given a set of integers and you have to find all the possible subsets of this set of integers.

BACKTRACKING

Backtracking means exploring the problem space to find the best solution. You can apply this technique through a trial-and-error approach to the choices.

Amazon faces many constraint-based problems, like scheduling, resource allocation, and logistics. You can solve these challenges by iterating combinations. Then, you can choose the most workable one. Solve this question now to test yourself:

Print balanced brace combinations

Print all braces combinations for a given value 'N' so that they are balanced.

A graph is a tool used to depict a group of connected elements. You can use them to simulate real-world scenarios by applying graph algorithms.

Amazon uses graphs to analyze customer behavior and market trends, among other things. The personalized recommendations feature for customers also uses graphs. Amazon Web Services (AWS) also uses graph-based systems for distributed computing. Graphs can help with the following: Efficient routing Optimization Resource allocation If you want to test your understanding of graphs, try solving this problem:

Clone a directed graph

Given the root node of a directed graph, clone this graph by creating its deep copy so that the cloned graph has the same vertices and edges as the original graph.

SORTING AND SEARCHING

Amazon deals with large amounts of data. This is why you need to have a strong understanding of searching algorithms in order to create efficient search functionalities. Sorting algorithms are also valuable in identifying patterns in large data sets.

Do you know which search or sort algorithm to choose? The time and space complexity of the algorithm will help you decide. This, in turn, optimizes the system's performance. To assess your skills in sorting and searching, try out these challenges:

Find the High/Low index

Given an array of points in the a 2D plane, find ‘K’ closest points to the origin.

Search rotated array

Given an unsorted array of numbers, find the top ‘K’ frequently occurring numbers in it.

MORE INTERVIEW PREP?

Tips to ace the Amazon coding interview:

Create simple code.

Don't wait for the optimal solution to come to you. Just start and enhance as you go. The code that you write should be easy to maintain as the traffic increases.

Improve readability by breaking up the code into logical components.

Think thoroughly about the edge cases to validate your ultimate solution.

When you are not sure about something, be sure to mention and discuss it with the interviewer.

Need further interview prep?

This toolbox of basic data structures and algorithms is essential in order to tackle Amazon interview questions. We've partnered with Educative to bring you the best interview prep around. Check out this complete list of top Amazon coding interview questions . For a thorough data structure and algorithm practice, click the link below. These structured courses will give you the strategy you need to convert your dream into a realistic goal.

Good luck with the interview!

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Interview Advice

Amazon Interview Questions: The Ultimate Preparation Guide (With Example Stories)

Discover Amazon's Leadership Principles and ace behavioral questions with Day One Careers' expert guide, crafted by former Amazon senior leaders!

This guide will show you how to prepare for behavioral interview questions when interviewing at Amazon, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of what's expected. Amazon interviews are notoriously challenging. Our recommendations are based on our experience with thousands of candidate interviews and coaching sessions (both while we were at Amazon and after starting Day One Careers).

At the end of this guide, we offer a vetted list of questions for interviews at the company, but we encourage you to read through the entire guide. While we cannot guarantee you will get a job, following this guide will increase your chances of landing the offer. We recommend that you bookmark this guide and use it as a reference point throughout your Amazon interview preparation journey.

Evgeny Bik and Gayle Gallagher (GG), co-founders of Day One Careers , wrote this guide. GG spent five years at Amazon as a senior leader in Prime Video and Amazon Fresh in the UK, and Evgeny spent over three years as a senior leader in Amazon Launchpad and Amazon Devices in Europe. In addition, GG and Evgeny were Hiring Managers and interviewers for their teams and partner organizations.

In addition, GG was a qualified Amazon Bar Raiser – an independent decision-maker with veto power over the hiring manager in the Amazon interview process . GG and Evgeny had careers in multi-national Tech, FMCG and Retail companies before joining Amazon.

Finally, after leaving Amazon, Evgeny spent one year at Apple as an eCommerce lead in IMMEA (Apple’s developing markets organization).

We created Day One Careers to provide everyone with expert Amazon interview preparation resources. We’re incredibly proud of our free and paid resources, and we encourage you to explore our blog and YouTube channel for more expert guidance.

You can check out our LinkedIn profiles if you’d like to learn more about our career paths: GG’s profile and Evgeny’s profile .

Why We Wrote This Guide

We wrote this guide for two reasons. First, after coaching thousands of candidates on preparing for interviews at Amazon, we wanted to make our expertise available to as many candidates as possible. Second, the internet (blogs and YouTube) is spreading misinformation about the interview process at Amazon, including questions and preparation strategies.

What makes us confident? Our community of paid students has plenty of folks who burned themselves following the unqualified advice of the self-proclaimed Amazon interview experts. So you can be confident that you are in the best hands possible.

How This Guide Will Help You Prepare For Amazon Interviews

This guide will help you prepare for behavioral interview questions at Amazon. It has a proven D1C Amazon Interview Method (D1C AIM) to prepare for your interview, which has worked for hundreds of candidates who have landed job offers with Amazon.

Note that we crafted this guide to assist genuine candidates in preparing for interviews at Amazon. Therefore, we don’t offer tips on manipulating Amazon’s interview process and encourage all candidates to avoid resources that try to do so.

Also, this guide covers only interview questions based on Amazon’s Leadership Principles. It does not cover coding, System Design or other functional preparation topics.

We are proud of what we have achieved with Day One Careers, and we stand firm in our aspiration to be the most credible source of guidance on ace Amazon’s behavioral interviews.

Step 1: Understand Amazon’s Leadership Principles

Amazon’s behavioral interviews look for behaviors corresponding to their core competencies – the 16 Amazon Leadership Principles . These Leadership Principles – or LPs – embody Amazon’s business mantra and penetrate every aspect of Amazon’s decision-making.

So, during behavioral interview rounds, Amazon wants to ascertain that you embody the Amazon Leadership Principles, ensuring you are a future Amazonian. Hence, all questions you encounter during your behavioral interviews with Amazon will be based on the Leadership Principles. You can review all Leadership Principles by visiting Amazon’s jobs portal.

We cannot stress how integral the Amazon Leadership Principles are to the company's culture and decision-making. Even candidates interviewing for technical roles (e.g. Software Developer, Data Scientists, Business Intelligence Engineers) should take these competencies seriously.

From our experience, the weight of your behavioral interview results will be at least 80% for non-technical roles and at least 50% for technical positions.

Many candidates only consider the information on Amazon’s website when trying to understand the Leadership Principles. However, each Amazon Leadership Principle encompasses multiple sub-themes beyond its official definition, reflecting the depth of Amazon's values. Some sub-themes seem logically connected to the LP definition, while others might appear unrelated or contradictory.

For example, candidates fail to realize that Amazon’s Customer Obsession Leadership Principle does not mean the customer is always right. So, they struggle to come up with a credible response when an Amazon interviewer asks them to tell a story about when a customer made an unreasonable request.

Another trap that many candidates fall into is trying to prepare individual responses to individual interview questions. This approach is unsustainable because there are too many questions. Utilizing our collection of vetted questions will help, but you will still quickly run out of stories.

So, the only working preparation strategy is to understand the broad sub-themes (facets) of Amazon’s Leadership Principles and develop stories that cover them.

To understand the facets of Amazon’s Leadership Principles, we recommend doing the following:

Review Jeff Bezos’ Letters to Shareholders . Jeff’s Shareholder Letters contain golden insight into the meaning that Amazon’s founder attached to the Amazon Leadership Principles.
Read books from our reading list . These books come from former senior Amazonians who worked with Jeff and his team during the company’s early days. The insights in these books are invaluable to understanding the Leadership Principles in-depth.
Review example questions. Along this guide, you will find a list of example interview questions that map to the 16 Leadership Principles – crowd-sourced and vetted by GG and Evgeny for authenticity. By studying these examples in-depth, you will see emerging leadership principles facets.
Invest in in-depth online courses . If you want to leave no stone unturned to prepare for your interview, we strongly recommend investing in self-study resources. There are plenty to choose from – so make sure to research thoroughly.

We recommend our Amazon Interview Whizz – an all-in-one online training that helped hundreds of candidates land L4-L8 roles at Amazon. It is heavily reviewed in our live database of testimonials , so feel free to check them out. Or check out our free taster course to kick-start your Amazon interview preparation journey.

Step 2: Understand Amazon’s Cultural Quirks

Amazon takes pride in its peculiar culture and ways of working. This company culture is rooted in the Leadership Principles but has evolved with distinct expressions over the years, highlighting Amazon's commitment to its core values.

One such expression is Amazon’s approach to innovation. While plenty of businesses call themselves innovative, the reality is not straightforward. Some are reactive incrementalists, and others focus on features rather than benefits.

Amazon’s framework cuts across all these methods by stating, “We start with the customer and work backwards”. “Working backwards” quickly became an internal cultural meme at Amazon and a title of a highly recommended book by Colin Bryar .

In practice, this means that Amazonians are expected to anticipate what the customer might need and want, even without having clear guidance for customers. Or, as often happens, by going opposite what customers are asking for.

Amazon’s company culture can be challenging to understand, reflecting its unique innovation and customer service approach. Still, taking the time to appreciate it will help you connect with your interviewers and feel more comfortable during the interview process.

Another benefit of learning about Amazon’s peculiar culture is challenging your motivation to join the company. Are you interviewing with Amazon for the right reasons? Are you passionate enough to join the business?

If you join a company like Amazon, you will find few employees for random reasons. Instead, most have highly personal reasons for wanting to work there. So, as you learn more about Amazon’s culture, ask yourself if it is something you can see yourself doing long-term.

Here are some vetted resources that you can use to connect with Amazon’s peculiar culture:

Think Like Amazon YouTube Series . We partnered with the Think Like Amazon podcast creator and re-published the best episodes to our YouTube channel. In this playlist, former senior Amazonians speak about solving real-life business problems with their unique Amazonian approach.
Books from our reading list. The list of books we mentioned in this guide's previous section will give you a glimpse into how Amazon functions daily.
YouTube interviews of current and former Amazon leadership . Look for interviews with Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy, Jeff Wilke, and Dave Limp.
Amazon Interview Whizz online course . We created an entire section dedicated to Amazon’s peculiar culture, where we explain the most critical cultural quirks of Amazon. This section is part of Amazon Interview Whizz – a flagship online training by Day One Careers.

Step 3: Master the Amazon STAR Method

To form your responses, tell stories about times you demonstrated the desired behaviors. However, this doesn’t come naturally to most candidates since most companies don’t use behavioral interviewing and prefer to ask hypothetical questions or focus on your resume.

A popular interview storytelling framework for Amazon behavioral interviews is STAR (Situation, Task, Actions, Results). Most companies that use behavioral interviewing recommend that candidates follow this format when responding to interview questions.

In the Situation part of the story, you would share the context that prompted you to act.

The Task part is where you talk about what you need to accomplish.

Actions are self-explanatory – these steps you took to get to the results.

Finally, in the Results section, you’d share the outcomes of your activities.

STAR has been around for decades. Getting comfortable with this format will be sufficient to learn basic interview storytelling. However, to land a role at Amazon, you must learn how to enhance your responses to raise the bar – proving that you are better than 50% of current Amazonians at the same level (or the Amazon STAR Method ).

First, you must ensure that the bulk of your story is understandable without extensive follow-up questioning. This is done by skillfully establishing the context and adapting the level of technical details to your audience.

Second, your stories must be believable and credible. You must show that your actions had a real impact and were successful unless the question asks for a story about failure . To achieve this, you must use facts and data wherever possible.

Finally, you must signal that you are senior enough for the role you are interviewing for. Remember that organizational hierarchies exist for a reason. Usually, more is expected of employees working at higher levels. Therefore, you must pick the situations that give your profile the best chance to prove that it is senior enough for the level of the Amazon job and fit for the role.

Learn from former hiring managers and Bar Raisers to fine-tune your STAR for Amazon. If you know someone who used to interview and hire candidates at Amazon, contact them. Both current and former Amazonians tend to be helpful when it comes to aspiring candidates, so you may be surprised at how much value you can get from your network.

Alternatively, we recommend exploring the “Mastering the Behavioural Interview” and “How Amazon Amazon Hires” sections in our Amazon Interview Whizz course. These sections offer an Amazon-tuned, impact-optimized STAR interview framework and a blueprint for signaling your seniority.

Step 4: Practice With Partners

Acing behavioral interviews at Amazon typically comes with challenges. For example, candidates usually need to be able to recall and describe up to 24 different stories, depending on the job they are interviewing for. They also need to withstand interjections and follow-up questioning from interviewers and explain complex themes simply.

The only way to achieve this interview mastery is to practice with partners (learn about the importance of practice to land a job offer with Amazon ). Therefore, we recommend finding a community of candidates preparing for interviews with Amazon. This will ensure that you practice with motivated individuals who share your situation.

We also advise only using the example questions provided in this guide. Please avoid Glassdoor or any other sources of questions, as they won’t be vetted by anyone who worked at Amazon.

Finally, ensure you have a good night’s sleep between practice sessions with these interview questions. Our brain learns when asleep, so try to space your mock interview practice sessions at least one day apart.

To kick-start your Amazon interview preparation, we invite you to join our free community, where you will find plenty of motivated candidates preparing to interview with Amazon. You can get access to this community after getting our free taster course .

Vetted Interview Questions for Amazon Leadership Principles With Example Stories

Below is a list of example questions for your interview preparation. For an even more extensive collection of questions, we recommend you get our Amazon Interview Toolpack – a complimentary resource we’ve made available to everyone at no cost. Amazon Interview Tool Pack has 90+ fully vetted example questions for behavioral interviews you can use to practice with partners.

While the example questions in this guide are hypothetical, GG and Evgeny have ensured their relevance to the Leadership Principles, reflecting their deep understanding of the company's unique culture.

Example stories are skeletons that are offered to give you a flavour of how to structure your responses in the STAR format. Note that your interview answers must be longer and more nuanced than the examples in this section.

Customer Obsession

Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

Example behavioral questions

Tell me about a time you made something better or created something new because you listened to a customer/s. What was the situation and what action did you take?
Give me an example of when you disappointed a customer. What happened, and how did you attempt to rectify the situation?
Tell me about a time you handled a difficult customer. What did you do? How did you manage the customer? What was her/his reaction? What was the outcome?
Tell me about a time you put the customer first, regardless of what peers or higher management directed. What was theoutcome? How did this impact day-to-day interaction with your peers and/or management?
Tell me about a time when you’ve refused an unreasonable customer request.
Tell me about a time when you over promised to a customer and then failed to deliver. How did you deal with the situation?

Example response

Situation: In my previous role as a Customer Service Manager for a leading e-commerce platform, we faced an unprecedented challenge during the holiday season. A technical glitch led to the loss of hundreds of critical customer orders, risking immediate revenue loss and long-term customer trust. Understanding the gravity of the situation, I took ownership of resolving this issue, knowing that our commitment to our customers was at stake.

Task: My objective was not only to recover the lost orders but also to enhance the customer experience to turn a potentially harmful situation into a positive one. The goal was to ensure no customer felt the impact of our internal issues and to strengthen their loyalty to our brand ultimately. I aimed to achieve a 100% recovery rate of lost orders and aimed for an increase in customer satisfaction scores by 10% from the interaction.

Action: To address and solve the problem, I initiated a three-pronged strategy:

Rapid Response Team: Formed a task force comprising members from IT, customer service, and logistics. This team worked round-the-clock to identify, recover, and process the lost orders.
Proactive Communication: Implemented a proactive outreach program, contacting every affected customer personally. We informed them of the glitch and the steps we were taking to address it and offered expedited shipping at no extra cost. For those whose orders couldn't be recovered in time, we provided a full refund and a significant discount on their next purchase.
Feedback Loop: Established a direct feedback channel for these customers, inviting them to share their experiences and suggestions. This feedback was used to refine our processes and prevent similar incidents in the future.

Result: The dedicated efforts of the task force led to the recovery of 98% of the lost orders. Our proactive communication and compensation strategy increased customer satisfaction scores among affected customers by 15%, surpassing our initial objective. Moreover, the feedback collected led to significant improvements in our IT infrastructure and customer service processes, reducing the risk of similar issues in the future. This incident became a case study within the company on the importance of transparency, swift action, and the value of customer feedback in turning challenges into opportunities for improvement.

Invent and Simplify

Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here.” As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods.

Tell me about a time you removed complexity for customers. What drove you to implement this change?
Tell me about a time when you found it difficult to deliver an imaginative idea you had. Why was it so difficult to deliver?
Tell me about a time when you were faced with a difficult problem or situation where the normal approach or solution was not going to work.
Tell me about a time you had a big impact on your business by thinking really differently.
Tell me about a time you chose to re-purpose a solution from another area ratherthan design your own solution. How did you come across this solution and why wasit better to use than designing your own?

Situation: As a product manager at Tech Innovate Inc., a leading technology solutions provider, my team faced the challenge of streamlining our customer onboarding process. The process was cumbersome and involved multiple steps that customers found confusing, leading to a significant drop-off rate and customer dissatisfaction.

Task: My objective was to design a novel solution that simplified the onboarding process, improving customer satisfaction and reducing drop-off rates. I aimed to cut the onboarding time by at least 30% and increase customer satisfaction scores by 20%.

Action: I initiated the project by gathering customer feedback and collaborating with the sales, marketing, and IT departments to understand the pain points in the current process. Inspired by user-friendly apps in different sectors, I proposed the development of an AI-powered assistant as a solution to a complex problem, guiding customers through the onboarding process in a conversational, interactive manner.

I led a cross-functional team to develop the AI assistant, focusing on user experience design and integrating it with our CRM system to personalize the onboarding experience. We conducted iterative testing with a small user group, using their feedback to refine the assistant further.

Result: The introduction of the AI-powered assistant was a success. We reduced the average onboarding time by 40%, exceeding our initial goal. Customer satisfaction scores increased by 25%, with customers praising the new process's simplicity and personalized approach. The project demonstrated our ability to innovate and simplify complex processes and set a new standard for customer onboarding within our industry.

Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.

Give me an example of a time when you had to dig really deep into multiple tiers of information to get to the source of a problem. What information did you look at? Who did you talk to?
Can you give me an example of a time when someone gave you an explanation for something, you didn’t think was right and you investigated in order get to the true answer?
Walk me through a problem where the solution wasn’t easy to get to and you needed to use lots of data, information and scrutiny to solve it. How did you know you were focusing on the right things?
Amazon uses a route cause analysis process called the 5 whys. Where you ask yourself “why” five times to try to get to the origin of a problem. Can you give me an example of when you have asked yourself “why” 5 times or more to get to the bottom of a problem?

Situation: While working as a Data Analyst at a leading e-commerce company, our team was challenged to optimize the inventory management system to reduce overstock and stockouts, significantly affecting our profit margins and customer satisfaction. This issue was particularly pressing during the peak holiday season, when demand forecasting accuracy was crucial.

Task: My task was to utilize data analytics to improve our inventory management system, ensuring we could accurately forecast demand, optimize stock levels, and enhance our overall supply chain efficiency. The primary objectives were to reduce stockouts by 30% and overstock by 25% within six months, aiming to boost customer satisfaction and profitability.

Action: To address this challenge, I began by diving deep into historical sales data, market trends, and customer behavior analytics. I conducted a comprehensive data analysis using statistical modeling and machine learning techniques as a solution to a complex problem, predicting future demand more accurately. This involved:

Collecting and cleaning extensive datasets to ensure accuracy and relevance.
Implementing predictive analytics models to forecast demand for different product categories.
Analyzing supply chain logistics and lead times to adjust inventory levels dynamically.
Collaborating with the supply chain and sales teams to further incorporate their insights and refine the demand forecasts.
Setting up a dashboard that provided real-time inventory insights, allowing for quick adjustments based on actual sales data and demand signals.

Result: The data-driven approach to optimizing the inventory management system led to a 35% reduction in stockouts and a 28% decrease in overstock within the first six months, surpassing our initial objectives. This improvement significantly enhanced customer satisfaction, as indicated by a 15% increase in positive customer feedback regarding product availability. Additionally, the project contributed to a 10% increase in profit margins due to reduced inventory holding costs and lost sales.

Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.

Describe a time when you had to decide whether or not to award or ask for additional resources. What criteria did you use for making the call?
Tell me about a time where you thought of a new way to save money or reduce excess within your operation.
Tell me about a time when you pushed for a more cost-effective or operationally efficient process or solution. What motivated you and how involved did you get on with achieving the outcome?
Give me a time you requested additional funding/budget to complete a project. Why was it needed? Did you try to figure out another approach? Did you get the additional resources? Why or why not?

Situation: In my previous role as a project manager at a mid-sized software development company, we faced a significant challenge. We were tasked with developing a new client management system with an extremely limited budget and a tight deadline of just three months. The constraints were daunting, given the complexity and scale of the project, which was critical for enhancing our customer service efficiency and operational scalability.

Task: I aimed to deliver a fully functional, scalable client management system within the specified timeframe and budget. This required innovative cost-saving measures and maximizing the use of existing resources without compromising on quality or functionality. The key performance indicators (KPIs) were to stay within budget, meet the project deadline, and achieve a system adoption rate of at least 80% by our customer service team within the first month of launch.

Action: To address these constraints, I initiated a thorough review of our existing tools and resources to identify opportunities for reuse and adaptation. I led brainstorming sessions with my team to encourage innovative ideas for cost-effective solutions, promoting a culture of frugality and resourcefulness. We decided to utilize open-source technologies to reduce expenses and implemented agile project management methodologies to accelerate development while maintaining change flexibility. Additionally, I negotiated with vendors for more favorable terms and engaged the team in cross-training to fill skill gaps, avoiding needing external consultants. Regular progress reviews and adjustments ensured we stayed on track and optimized resource allocation throughout the project.

Result: Despite the tight constraints, we successfully developed and deployed the client management system within the three-month deadline and under budget. The project resulted in a system adoption rate of 85% by the customer service team within the first four weeks post-launch, exceeding our initial target. This initiative demonstrated our ability to deliver significant projects frugally and sparked a wave of innovation and efficiency improvements across the company. Our approach to maximizing resource value and fostering a culture of innovation has since been adopted as a best practice for future projects.

Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job.”

Tell me about a time when you decided to accept a trade-off of short term benefits in order to secure long-term benefit.
Describe a time when you took on something significantly outside your normal area of responsibility. Why did you think it was important for you to take it on?
Tell me about a time you missed a deadline. What happened and what did you learn?
Describe a situation where you failed to deliver on something important to a customer or a colleague. What did you do when the failure surfaced?
Give me an example of a time when you revised a decision or a plan based on the consequences to other teams in your business.

Situation: At Global Tech Solutions, a software development company, I was a senior developer tasked with leading a critical project to create a new customer relationship management (CRM) platform. The deadline was tight, and the project was pivotal for securing a long-term partnership with a major client. Midway through, we encountered significant technical challenges that threatened to delay our delivery.

Task: My primary goal was to ensure the timely and high-quality completion of the CRM platform. Understanding the project's importance, I decided to take full ownership beyond my initial responsibilities, aiming not only to meet but to exceed the project delivery standards and ensure client satisfaction.

Action: I took several steps to address the challenges we faced:

Extended Work Hours: Recognizing the urgency, I extended my work hours, dedicating early mornings and late evenings to troubleshooting and developing solutions.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: I initiated daily stand-up meetings with the IT, marketing, and customer service teams to ensure alignment, gather insights on user experience, and incorporate feedback directly into the development process.
Mentoring Team Members: Aware of the steep learning curve some newer technologies presented to the team, I conducted hands-on training sessions—this effort aimed to address immediate project needs and upskill the team for future projects.
Client Engagement: I increased the frequency of communication with the client, providing transparent updates on progress and challenges. Their feedback built trust and allowed us to adjust project specifications in real-time.
Innovative Solutions: To address the technical challenges, I researched and implemented cutting-edge solutions that were new to our team, significantly improving the platform's performance and user interface.

Result: Through these actions, we scoped the project and delivered the CRM platform two weeks before the deadline with features that surpassed the client's expectations regarding functionality and user experience. The client was delighted, leading to a long-term partnership and a 30% increase in projected revenue from this relationship. Internally, the project was recognized as a benchmark for excellence and innovation, and the solutions I developed were later adopted as best practices for future projects. This experience underscored the value of taking ownership, proactively addressing challenges, and going the extra mile to exceed expectations.

Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.

Describe an time when you received negative feedback about yourself or your performance.
Describe a time when there was a morale issue in your team but thanks to your effortsthe team was able to recover. How did you identify the issue, turn things around andmake sure the problem didn’t return?
Building trust within teams can sometimes be an uphill task. Describe how you successfully forged trustful professional bonds.
Tell me about a time when you needed the cooperation of someone who didn’t want to give it. How and did you convince them to support you?
Tell me about a time you were tasked with giving your team news that you knew they would not like. How did you plan the message and deal with the reactions?

Situation: At my previous job at TechInnovate, a leading software development company, I was the Team Lead for the UI/UX Design Department. We were in a critical project to revamp the user interface for one of our flagship products. During this time, I noticed one of my team members, Sarah, seemed increasingly overwhelmed and struggled to keep up with her deliverables. Her challenges were starting to impact the project timeline and the team's morale.

Task: Recognizing the importance of maintaining a positive and supportive team environment, I set a goal to assist Sarah in overcoming her immediate challenges and strengthen the team's resilience and collective ability to address similar issues in the future. My objectives were to improve Sarah's project contribution by 30% and reduce the team's overall project delay from two weeks to less than four days.

Action : I first approached Sarah for a one-on-one discussion to understand her challenges. Listening attentively, I learned she juggled too many tasks and felt unsure about her priorities. To address this, I:

Reassessed Task Allocation: Reviewed the project tasks among the team to ensure a more balanced workload, allowing Sarah to focus on tasks that matched her strengths and reduced her stress.
Implemented Weekly Check-Ins: Introduced weekly check-in meetings for the team, providing a platform for everyone to voice concerns, share progress, and support each other. This fostered a culture of openness and mutual support.
Offered Mentorship: Provided Sarah with one-on-one mentoring sessions focusing on time management and prioritization techniques. I also encouraged her to be vocally self-critical, helping her identify areas for self-improvement without feeling embarrassed or awkward.
Encouraged Team Collaboration: Promoted a team environment where everyone felt comfortable offering and asking for help. This supported Sarah and empowered the entire team to collaborate more effectively.

Results: These actions significantly improved team dynamics and project outcomes. Sarah increased her contribution to the project by 40%, surpassing our initial goal. The project delay was reduced to only three days, better than our target of four days. The team's morale improved noticeably, with members feeling more connected and supportive of each other. This experience reinforced the importance of listening, empathy, and proactive problem-solving in leadership. It also demonstrated how fostering a culture of respect and collaboration can lead to better individual and team performance.

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.

Recall an occasion where you stood your ground on an unpopular viewpoint in a team setting, becoming the minority.
Describe a situation where you thought you were right, but your peers or supervisor did not agree with you. How did you try to convince them that you were right? Did you succeed?
Give me an example of a time you chose to acquiesce to the group even when you disagreed. Would you make thesame decision now?
Tell me about a time that your manager and you took firm opposite positions on a decision, recommendation or next best action. What was it about and how did you handle it?

Situation : At Spark Innovations, a fintech startup where I served as the Product Manager, our team faced a pivotal decision regarding implementing a new feature within our mobile banking app. The feature in question was designed to enhance user security through biometric authentication. While the majority of the team, including senior leadership, favored a rapid deployment to stay ahead of competitors, I harbored concerns about user privacy and data security implications.

Task: My goal was to ensure that the feature we were introducing would set us apart in the market and uphold our company's commitment to user privacy and data security. I aimed to convince the team to adopt a more cautious approach involving further security vetting and a phased rollout plan.

Action: I took several steps to address this challenge:

Conducted Thorough Research: I spent considerable time gathering data on potential security vulnerabilities and user concerns regarding biometric data. This included case studies from other companies and feedback from forums and social media.
Prepared a Comprehensive Presentation: Armed with this data, I prepared a presentation highlighting the risks of rushing the feature's deployment without adequate safeguards. I emphasized the long-term impact on user trust and our brand's reputation.
I sought External Expert Opinions. To strengthen my case, I consulted with cybersecurity experts and included their insights and recommendations in my presentation.
Facilitated Open Discussion: I presented my findings to the team and senior leadership, encouraging open discussion and addressing counterarguments with respect and factual evidence.
Proposed a Constructive Alternative: Instead of merely opposing the rapid deployment, I proposed a phased rollout plan that included an initial pilot with a limited user group. This would allow us to gather feedback and make necessary security enhancements.

Results: While my stance was initially unpopular and met with resistance, the thoroughness of the research and the constructive nature of my proposal gradually won the team over. The leadership agreed to adopt the phased rollout approach, which allowed us to identify and rectify several security concerns that had been overlooked. The feature was successfully implemented, receiving positive feedback from users for its security measures.

Hire and Develop The Best

Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.

Share an experience dealing with an underperforming team member.
Recall an instance where your mentoring turned an average performer into a star.
Describe a situation where you assembled a specialized team for a unique project.
Tell me about a time when you hired someone to fill gaps in your own skill set. How were you still able to support their development?

Situation: At Quantum Solutions, a cybersecurity firm where I worked as a Security Solutions Manager, I encountered a challenging situation with an underperforming team member, Alex. Alex has been a valuable asset to our team and is known for his innovative approaches to cybersecurity challenges. However, over the past quarter, I noticed a significant decline in his performance and engagement, affecting the team's overall productivity and project timelines.

Task: My goal was to constructively address Alex's underperformance, aiming to improve his performance by at least 25% within a three-month period. I also aimed to re-engage him with the team and our projects, ensuring his growth aligned with our department's objectives and standards.

Action: I took a multi-faceted approach to address this situation, ensuring my actions were aligned with the leadership principle of "Hire and Developthe Best":

Initiated a Candid Conversation: I arranged a private meeting with Alex to discuss my observations. I approached the conversation with empathy, expressing concern for his well-being and seeking to understand any underlying issues contributing to his underperformance.
Set Clear Expectations and Objectives: Together, we established clear, measurable objectives for his performance, including specific project milestones and behavioral changes within the team dynamics.
Developed a Personalized Development Plan: Recognizing the need to invest in Alex's growth, we created a development plan that included mentorship from a senior team member, targeted training sessions to upgrade his skills, and regular check-ins to monitor progress.
Provided Constructive Feedback: Throughout the process, I offered regular, actionable feedback on Alex's performance, highlighting areas of improvement and acknowledging progress to keep him motivated.
Encouraged Peer Support: I facilitated opportunities for Alex to collaborate more closely with his peers, fostering a supportive team environment that encouraged sharing knowledge and skills.

Results: This approach led to a noticeable improvement in Alex's performance and engagement. Within three months, his productivity increased by 30%, surpassing our initial goal. He became more proactive in team meetings and projects, contributing innovative solutions significantly benefiting our department. Additionally, the process strengthened our team's cohesion and reinforced a culture of continuous improvement and support. My efforts to invest in Alex's development salvaged a valuable team member and underscored my commitment to nurturing talent and maintaining high standards within my team.

Bias for Action

Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.

Give me an example of a considered risk you took because you had to act fast.
Describe a moment when you took a significant business decision when your management wasn't available to get approval from.
Tell me about a time you overcame indecision because there just wasn’t time to keep thinking. What did you use to aid your decision to move forward?
Tell me about a time when you were faced with a decision where the path to follow wasn’t obvious. How did you decide what direction to take?
Walk me through a time you didn’t have all the facts but you still had to make a decision.

Situation : While working as the Project Manager at Innovatech Dynamics, a tech startup specializing in renewable energy solutions, I faced a pivotal moment. Our team was on the verge of launching a groundbreaking solar panel technology. However, a week before the launch, our final tests revealed potential efficiency issues under certain environmental conditions. With the launch event already publicized and stakeholders eagerly anticipating it, delaying seemed detrimental to our momentum and could severely impact investor confidence.

Task: I aimed to ensure the product met our quality standards without significantly delaying the launch. The well-considered risk involved fast-tracking an innovative but untested solution to the efficiency issue, aiming to implement it within an extremely tight deadline of three days, thereby minimizing the launch delay to under a week.

Rapid Solution Development: I convened an emergency meeting with our R&D and engineering teams to brainstorm and finalize a potential solution within hours. We decided to integrate a new, lightweight thermal insulation layer that could improve efficiency without overhauling the existing design.
Stakeholder Communication: I communicated transparently with stakeholders about the discovery and our plan to address it, emphasizing our commitment to quality and innovation. This built trust and bought us crucial extra time.
Focused Team Effort: I reorganized the team’s workload, prioritizing tasks related to implementing the new solution. We worked in round-the-clock shifts to expedite development, testing, and integration.
Managing Risks: To mitigate the risk of this untested solution and solve a problem, we set up parallel testing scenarios to quickly identify any further issues and developed contingency plans for rapid iteration.
Stakeholder Updates: Throughout this intensive period, I provided daily updates to stakeholders, maintaining transparency about our progress, challenges, and any adjustments to our plan.

Results: The team's hard work and the innovative solution paid off. We successfully integrated the thermal insulation layer, improving the solar panels' efficiency by 15% under the identified conditions. The launch was delayed by only five days, significantly less than initially feared. The product received high praise for its efficiency and reliability, and the trust we built with our stakeholders through transparent communication led to an increased investment of 20% from our primary investors. This experience underscored the importance of swift, decisive action and the value of calculated risk-taking in the face of uncertainty.

Deliver Results

Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.

It can be difficult to set goals for a team that are challenging yet achievable. Tell me about a time when you hit the right balance. How did you approach setting the goals? What was the outcome?
Share an experience where you not only achieved a goal but surpassed the expectations. What led to you being able to over-achieve?
Give me an example of a time when you were at risk of not meeting a goal. What did you do to try to meet it? Were you successful?
Tell me about a time when you were trying to achieve a goal but barriers you hadn’t planned for kept getting in your way. How did you get past those barriers?

Situation: During my tenure as a Marketing Manager at BrightSpark Innovations, a company specializing in educational technology, we faced the challenge of launching a new e-learning platform. The market was highly competitive, and our entry needed to make a significant impact. My role involved leading the marketing campaign for the launch, with the primary goal of securing 10,000 user sign-ups within the first three months post-launch.

Task: To achieve this goal and surpass expectations by increasing user engagement and creating a solid foundation for future growth, I aimed to double the target to 20,000 sign-ups while ensuring high user satisfaction and engagement rates.

Data-Driven Strategy: I initiated a comprehensive market analysis to understand our target audience's preferences and pain points. This data informed our marketing strategy, highlighting the unique features and benefits of our e-learning platform.
Engaging Content Creation: Developed a series of engaging, informative content tailored to our target demographic. This included instructional videos, infographics, and blog posts distributed across various digital platforms.
Collaborative Partnerships: Forged partnerships with influential educational bloggers and institutions to promote our platform. These collaborations extended our reach and added credibility to our marketing efforts.
Referral Program: I implemented a referral program incentivizing existing users to recommend our platform to peers. This strategy increased sign-ups and fostered a community of engaged users.
Feedback Loop: Established a system for collecting user feedback post-launch, enabling us to identify and address any issues quickly. This proactive approach to problem-solving significantly enhanced user satisfaction.

Results: The campaign was a resounding success. We surpassed our initial goal within the first month, achieving over 30,000 user sign-ups by the end of the third month, tripling our original target. User engagement metrics exceeded industry averages, with an exceptionally high daily active user rate. The feedback loop provided valuable insights to solve a problem, leading to two significant updates, increasing user satisfaction and retention. This project achieved its goals and set a new standard for product launches within the company, demonstrating the power of a well-executed, data-driven marketing strategy.

Insist on the Highest Standards

Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

Tell me about a time when you’ve been discontented with the accepted norm. What did you do to change it? Were you successful?
Describe a situation that when you looked back on it, you wished you’d done better. What was the situation and how could you have improved on it?
Tell me about a time when you put in place to drive continuous improvement in yourself or others or in business output?
Can you describe a situation where you had to balance delivering high-quality work with staying within budget or resource constraints? What factors did you consider when making tradeoffs, and how did you ultimately prioritize quality and cost?

Situation: At GlobalTech Solutions, a leading IT services company, I led a team responsible for software quality assurance. The prevailing norm within our department was to rely heavily on manual testing methods, which, while thorough, were time-consuming and increasingly inefficient given the complexity and scale of our projects. I noticed this approach was causing delays in project timelines and affecting our ability to meet client expectations for rapid deployment.

Task: My goal was to challenge this traditional approach by integrating automated testing tools into our workflow. The endeavor aimed not only to maintain but to elevate our quality standards, reducing the time required for testing phases by 50% and increasing our defect detection rate by 30%.

Research and Proposal: I researched the most effective automated testing tools suitable for our projects. Based on this research, I prepared and presented a detailed proposal to senior management, outlining the potential benefits, costs, and an implementation plan.
Pilot Program: With approval, I initiated a small pilot program, selecting a few projects to integrate automated testing. This allowed us to demonstrate the approach's effectiveness without disrupting ongoing work.
Training and Support: I organized training sessions for my team to ensure they were proficient in using the new tools. I also established a support system for troubleshooting and continuous learning.
Feedback Loop: Implemented a feedback mechanism to collect data on the performance of automated testing, allowing for adjustments and optimization based on real-world use.
Scaling Up: After the pilot's success, I led the process of scaling up automated testing across all projects, ensuring that the transition was smooth and that quality standards were consistently met or exceeded.

Results : The initiative was a resounding success. We scoped the project and delivered a 60% reduction in testing time across projects, surpassing our initial goal. The defect detection rate improved by 40%, indicating a significant increase in the quality of our software products. The shift to automated testing enhanced our efficiency and allowed us to allocate more resources to innovation and development, improving client satisfaction and competitive advantage in the market. This endeavor challenged the status quo and demonstrated the value of embracing new technologies to uphold and exceed high-quality standards.

Learn & Be Curious

Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.

Example questions

Tell me about a time when you explored an existing process, system or solution outside of your normal scope. What triggered you to look into it and what did you learn?
Tell me about a project that required you to learn something new.
Describe a situation when you willingly stepped outside of your comfort zone or usual responsibilities and ended up gaining something positive from the experience.
Outside of your formal education and training, can you share an example of something you taught yourself that has been useful in improving your work output?
Tell me about a time you taught yourself something new, just because you were interested in it.

Situation: As a Digital Marketing Specialist at CreatiVista, a boutique marketing agency focused on innovative digital strategies, I recognized the emerging significance of data science in shaping targeted marketing campaigns. Despite having a solid background in traditional and digital marketing, I noticed a gap in my ability to leverage advanced data analytics for predictive modeling and customer behavior analysis. This realization sparked my curiosity and led me to self-learn data science fundamentals, particularly Python programming for data analysis and machine learning.

Task: I aimed to integrate data science techniques into our marketing strategy development process. By doing so, I aimed to enhance campaign personalization, improve customer segmentation, and ultimately increase ROI for our clients. I set a personal goal to develop and implement a predictive model for customer purchasing behavior within six months.

Online Learning: I dedicated evenings and weekends to online courses and tutorials, focusing on Python for data analysis, machine learning basics, and statistical modeling.
Project-Based Learning: To solidify my understanding, I initiated a personal project that involved analyzing historical campaign data from past clients to identify patterns and predict outcomes of future campaigns.
Peer Review: I sought feedback from peers in online data science communities, refining my approach based on their insights and suggestions.
Integration into Work: Once confident in my skills, I proposed a pilot project to my team at CreatiVista, aiming to utilize my newly developed data science capabilities to enhance our upcoming campaigns.
Collaboration and Implementation: Working closely with the analytics team, I integrated predictive modeling into our campaign planning process, focusing on optimizing email marketing campaigns for a key client based on predicted customer engagement.

Results: The pilot project succeeded, leading to a 35% increase in customer engagement for the targeted email marketing campaign, surpassing our client's expectations. My self-taught data science skills allowed us to refine our customer segmentation and personalization strategies significantly. This initiative not only boosted our agency's value proposition but also fostered a culture of continuous learning and innovation within the team. My journey into data science underscored the importance of being curious and proactive in acquiring new skills that align with industry trends and future needs.

Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.

Tell me about at time when you identified a chance to make a bigger impact that originally planned while working towards a goal.
Tell me about a time when you encouraged a team member or organization to take a big risk. How did you balance the risk against existing business goals? What was the outcome? What did you learn from this situation?
Share a moment when higher-ups embraced your visionary proposal across the enterprise.
Tell me about a time that you proposed a solution to a significant problem that was drastically different to any solutionanyone had come up with before. Why did you think it needed such a drastically different approach. Did it work?

Situation: I served as an innovation strategist at Vertex Dynamics, a leading enterprise in the renewable energy sector. Recognizing the shift towards sustainable business practices, I observed a gap in our product portfolio concerning integrating innovative technology with renewable energy solutions. Despite our company's strong market presence, our innovation pipeline lacked a bold, forward-thinking project aligned with future sustainability trends and digital transformation.

Task: I proposed to develop an integrated intelligent solar solution, combining IoT (Internet of Things) with solar technology to optimize energy production, management, and usage for commercial clients. The aim was to solidify Vertex Dynamics' position as a leader in renewable energy and open new revenue streams and partnerships in the tech industry. The project's success metrics were set to include establishing at least three strategic partnerships, a 20% increase in R&D investment return within two years, and launching a pilot project with a flagship commercial client.

Comprehensive Market Analysis: Conducted thorough research on current trends, consumer demand, and competitive offerings in the innovative technology and renewable energy sectors.
Stakeholder Engagement: I initiated discussions with key stakeholders across various departments to assess the feasibility, gather initial feedback, and build a coalition of support before presenting to senior leadership.
Visionary Proposal Development: Developed a detailed proposal outlining the project's objectives, expected outcomes, required investments, and a roadmap for implementation. This included potential risks and mitigation strategies to ensure a well-rounded presentation.
Persuasive Presentation: I presented the proposal to the company's senior leadership team and board members, highlighting its strategic alignment with global sustainability goals and the potential for market leadership in a nascent field.
Pilot Project Initiation: Upon approval, led a cross-functional team to initiate a pilot project, collaborating with technology partners and a select commercial client to prototype the smart solar solution.

Results: The senior leadership team embraced the proposal, recognizing the opportunity to position Vertex Dynamics at the forefront of innovation in renewable energy. The project received an initial investment significantly above the standard R&D budget to fast-track development. Within the first year, we established partnerships with two leading tech companies specializing in IoT solutions and initiated a successful pilot with a significant commercial real estate firm. This venture not only projected Vertex Dynamics into a new market segment but also significantly boosted our brand as innovators in sustainable technology. The project's success laid the groundwork for further innovation-driven initiatives and underscored the value of thinking big and strategically leveraging cross-industry trends to drive growth and sustainability.

Are Right, A Lot

Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.

Give me an example of a decision you made where you didn’t have personal expertise or data to guide you. What didyou use to help you make the decision?
Give me an example of when you didn’t have any data but you still had to make a decision. What was the situation and what led you to your final decision?
Tell me about a business model decision or key technology decision or other important strategic decision you had to makefor which there was not enough data or benchmarks. In the absence of all the data, what guided your choice and how didyou make the call? What was the outcome?
Give me an example of a significant failure in judgment at work. What did you learn from this situation?

Situation : As the Product Development Manager at TechStream, a software development company, I was overseeing the development of a new project management tool designed to improve team collaboration and efficiency. Based on my assessment of market trends and user feedback, I decided to prioritize the inclusion of an advanced AI feature that would automate task prioritization and allocation. I believe this would set our product apart from competitors and meet a futuristic need in project management.

Task : The goal was to launch a market-leading tool that would streamline project management practices and introduce a new level of automation in task handling, thereby saving time and enhancing productivity for our users.

Feature Development: Directed a significant portion of our development resources towards building the AI functionality, believing in its potential to revolutionize the market.
Market Analysis: I conducted what I thought was a thorough market analysis, but in hindsight, I was overly optimistic about the immediate demand for such advanced features.
User Testing: Implemented user testing phases that, unfortunately, focused more on the functionality of the AI feature rather than the tool's overall usability and core features.

Results: Upon launching the product, we quickly realized that the market was not as ready for the AI-driven functionality as I had anticipated. The feedback indicated that while the concept was innovative, it wasn't a priority for most users, who found the feature overly complex for their current needs. Moreover, the focus on this advanced feature had detracted from developing and refining basic functionalities that were critical to our target audience. Sales were below projections, and the development team had to work on updates to streamline and simplify the tool, delaying our roadmap for other features.

This experience taught me several valuable lessons. Firstly, the importance of balancing innovation with user-centric design and market readiness. I learned that being right often requires having a good idea, timing it correctly, and ensuring it aligns with user needs and expectations. Secondly, it highlighted the need for more diverse and realistic user testing, ensuring that feedback from a broad user base informs development priorities. Finally, it was a reminder that a "fail fast" approach in product development can be valuable, allowing for rapid iteration and adaptation based on real-world usage and feedback. Moving forward, I've applied these insights to my decision-making process, ensuring that innovative ideas match rigorous market validation and user-centric design principles.

Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer

Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what’s next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees’ personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.

Describe when you facilitated an environment conducive to others' success.
Share a moment when you instigated decisions to make the workplace more vibrant and inclusive.

Situation: As the Head of Operations at EcoTech Innovations, a startup specializing in sustainable technology solutions, I was acutely aware of our team's challenges regarding resource constraints and high expectations. Given our mission to succeed as a business and make a positive environmental impact, it was crucial to ensure that our team felt supported, valued, and motivated to innovate. Recognizing this, I initiated a comprehensive program to enhance our work environment, facilitating success for all team members and aligning with our goal to strive to be Earth's best employer.

Task: My main objectives were to improve employee satisfaction by 30%, reduce turnover rates by half within a year, and foster a culture of innovation and collaboration. These goals were aimed at enhancing productivity and making EcoTech Innovations a model for sustainable and employee-centric workplace practices.

Conducting Surveys: I began by conducting anonymous employee satisfaction surveys to gather insights into the team's concerns, needs, and suggestions for improvement.
Flexible Work Arrangements: Based on survey feedback, I implemented flexible work arrangements, including remote work options and flexible hours, to accommodate diverse lifestyles and responsibilities.
Professional Development Programs: We established a professional development program that offered training sessions, workshops, and courses related to our industry and general skills enhancement. This program was designed to support career growth and personal development.
Mentorship and Team Building: Launched a mentorship program pairing newer employees with experienced mentors. Additionally, I organized regular team-building activities to strengthen interpersonal relationships and foster a sense of community and mutual support.
Recognition and Rewards System: Introduced a recognition and rewards system that acknowledged outstanding contributions, innovation, and teamwork. This included public recognition and tangible rewards, such as bonuses or extra vacation days.
Sustainability Initiatives: Encouraged employee-led sustainability initiatives within the workplace, providing a budget and resources for projects aligned with our environmental goals. This empowered team members to contribute directly to our core mission.

Results: Implementing these measures led to a significant improvement in employee satisfaction, with a survey conducted a year later showing a 40% increase in overall satisfaction levels. The turnover rate decreased by more than half, and we saw a marked increase in the number of innovative projects and ideas proposed by team members. These initiatives contributed to our business objectives and reinforced our commitment to sustainability and employee well-being. The success of this program underscored the importance of fostering an inclusive, supportive, and flexible work environment as a key driver of both employee success and organizational growth.

Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility

We started in a garage, but we’re not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them.

Recount an instance where you reconsidered a decision upon recognizing its negative repercussions on extended team members.
Narrate a situation where the environmental ramifications of your choices were at the forefront of your considerations.

Situation: As the Environmental Compliance Officer at GreenManufacture, a company specializing in eco-friendly packaging solutions, I oversaw transitioning to a new material for our packaging products. This initiative aimed to further reduce the environmental impact of our products by utilizing a biodegradable composite material. The challenge was implementing this change without compromising product quality or significantly increasing production costs, all while maximizing the environmental benefits.

Task: My goal was to lead the transition to the new material in an environmentally responsible, cost-effective manner and aligned with our company's commitment to sustainability. This required a comprehensive evaluation of the material's lifecycle, from sourcing to disposal, to ensure its use would have a net positive impact on the environment.

Lifecycle Assessment (LCA): Conducted a thorough LCA of the proposed biodegradable material compared to our existing materials, evaluating factors such as carbon footprint, water usage, and potential for pollution.
Supplier Evaluation: Worked closely with suppliers to assess their sustainability practices, ensuring that the sourcing of the new material adhered to our environmental standards and ethics.
Product Testing: Oversaw rigorous testing of the new material to ensure it met our durability and quality standards, involving laboratory tests and real-world usage scenarios.
Stakeholder Engagement: Engaged with key stakeholders, including customers, environmental advocacy groups, and industry partners, to gather input and build consensus around the transition. This included transparent communication about the benefits and challenges of the new material.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: Conducted a detailed cost-benefit analysis to understand the financial implications of switching to the new material, taking into account direct costs and potential savings from reduced environmental impact fees and improved brand image.
Implementation Plan: Developed and executed a phased implementation plan, starting with pilot runs in select product lines to minimize risk and allow adjustments before a full-scale roll-out.

Results: The transition to the biodegradable composite material was a success, resulting in a 25% reduction in our carbon footprint and a significant decrease in water usage across our production processes. The LCA confirmed that the environmental benefits of the new material outweighed its impacts, marking a significant step forward in our sustainability journey. Furthermore, the initiative was well-received by customers and stakeholders, enhancing our brand's reputation as a leader in environmental responsibility. The project highlighted the importance of thorough evaluation and strategic planning in ensuring that our efforts to innovate and improve our products align with our commitment to the environment.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should an answer to an Amazon interview question last?

We’ve coached many candidates who came to our sessions with the (false) assumption that their initial STAR response to an Amazon interview question should only last 2 minutes. Unfortunately, most of them got this idea from various YouTube videos advocating this length of a STAR response.

So allow us to be crystal clear: the length of your initial STAR answer to an Amazon interview question should be around 4-7 minutes, depending on the seniority of the role you're applying for . Anything over seven minutes turns your response into a monologue, cutting the interviewer’s time to drill down and follow up. On the other hand, anything less than five minutes will not give you enough time to land the story’s basic facts and will lead to a wasted interview, unless you're interviewing for a role at L4 or below.

Can I bring a “cheat sheet” to my interview?

What we refer to as a “cheat sheet” should be called a “work journal” or “interview notes.” It is the Excel (or PDF) spreadsheet where you map situations from your career to Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles and bullet out key objectives and results.

The answer to this question is: YES . Evgeny rocked up to all his external and internal Amazon interviews with his interview notes and used them to help him answer answers. The interview, especially in the context of the Amazon hiring process, is not a memory test, and you are not expected to recall the results of all your projects to a decimal point of a percentage.

If the situations are real (you did not make stuff up), please commit them to paper and bring them to the interview. If in doubt, please check with your recruiter.

How far back into my career should my situations go?

Unless you have a career gap, please aim for the situations to not be older than five years. The one exception could be an answer to the Are Right A Lot interview question about an error of judgment. You could potentially go to 6-7 years as an exception. We are unaware of official guidelines, but we’d use these as guardrails.

Can you share answers to the interview questions?

No, and we would highly advise you NOT to use any resources that offer you canned answers to interview questions. Even if you are not concerned about fairness and ethics (we are!), experienced Amazon interviewers will call you out.

In our signature Amazon interview preparation course , we offer plenty of example responses to demonstrate what great looks like and how you should structure your answers to questions. Never invent interview responses. Instead, use the training to help your hard-earned accomplishments shine their brightest.

How should I demonstrate that I am analytical while answering Amazon interview questions?

We get this question from candidates interviewing for Data Science or Business Intelligence Engineering technical roles. While it is true that, according to our experience, Amazon has a recruiting slate for left-brain candidates, Dive Deep is the only Leadership Principle that calls specifically for analytics. Maybe Invent & Simplify (the Simplify part).

Hence, there is no expectation that every answer to an Amazon interview question will result in a STAR story about you cracking a complex problem with your analytical prowess. In addition, some Leadership Principles – like Ownership – have nothing to do with numbers and everything to do with attitude, and you were able to put it to action and impact.

Can I reuse a situation from a screening round during the Loop?

It depends.

If you get a question during the Loop that is precisely the same one someone asked during a phone interview, advise the interviewer. Tell them you will use the same answer you used on the phone screen and ask them if this is ok. You will then know if you can use the same response or not.

In all other cases, if possible, our guidance is to avoid reusing phone screen answers during the Loop. This is because different teams, hiring managers and Bar Raisers will have different attitudes to candidates reusing the same material. Therefore, the only fail-safe strategy is to have fresh material for the Loop.

Can I share multiple situations from the same project?

Yes, you can. You can chunk long projects into distinct situations where you demonstrate different Leadership Principles. Do not ever assume that just because one of your projects took years to come to an important milestone, you have to use it to answer just one question. Instead, consider long projects or programs as sources of multiple situations.

Do I need to prepare a specific set of examples if I’m interviewing for {Role 1, 2,3}?

No. You may hear from your recruiter or the Hiring Manager that the role you are interviewing for requires a specific set of functional skills. If the position is non-technical (e.g. not an SDE or a DE/BIE), your skills will come through naturally during an otherwise LP-focused interview.

In addition, you may want to identify Leadership Principles that are particularly relevant to your functional profile and ensure that the examples you prepare reinforce those skills.

What resume format guarantees my profile will get in front of the hiring manager?

Contrary to a plethora of resume advice, the best format is the one that is optimized for a quick scan by human eyes. No fancy infographics, no photos, no colors, and no progress bars. A white A4 sheet with Times New Roman (ok, Arial if you feel brave), size 11. Clean, tidy, and well-sectioned.

Where can I find more answers about Amazon behavioural interviews?

If we did not answer your questions in this article, we recommend you check out this post with more Amazon behavioural interview questions and answers .

Further Amazon Interview Preparation Resources

The Everything Store by Brand Stone
Amazon Unbound by Brad Stone
Working Backwards by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr

Online Reading

More Amazon Interview Tips from Day One Careers
How to negotiate your Amazon offer and salary

Online Learning

Amazon Interview Whizz by Day One Careers

Mastering the "Why Amazon" Interview Question: Strategies and Sample Answers

Amazon Interview Preparation: A Comprehensive Guide to Success

Crafting Your Answer: Nailing Why Do You Want to Work Here? in Interviews

Navigating Expected Salary Questions Like a Pro

Mastering the Marketing Interview: Conquering Behavioral Questions

Amazon Hiring Process

The Amazon hiring process typically begins with an online application, followed by a phone screening or online assessment. Successful candidates then proceed to multiple interview rounds, which may include behavioral, technical, and situational questions. These interviews often utilize the STAR format and focus on Amazon’s leadership principles. The process may also involve an Excel or SQL test, depending on the role. Interviewers are generally punctual, direct, and may challenge candidates during the interview. Preparation, including familiarizing oneself with the leadership principles and practicing responses, is crucial for success in this process.

Common Amazon Interview Questions

1. how would you optimize a large-scale e-commerce platform’s software to improve user experience and increase customer satisfaction.

This question is essentially about your problem-solving skills in the context of software optimization for large-scale e-commerce platforms. The company wants to understand your technical abilities, your approach to improving user experience, and your understanding of how a positive user experience influences customer satisfaction. They want to be sure that you can think critically about the user journey, identify potential areas for improvement, and propose effective solutions.

How to Answer:

Reflect on your past experiences and projects where you’ve optimized software for better user experience. Talk about the strategies you used, such as A/B testing or analyzing customer feedback to identify areas for improvement. Highlight your success stories with numbers, like how much conversion rates improved after optimization. If you’re new to this, explain how you’d approach it theoretically, incorporating industry-best practices. Don’t forget to mention your willingness to learn and adapt in rapidly evolving tech landscapes.

Example: Optimizing a large-scale e-commerce platform requires a multi-faceted approach. First, we need to ensure the website’s performance is top-notch. This includes reducing page load times by optimizing images and using content delivery networks (CDNs) for faster delivery of web pages to users worldwide. We can also implement lazy loading techniques where only necessary elements are loaded initially.

Secondly, improving user experience involves enhancing site navigation and search functionality. The use of AI-powered recommendation engines can personalize the shopping experience, making it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for or discover new products. Furthermore, implementing a responsive design ensures that the platform provides an optimal viewing experience across all devices, particularly mobiles as more people now shop on their phones.

Lastly, customer satisfaction could be increased by streamlining the checkout process, offering multiple payment options, and providing excellent customer service. Regular usability testing and gathering feedback from customers will provide valuable insights into areas that require improvement. It’s crucial that any changes made are data-driven, leveraging A/B testing to validate improvements.

2. Describe your approach to managing inventory and ensuring efficient warehouse operations.

Efficient inventory management and warehouse operations are the backbone of any retail business, especially those operating on a large scale. Keeping track of thousands of products and ensuring they are in the right place at the right time is a colossal task. Your ability to handle this task directly impacts the company’s bottom line and customer satisfaction. Hence, a potential employer would want to understand your strategies and methodologies in managing inventory and streamlining warehouse operations.

To answer this question, highlight your experience managing inventory using data-driven techniques. Discuss how you’ve used specific software or tools to improve efficiency and reduce errors. Show your understanding of warehouse operations by explaining how you’ve optimized product storage or improved supply chain logistics. Don’t forget to mention any problem-solving strategies you used to tackle challenges in the past. If you’re new to this, propose a plan based on best practices for inventory management and efficient warehouse operations.

Example: My approach to managing inventory revolves around implementing robust systems and utilizing data analytics. I believe in the power of real-time tracking systems that provide accurate inventory levels, which can help prevent both overstocking and stockouts. This is crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction as well as optimizing warehouse space.

In terms of ensuring efficient warehouse operations, I focus on streamlining processes using lean principles. For example, strategically organizing items based on their demand frequency can significantly reduce pick time and increase efficiency. Additionally, regular audits are essential to ensure system data matches physical count.

Lastly, technology plays a significant role in modern inventory management and warehouse operations. Leveraging tools like Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) or automated robots can greatly enhance productivity and accuracy. However, it’s equally important to invest in training staff to effectively use these technologies. Balancing human skills with technological advancements is key to achieving optimal performance.

3. How do you handle a high-pressure situation with tight deadlines, such as during peak season or product launches?

This question is designed to gauge your ability to perform under pressure. In fast-paced industries, deadlines can be tight and the work environment can be intense, particularly during peak times or when launching new products. Your potential employer wants to ensure you can keep your cool, stay organized, and continue to work effectively in such situations.

Start by highlighting your past experiences in similar high-pressure situations, showing how you successfully managed and met deadlines. Emphasize your skills in time management, prioritization, problem-solving and teamwork. You could also talk about strategies you use to stay calm under pressure, such as focusing on the task at hand or practicing mindfulness techniques. Lastly, make sure to portray a positive attitude towards challenges, demonstrating that you can thrive even when things get tough.

Example: In high-pressure situations with tight deadlines, I find that effective planning, prioritization, and communication are key. For instance, during a product launch in the past, I created a detailed project plan outlining each task, its owner, and deadline. This not only helped to keep everyone on track but also allowed us to identify potential bottlenecks early.

If unexpected issues arise, as they often do, I believe in addressing them head-on rather than avoiding or delaying them. In the same product launch scenario, when we encountered an unforeseen technical glitch, I immediately gathered the team for a brainstorming session. We were able to devise a solution quickly and implement it without significantly affecting our timeline.

Finally, maintaining open lines of communication is essential. Keeping all stakeholders informed about progress, challenges, and changes ensures everyone’s expectations are managed effectively. It also fosters a collaborative environment where solutions can be found more efficiently.

4. Can you explain the concept of continuous integration and how it can benefit an e-commerce company’s software development process?

Continuous integration is a key concept in modern software development, and understanding it is critical for software roles in e-commerce companies. This question tests your knowledge of industry practices and your ability to apply them to real-world situations. In a constantly evolving digital marketplace, maintaining and improving software is a continuous process. Companies need to know that you’re adept at using techniques such as continuous integration to streamline development, catch issues early, and ensure high-quality, up-to-date software that meets customer needs.

To answer this question, focus on your understanding and experience of continuous integration. Highlight how it allows for regular code updates from multiple team members in a shared repository, reducing errors and enhancing efficiency. Explain its benefit to an e-commerce company by emphasizing faster problem identification, improved product quality, reduced development costs, and more frequent software releases—leading to quicker customer feedback and potential competitive advantages. If you have used it in previous roles, provide examples showing positive outcomes; if not, discuss how you’d implement it based on your knowledge and learning adaptability.

Example: Continuous integration (CI) is a development practice where developers integrate code into a shared repository frequently, preferably several times a day. Each integration can then be verified by an automated build and automated tests. The primary benefits of CI are reduced risk, faster feedback, and less time spent on debugging and more on adding features.

For an e-commerce company like Amazon, implementing continuous integration could significantly streamline the software development process. For instance, let’s say there’s a team working on improving the recommendation algorithm for customers. With CI, as soon as changes to this algorithm are made and committed, they would be automatically tested to ensure that they don’t break any existing functionality or negatively impact performance. This allows potential issues to be detected and corrected early, reducing the overall cost and effort required in the development cycle. Moreover, it ensures that the software is always in a state where it can be safely released, which is crucial in the fast-paced e-commerce industry where staying ahead of competition often means being able to quickly roll out new features and improvements.

5. How would you determine the most effective delivery routes for drivers, considering factors like traffic, weather, and package volume?

The heart of this question is about your strategic thinking and problem-solving skills. As an ecommerce giant, the company is constantly looking for ways to make their delivery system more efficient. By asking this question, hiring managers want to see if you can analyze various factors like traffic, weather conditions, package volume, and more to establish the most effective and efficient delivery routes. This question also gives them insight into how you approach complex logistical challenges, a critical aspect of operations in the ecommerce world.

When answering, discuss your analytical skills and experience with logistics. Mention how you’d use data analysis tools to consider factors like traffic patterns, weather forecasts, and package volume. Showcase your problem-solving skills by explaining how you would constantly reassess and optimize routes for efficiency. If possible, share a relevant example where you successfully managed logistical challenges in the past.

Example: I would leverage data analytics and machine learning to optimize delivery routes. By gathering historical data, such as average traffic conditions, weather patterns, package volume, and even specific drop-off times, we can create predictive models that forecast potential challenges on certain routes at different times of the day or year. This information can then be used to adjust drivers’ schedules and routes in real-time.

For example, if a particular route is frequently congested during rush hour, the system may suggest an alternative path or schedule the driver’s departure time to avoid peak traffic hours. Similarly, if bad weather is predicted, the system could prioritize deliveries in affected areas earlier in the day. The goal is to continuously learn and adapt from collected data to ensure efficiency while maintaining high customer satisfaction levels.

6. Explain how you would use data analysis to identify areas of improvement within a warehouse environment.

Data analysis is a powerful tool for identifying inefficiencies and areas for improvement in any logistics or warehouse setting. The question is designed to assess your understanding of the role data plays in operational efficiency. It’s also a test of your problem-solving skills and your ability to use data to make informed decisions, which are critical skills in a fast-paced, high-demand environment like a warehouse.

When answering this question, highlight your knowledge and experience in using data analysis tools. Discuss specific examples where you have utilized these skills to identify areas of improvement within a similar environment. Speak about how you used the insights from the data to develop strategies for efficiency or cost reduction. If you’re new to data analysis, discuss your eagerness to learn and apply analytical techniques. Remember, it’s essential to showcase your problem-solving abilities and commitment to continuous improvement through data-driven decisions.

Example: Data analysis in a warehouse environment can be used to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies that may not be apparent on the surface. For instance, by analyzing data related to pick times, we could determine if there are certain areas of the warehouse where employees spend more time searching for items. This might indicate a need for better organization or signage within those sections.

Moreover, we could also analyze data on error rates – such as misplaced items or incorrect picks. If these errors tend to cluster around specific products or locations, it suggests an area for improvement. Perhaps the product labels are confusing, or maybe the location is difficult to access. Finally, we could use trend analysis to predict future demand patterns. If we notice that certain products tend to have higher demand during specific periods, we could adjust our stocking strategy accordingly to minimize out-of-stock situations and overstocking costs.

7. How would you troubleshoot and resolve issues with an e-commerce website experiencing slow load times or frequent crashes?

Troubleshooting technical issues is an integral part of maintaining a seamless online shopping experience. Slow load times or frequent crashes can lead to loss of revenue, customer dissatisfaction, and damage to brand reputation. Therefore, it is essential to understand your approach to identifying, diagnosing, and resolving such problems. It helps the employer assess your technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and customer-centric approach.

Begin by demonstrating your problem-solving skills and technical knowledge. Discuss how you would first identify the issue, such as running diagnostics or reviewing server logs. Highlight any relevant experience troubleshooting similar issues in the past. Then detail potential solutions like optimizing site code, increasing server capacity, or implementing caching techniques. Conclude by emphasizing your proactive approach to prevent such problems from recurring in future.

Example: To troubleshoot and resolve issues with an e-commerce website experiencing slow load times or frequent crashes, I would first conduct a performance audit using tools like Google Lighthouse or GTmetrix to identify bottlenecks. These could be due to unoptimized images, excessive HTTP requests, or inefficient code. If the site is crashing frequently, it may indicate server capacity issues or software bugs.

After identifying potential causes, I’d prioritize them based on their impact on user experience and business operations. For instance, if large, unoptimized images are slowing down page load times, compressing these images should be a priority. If there’s a memory leak causing crashes, debugging and patching the software would take precedence.

In parallel, I’d also look at server logs for any unusual patterns that might suggest DDoS attacks or other security threats. It’s important to consider all possibilities when troubleshooting such issues because they can often have multiple underlying causes. Ultimately, resolving these issues involves a combination of technical fixes, regular monitoring, and preventive measures to ensure optimal performance in the future.

8. What strategies would you employ to maintain workplace safety standards among warehouse associates?

Safety is paramount in any warehouse setting. Given the physical nature of the work, potential hazards are everywhere and it’s the responsibility of the employer to minimize risks. By asking this question, hiring managers want to assess your understanding of safety protocols and your ability to enforce them. They’re also interested in your proactive planning skills for preventing accidents and injuries and maintaining a safe and healthy working environment.

When answering, highlight your knowledge of safety protocols and guidelines. Discuss any previous experience with training or enforcing safety standards. Emphasize how you would ensure clear communication about these standards to all associates, perhaps through regular briefings or reminders. Consider mentioning a time when your proactive approach prevented an accident or improved overall safety. Always show that you respect and prioritize workers’ safety as it directly impacts productivity and morale.

Example: To maintain workplace safety standards among warehouse associates, I would first ensure that all employees are thoroughly trained on the necessary safety protocols and procedures. This includes understanding how to operate machinery properly, knowing what protective gear is required for each task, and being aware of emergency evacuation routes. Regular refresher courses can also be beneficial in reinforcing this knowledge.

Secondly, I believe a culture of safety must be fostered within the organization. Encouraging open communication about safety concerns allows for proactive measures to be taken before accidents occur. Additionally, implementing a system where safe behavior is rewarded can incentivize associates to consistently adhere to safety guidelines.

Lastly, regular audits and inspections should be conducted to identify potential hazards or areas of non-compliance. By addressing these issues promptly, we can prevent incidents and ensure the ongoing safety of our team.

9. How do you ensure that new software features align with the needs and expectations of both internal stakeholders and end-users?

Balancing the needs of different stakeholders is a key aspect of software development, especially when it comes to designing new features. Interviewers need to gauge your understanding of this complex dynamic and your ability to ensure alignment with both internal stakeholders and end-users. It’s about demonstrating your capacity to gather and interpret feedback, manage expectations, facilitate open communication, and ultimately deliver a product that meets the needs of all involved.

To answer this question, you could discuss your experience in gathering and analyzing feedback from stakeholders and users. Highlight any processes or methodologies you’ve used to ensure alignment like Agile or Lean principles. Discuss any instances where your proactive communication with both groups led to successful feature deployment. If you’re new to such a role, talk about the strategies you would use, including regular meetings, surveys, or usability testing, to make sure everyone’s needs are met.

Example: Ensuring new software features align with the needs and expectations of stakeholders and end-users involves a multi-step process. First, it’s crucial to establish clear lines of communication with both groups to understand their requirements and expectations. This could involve conducting user research, surveys, or interviews for end-users, and regular meetings with internal stakeholders.

Once these requirements are understood, they should be translated into technical specifications that guide the development process. It is also important to implement an iterative development approach, like Agile, which allows for regular feedback loops and adjustments based on stakeholder and user input. For example, after launching a beta version of a feature, we can gather user feedback and make necessary changes before the final release.

Finally, post-release reviews should be conducted to evaluate the success of the feature and identify areas for improvement. By incorporating this feedback loop, we ensure continuous alignment with the evolving needs of both stakeholders and end-users.

10. Describe your experience working with cross-functional teams to achieve project goals and meet deadlines.

Cross-functional collaboration is a cornerstone of success in most modern businesses and it’s no different here. With teams often spread out across different departments or even different locations, it’s essential for a potential hire to demonstrate their ability to work effectively and harmoniously with colleagues from all corners of the organization. This question seeks to gauge your teamwork skills, how you navigate the complexities of inter-departmental cooperation, and your understanding of how to keep projects on track in this context.

Reflect on your past experiences where you’ve collaborated with diverse teams to accomplish a project. Highlight instances of effective communication, conflict resolution and how you contributed to achieving the goals within the deadline. If you have experience in a similar industry or role, draw parallels. Show adaptability, as working with various departments requires flexibility. Frame your answer to indicate that you are a team player who understands the importance of collaborating effectively to meet project objectives.

Example: In my previous experience, I had the opportunity to work on a project that required close collaboration with multiple departments including marketing, sales, and IT. The goal was to launch a new product within a tight deadline. As part of this cross-functional team, it was important for me to understand not only my role but also how each department contributed to the overall project.

I found communication to be key in ensuring everyone was aligned and working towards the same objectives. Regular meetings were held where we discussed progress, addressed any issues or challenges, and adjusted our strategies as necessary. This allowed us to stay on track and meet our deadlines. Additionally, understanding the strengths and expertise of each team member helped in delegating tasks effectively, leading to efficient workflow and productivity.

The project was successful and launched on time, demonstrating the power of effective cross-functional teamwork. It taught me valuable lessons about collaboration, communication, and the importance of understanding different functional areas in achieving common goals.

11. How would you go about training and onboarding new employees to efficiently perform their roles within a fast-paced warehouse setting?

The hiring team wants to gauge your understanding of the importance of effective training and onboarding. They’re keen to know if you can facilitate a smooth transition for new hires, helping them quickly become productive members of the team. Given the fast-paced nature of warehouse work, it’s critical to have a strategy that not only imparts necessary skills, but also helps new employees acclimate to their roles and the company culture swiftly and efficiently.

Highlight your ability to create comprehensive training programs that are both informative and engaging. Share instances where you’ve effectively onboarded new employees, emphasizing methods used for making complex procedures easy to understand. Discuss how you adjust training based on individual learning styles and pace. Lastly, convey understanding of the importance of safety in a warehouse setting.

Example: To effectively train and onboard new employees in a fast-paced warehouse setting, I would first ensure they have a comprehensive understanding of the company’s safety protocols. Safety is paramount in such an environment and it’s crucial that all employees are well-versed in these guidelines from day one.

Next, I’d implement a structured training program that includes both theoretical knowledge and hands-on practice. This could involve shadowing experienced workers to understand daily tasks, learning about inventory management systems, and getting familiar with the warehouse layout. To enhance their learning experience, we can use technology like virtual reality for simulated training sessions.

Lastly, I believe in continuous feedback and support even after the initial training period. Regular check-ins and performance reviews will help identify any gaps in their skills or knowledge and provide opportunities for ongoing improvement. It’s also important to foster a supportive work culture where everyone feels comfortable asking questions and seeking help when needed.

12. Can you discuss your experience using agile methodologies in software development projects?

The question is posed because agile methodologies have become a cornerstone of software development. They allow for more flexibility, faster turnaround times, and continuous improvement, all of which are vital in a rapidly changing technological environment. As such, employers want to ensure that prospective employees have experience with and understand the importance of these methodologies.

Start by highlighting your practical experience with Agile methodologies in past projects. Discuss the specific roles you’ve played, and how you have applied principles like Scrum or Kanban to improve efficiency or solve issues. If you have relevant certifications, mention them as well. Even if you’re less experienced, focus on your understanding of Agile’s value in promoting flexibility and responsiveness in software development.

Example: In my experience, Agile methodologies have been instrumental in ensuring efficient and effective software development. One project that stands out involved the development of a customer relationship management (CRM) system. We used Scrum, one of the Agile frameworks, which allowed us to work in sprints, or short periods of focused work typically lasting two weeks. This approach enabled us to break down the complex task into manageable chunks and prioritize them based on business value.

We held daily stand-up meetings to discuss progress and potential roadblocks, enhancing team communication and problem-solving capabilities. I found this particularly useful as it helped identify issues early and address them promptly. Additionally, we conducted sprint reviews at the end of each cycle to demonstrate new functionalities to stakeholders and get their feedback. This iterative process ensured continuous improvement and alignment with stakeholder expectations. Overall, Agile methodologies fostered a collaborative environment, promoted adaptability, and improved productivity in our software development projects.

13. How would you manage a diverse team of associates with varying levels of experience and skill sets?

The essence of this question lies in gauging your leadership skills and your ability to foster an inclusive environment. A diverse team can be an organisation’s biggest asset, but only if managed effectively. It’s important to show that you can motivate, guide, and understand individuals with different backgrounds, experience levels, and skill sets. It’s about ensuring everyone feels valued and understood, which in turn can boost productivity and morale.

In answering this question, emphasize your ability to adapt your management style for different team members. Highlight your experience in identifying individual strengths and development areas, and tailoring coaching accordingly. Showcase how you foster a collaborative environment where all voices are heard, and everyone is encouraged to learn from each other. Mention specific examples where you successfully managed diverse teams, focusing on the strategies used and positive outcomes achieved.

Example: Managing a diverse team with varying levels of experience and skill sets requires a flexible leadership style. It’s important to understand each individual’s strengths, weaknesses, motivations, and career goals. For example, more experienced members can be given complex tasks or even mentorship roles, while those less experienced may benefit from additional training and guidance.

Communication is also key in managing such a team. Regular one-on-one meetings would allow me to provide personalized feedback and support, while team meetings would ensure everyone understands the overall objectives and how their work contributes to these. I’d also encourage open communication within the team so that they can learn from each other’s experiences and perspectives.

Finally, fostering an inclusive culture where diversity is valued is crucial. This means recognizing and respecting different viewpoints, backgrounds, and skills, and ensuring all voices are heard. By doing this, we can leverage our diversity as a strength, leading to innovative solutions and better decision-making.

14. Discuss your approach to maintaining quality control throughout the fulfillment process, from order placement to delivery.

Quality control is the lifeblood of any successful e-commerce operation. Mistakes or inconsistencies in the fulfillment process can lead to customer dissatisfaction, returns, refunds, and a potential loss of business. When hiring for roles that manage or participate in this process, it’s essential to find candidates who not only understand the importance of quality control but also have strategies for maintaining it. They need to demonstrate their ability to oversee the process from start to finish, ensuring that every customer receives their order accurately and on time.

When answering this question, emphasize your attention to detail and systematic approach. Share examples of specific strategies you’ve used in past roles to monitor each stage of the fulfillment process. Discuss how you utilize metrics or key performance indicators to track quality control. Additionally, mention any experience you have with using technological tools or software that aid in maintaining quality control. Lastly, highlight your ability to proactively identify potential issues and implement corrective measures to ensure customer satisfaction from order placement to delivery.

Example: Maintaining quality control throughout the fulfillment process requires a systematic approach and diligent oversight. It starts with order placement, where it’s crucial to ensure that the system accurately captures customer requirements. This could involve implementing automated checks or periodic manual reviews.

Once an order is in the system, managing inventory effectively is key. This includes maintaining accurate stock levels and ensuring items are stored correctly to prevent damage. Regular audits can help identify discrepancies early on. As for picking and packing, I believe in training staff thoroughly and setting clear performance metrics. Quality checks at this stage can catch errors before they reach customers.

Finally, during delivery, choosing reliable shipping partners and tracking packages closely helps ensure orders arrive as expected. If issues do arise, having a robust returns process is essential. By analyzing return data, we can identify common problems and implement preventive measures. In essence, my approach revolves around proactive management, continuous improvement, and leveraging technology wherever possible to maintain high standards of quality control throughout the fulfillment process.

15. Can you describe a time when you had to adapt to rapidly changing business requirements while maintaining software stability and performance?

This question is designed to explore your flexibility, problem-solving skills, and ability to maintain performance under pressure. Today’s business environment is dynamic and unpredictable; hence, it’s essential for companies to have employees who can swiftly adapt to changes without compromising the quality of their work. Specifically, in tech-driven businesses, it’s critical to ensure that software stability and performance are maintained even amidst rapid changes. This question helps the interviewer gauge your ability to do just that.

When answering this question, share a specific instance where you had to navigate through rapid business changes. Discuss the situation clearly and explain how you maintained software stability amidst these changes. Highlight your adaptability skills, strategic thinking, and problem-solving abilities in ensuring that performance was not compromised. Also, mention any positive outcomes or learnings from handling such situations. This will show your capacity to handle change effectively while maintaining top-notch work quality.

Example: In one of my previous projects, we were developing a cloud-based application for a client. Midway through the project, the client decided to pivot their business model which required significant changes in our software design and functionality. This was challenging as we had to adapt quickly while ensuring that the software remained stable and high-performing.

We tackled this by first thoroughly understanding the new requirements and identifying areas where they overlapped with the existing design. We then used agile methodologies to iteratively implement these changes, focusing on one component at a time to minimize disruption. This approach allowed us to continuously test each part of the system after every change, ensuring stability and performance weren’t compromised.

The experience taught me the importance of flexibility in software development and how strategic planning can effectively handle rapid changes without sacrificing product quality.

16. How do you prioritize tasks and delegate responsibilities to ensure maximum efficiency within a warehouse operation?

The goal of this question is to assess your time management skills, organizational abilities, and leadership style. Running a warehouse operation involves juggling many tasks and managing a team, so it’s important that you have a strategy to keep everything running smoothly. Your answer can provide insight into your decision-making process, your understanding of the role, and your ability to lead a team effectively under pressure.

When answering, focus on your ability to analyze tasks based on urgency and impact. Discuss how you prioritize critical issues that have the potential to affect larger operations. Then elaborate on past experiences where you delegated responsibilities effectively, ensuring everyone knew their role and the expectations. Mention any tools or strategies used in managing tasks and delegation. Remember, it’s also important to show understanding of teamwork and collaboration in a warehouse environment.

Example: Prioritizing tasks within a warehouse operation involves an understanding of the business needs and urgency, as well as the resources available. I believe in using data-driven approaches to identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement. For instance, by analyzing order patterns, we can forecast peak times and adjust staffing levels accordingly. This approach minimizes idle time and ensures that there are enough hands on deck when needed.

Delegating responsibilities is crucial for efficiency. It’s important to match tasks with employees’ skills and experience levels to ensure quality and productivity. Regular training sessions can also help improve their skill sets over time. Additionally, clear communication about expectations and deadlines helps keep everyone on track. By fostering a culture of accountability, we encourage team members to take ownership of their roles, which ultimately leads to improved performance and efficiency.

17. What steps would you take to proactively address potential security vulnerabilities within an e-commerce platform?

Securing an e-commerce platform is an ongoing process, not a one-time task. It’s essential for maintaining customer trust and ensuring smooth operations. This question is asked to assess your understanding of the security landscape and your ability to take proactive measures. It also provides insight into your technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and your commitment to protecting consumer data and privacy.

Start by emphasizing your knowledge of common security vulnerabilities in e-commerce platforms, such as data breaches or DDoS attacks. You can then detail the steps you would take to proactively address these issues, like implementing robust encryption methods, carrying out regular security audits, and staying updated with latest cybersecurity trends. Showcase any previous experiences where you’ve successfully identified and mitigated potential threats. Remember, it’s not just about handling current vulnerabilities but anticipating future ones.

Example: To proactively address potential security vulnerabilities within an e-commerce platform, it’s crucial to first conduct a comprehensive risk assessment. This involves identifying and evaluating potential threats, as well as the existing security controls. The findings from this exercise can then guide the development of a robust security strategy tailored to mitigate identified risks.

An important part of this strategy would be implementing secure coding practices during the software development lifecycle. This includes input validation, error handling, and code review among others. Additionally, regular penetration testing and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify any weaknesses that could be exploited by attackers.

Moreover, adopting a multi-layered security approach is essential. This may involve using firewalls, intrusion detection systems, data encryption, and secure payment gateways. It’s also critical to ensure compliance with relevant regulations such as PCI DSS for card payments. Lastly, educating staff about cybersecurity best practices and fostering a culture of security awareness can significantly reduce human-related vulnerabilities.

18. How do you balance the need for innovation with the importance of maintaining existing systems and processes within a software engineering role?

In the dynamic world of software engineering, there’s a constant tug-of-war between innovation and stability. By asking this question, companies are looking to assess your ability to strike the right balance. They want to see if you can embrace the need for continual improvement and innovation while also understanding the importance of maintaining and improving existing systems for optimal performance and reliability. Your answer can provide insight into your problem-solving skills, your adaptability, and your understanding of the complexities of software development.

Discuss how you prioritize innovation while ensuring the integrity of existing systems. Highlight your approach to risk assessment, testing new approaches in controlled environments, and gradually implementing changes. Share examples where you have successfully introduced innovative solutions without disrupting established processes. Emphasize your understanding of the balance between pioneering advancements and maintaining service stability.

Example: Balancing innovation with maintaining existing systems is a critical aspect of software engineering. I believe the key to this balance lies in understanding the business needs and priorities, as well as having a deep knowledge of the system architecture. For instance, if an existing system is stable and meets the current requirements efficiently, it might not be prudent to introduce significant changes merely for the sake of innovation. However, if there are clear indications that the system will struggle to meet future demands or industry trends, then innovative solutions should be considered.

One approach I’ve successfully used is implementing a phased strategy where we gradually introduce new technologies or processes into the existing system. This allows us to test and validate the innovations without disrupting the overall functionality. Additionally, investing in automation tools can help maintain legacy systems more effectively while freeing up resources for innovative projects. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that any innovation adds value to the business and improves the end-user experience, rather than just being ‘new’ or ‘different’.

19. Describe a scenario where you had to use your problem-solving skills to address a performance issue within a warehouse environment.

The complex and fast-paced nature of warehouse environments can lead to a variety of performance issues. It’s essential for employees in these settings to have strong problem-solving skills to maintain efficiency and productivity. By asking this question, hiring managers aim to assess your ability to identify, analyze, and effectively resolve practical problems in a real-world setting. Your response gives them insights into your analytical thinking, decision-making skills, and adaptability, which are all key qualities for an effective warehouse worker.

Think about a situation where you successfully identified and resolved a performance issue in a warehouse setting. Start by outlining the scenario, then discuss your thought process and actions to resolve it. Highlight skills like critical thinking, communication, leadership, or particular technical knowledge that were vital to your solution. Don’t forget to conclude with the positive outcome as a result of your problem-solving efforts. This will showcase not only your ability to identify issues but also your capability to implement effective solutions.

Example: In one instance, I noticed a consistent lag in the packing process within our warehouse. This was leading to delayed shipments and customer dissatisfaction. To identify the root cause, I conducted a thorough analysis of the entire process flow, from order receipt to shipment dispatch. After careful observation, it became evident that there was an inefficiency at the packing stage where workers were spending excessive time searching for items because the inventory wasn’t organized optimally.

To address this, I initiated a project to reorganize the warehouse layout based on the frequency of orders and co-occurrence of items in orders. We used historical data to guide the new layout design. The high-demand items were placed closer to the packing area while those often ordered together were located near each other. Post implementation, we saw a significant reduction in packing time, improved workflow, and timely deliveries which boosted overall performance and customer satisfaction.

20. Can you provide an example of when you went above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction during the delivery process?

The essence of exceptional customer service lies in going the extra mile. This question is aimed at understanding your commitment towards creating a positive customer experience, even in challenging situations. It provides insights into your problem-solving skills, your ability to handle pressure, and your willingness to take the initiative. It also helps the employer gauge your understanding of the impact that each delivery has on the overall customer experience.

In your response, highlight a specific instance when you exceeded customer expectations in the delivery process. Maybe you ensured prompt delivery during peak season or resolved a complex issue that resulted in improved customer satisfaction. Show how your proactive measures led to positive outcomes and mention any feedback received from customers or superiors. This is an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to excellent customer service, problem-solving skills, and initiative-taking abilities.

Example: In my previous experience, I had a situation where a customer’s package was lost in transit. The tracking information showed it as delivered but the customer hadn’t received it. Understanding the urgency of the situation, I immediately coordinated with our logistics team to investigate the issue and simultaneously arranged for a replacement order to be expedited at no additional cost to the customer.

However, realizing that this was an important gift for a special occasion, I personally reached out to the customer to apologize for the inconvenience and assured them that we were doing everything possible to rectify the situation. I also kept them updated on every step of the process until they received their package. This proactive approach not only resolved the immediate problem, but also helped build trust and reassured the customer about our commitment to exceptional service.

21. How do you stay up-to-date with industry trends and emerging technologies relevant to software development and e-commerce operations?

The rapid pace of technological advancements directly impacts the field of software development and e-commerce operations. Being up-to-date with industry trends is a must-have skill in order to stay competitive and relevant. This question is asked to assess your interest and proactive approach to learning and adapting to new technologies, which is critical to the company’s growth and innovation.

To answer this question, discuss your commitment to continuous learning and growth. Mention specific resources such as tech blogs, industry-specific websites, webinars, podcasts or conferences you regularly attend for updates on software development and e-commerce trends. Also highlight any online courses or certifications you’ve completed to stay updated with emerging technologies. Showcase how this knowledge has been applied in past roles to improve processes or projects.

Example: I make it a point to regularly follow industry-specific news and updates through various online platforms like TechCrunch, Wired, and The Verge. These sources provide me with the latest developments in software technology and e-commerce trends. I also subscribe to several newsletters from leading tech companies and thought leaders within the sector.

Additionally, I participate in webinars and virtual conferences that focus on emerging technologies and their impact on e-commerce operations. This not only helps me stay informed about current trends but also provides an opportunity for networking and knowledge exchange. Lastly, I believe in continuous learning and often take up courses on platforms like Coursera or Udemy to deepen my understanding of new technologies and methodologies.

22. What strategies would you employ to minimize employee turnover and maintain high levels of engagement among warehouse associates?

Warehouse work can be physically demanding and, in some cases, monotonous. That’s why hiring managers want to know if you have strategies to keep employees engaged, motivated, and satisfied in their roles. They are interested in your understanding of organizational behavior, motivation tactics, and your ability to create a positive work environment that reduces turnover and increases productivity. Maintaining a high level of engagement among warehouse associates not only contributes to a positive company culture, but it also directly impacts the bottom line.

To answer this question, focus on your understanding of employee engagement and retention strategies. You can discuss implementing regular team building exercises, fostering an inclusive work environment, or supporting professional development. Highlight any successful initiatives you’ve led in the past that increased employee satisfaction and reduced turnover. If new to this, consider mentioning ideas around open communication channels for feedback, recognition programs, or career progression opportunities.

Example: To minimize employee turnover and maintain high levels of engagement among warehouse associates, I would focus on communication, recognition, and training. Clear and consistent communication is crucial to ensure that everyone understands their roles, responsibilities, and how they contribute to the overall goals of the company. Regular feedback sessions can also help to address any issues promptly and effectively.

Recognition plays a significant role in job satisfaction. Recognizing employees for their hard work and achievements boosts morale and encourages them to continue performing at their best. This could be as simple as verbal praise or more formal recognition programs.

Lastly, providing continuous training opportunities allows employees to develop their skills, which not only benefits the company but also gives the employees a sense of growth and achievement. Training also ensures that all staff are up-to-date with the latest safety protocols and operational procedures, ensuring a safe and efficient working environment.

In addition, considering the physical nature of warehouse work, it’s important to promote health and wellness initiatives. This could include regular breaks, ergonomic assessments, and access to fitness programs or resources. By showing concern for the wellbeing of our associates, we can increase job satisfaction and reduce turnover rates.

23. How would you approach optimizing a fulfillment center’s layout to streamline order picking and packing processes?

This question is designed to test your strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities. It’s about ensuring that you can make efficient, data-driven decisions to improve operations. Fulfillment centers are complex logistics hubs, and their efficiency directly impacts customer satisfaction. Any improvements you can suggest to the layout and processes could translate into significant cost savings and faster delivery times, enhancing the overall customer experience.

Begin by discussing your analytical skills and how you would use data to inform decisions. Highlight your knowledge in warehouse management systems, lean methodologies or Six Sigma if applicable. Explain a past scenario where you used these skills to improve operational efficiency. If new, discuss principles like reducing travel time between picks, balancing workload among pickers, and organizing items based on demand frequency. This demonstrates strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities.

Example: To optimize a fulfillment center’s layout, I would first conduct a thorough analysis of the current operations and identify bottlenecks in the order picking and packing processes. This could involve time-motion studies or process mapping to understand how workers move within the space and where inefficiencies lie.

Once these areas are identified, I’d use principles from lean manufacturing and industrial engineering to redesign the layout and workflows. For example, we might implement a zone picking system where pickers are assigned specific zones, reducing unnecessary movement. We could also consider using automated systems like conveyor belts or robots for transporting items between zones.

Additionally, it is important to strategically place high-demand items closer to the packing area to reduce travel time. Regular review and adjustment based on demand changes is crucial. Finally, training staff members on new procedures and ensuring their comfort with the changes will be key to successful implementation.

24. Discuss your experience using data analytics tools to inform decision-making within a software engineering or operations management role.

In today’s data-driven environment, the ability to efficiently analyze and interpret data is critical for any software engineering or operations management role. By asking this question, hiring managers aim to understand your experience and proficiency in using data analytics tools and your ability to make data-driven decisions. They want to see if you can leverage data to optimize processes, improve software, and ultimately contribute to the company’s success.

Start by highlighting your experience with specific data analytics tools, such as SQL or Excel. Discuss instances where you’ve used these tools to gather and analyze data, leading to informed decisions that have improved processes or outcomes. If the role involves a new tool, express your adaptability and eagerness to learn it. Lastly, don’t forget to mention how these experiences align with Amazon’s data-driven culture without mentioning the company by name.

Example: In one of my previous projects, I was tasked with optimizing the performance of a complex software system. The system had been experiencing slowdowns and inefficiencies, but there wasn’t a clear understanding as to why this was happening. To tackle this issue, I used data analytics tools like Splunk and Tableau to analyze system logs and operational metrics.

The analysis revealed that the system’s database queries were not optimized, causing significant delays in data retrieval. By visualizing the data using these tools, I could pinpoint the exact areas where bottlenecks were occurring and then make informed decisions on how to address them. This led to a 30% improvement in overall system performance.

This experience underscored for me how crucial data analytics is in driving decision-making within software engineering and operations management. It allows us to move beyond guesswork and make evidence-based decisions that lead to tangible improvements.

25. Can you describe a time when you successfully implemented process improvements that led to increased efficiency and cost savings within a warehousing or logistics setting?

The essence of this question lies in two key areas: problem-solving and impact. Companies, regardless of the industry, are always looking for ways to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. If you can demonstrate a history of identifying and implementing improvements in these areas, it shows that you are proactive, results-oriented and capable of making a significant contribution to the company’s operations.

Start by outlining the situation, then detail the specific steps you took to identify and implement process improvements. Discuss the positive outcomes that resulted from these changes, focusing on how it increased efficiency and saved costs. Highlight your analytical abilities, problem-solving skills, and ability to take initiative. If possible, use quantifiable data to back up your claims. Remember to emphasize teamwork if others were involved, showcasing your collaborative skills.

Example: In one of my previous positions, I noticed that our warehouse was experiencing frequent bottlenecks during the picking and packing process. This inefficiency was causing delays in order fulfillment and increasing labor costs. To address this issue, I conducted a thorough analysis of the entire process to identify areas for improvement.

I found out that the main problem was an outdated layout of the warehouse which did not align with the flow of goods. I proposed a reconfiguration of the storage racks based on ABC analysis, placing high-demand items closer to the dispatch area. Additionally, I implemented a new Warehouse Management System (WMS) to automate inventory tracking and introduced batch picking to reduce travel time within the warehouse.

The results were significant – we saw a 30% increase in productivity, a reduction in order processing times by 20%, and overall cost savings due to reduced overtime and improved space utilization. These changes also had a positive impact on customer satisfaction as we were able to fulfill orders more quickly and accurately.

Amazon SDE interview guide (85+ questions, process, and prep)

Today we’re going to show you what to expect during Amazon (or AWS) Software Development Engineer interviews, and what you should do to prepare.

This guide has directly helped candidates (such as Jimmy C ) to land SDE offers at Amazon, so take your time to understand the information provided in each section.

And here’s one of the first things you’ll want to know:

Candidates often under-prepare for questions about Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles. This is a HUGE mistake because Amazon places much more emphasis on these behavioral questions than other top tech companies do.

Now let’s dive in.

Process and timeline
Coding interview
System design interview
Behavioral interview
Preparation tips

Note: We have separate guides for Amazon software development managers , machine learning engineers , and data engineers , so take a look at those articles if they are more relevant to you.

Click here to practice 1-on-1 with ex-Amazon SDE interviewers

1. interview process and timeline.

Amazon SDE interview process and timeline

What's the Amazon software development engineer (SDE) interview process and timeline ? It takes four to eight weeks on average and follows these steps:

Resume, cover letter, and referrals
HR recruiter email or call
Online assessment (in some cases)
Phone screens: one to two interviews
Onsite: four to six interviews
Debrief: interviewers make a decision
You get an offer!

1.1 What interviews to expect

First, it's important that you understand the different stages of your software engineer interview process with Amazon. Note that the process at AWS follows similar steps. Here’s what you can expect:

Resume screening

1.1.1 Resume screening

First, recruiters will look at your resume and assess if your experience matches the open position. This is the most competitive step in the process—we’ve found that ~90% of candidates don’t make it past this stage.

So take extra care to tailor your engineering resume to the specific position you're applying to.

If you’re looking for expert feedback, get input from our team of ex-FAANG recruiters , who will cover what achievements to focus on (or ignore), how to fine tune your bullet points, and more.

1.1.2 HR recruiter email or call

Next, the interview process starts with an HR recruiter call to discuss your interests and to see what group or team would be best for you. Your recruiter will also use this conversation to confirm that you've got a chance of getting the job at all.

You should be prepared to explain your background and why you’re a good fit for Amazon.

If things go well, the recruiter will then send you an online assessment or schedule your technical screen depending on the role you're applying for.

1.1.3 Amazon online assessments

Amazon primarily uses online assessments (OAs) for internship and new graduate positions , but also sometimes for experienced positions. You might have to solve up to three different online assessments before progressing to the technical phone screen stage.

OA1: Debugging (7 questions, 20mins)

The first online assessment (OA1), is a set of seven debugging questions you have to work through in 20mins.

You're presented with a problem and a snippet of code which is supposed to solve the problem, but it isn't because of a bug.

Each of the seven questions is allotted a certain amount of time (e.g. 3mins), and you need to fix the code before the time expires. There are only three coding languages available for this online assessment: Java, C, and C++.

Important note: as far as we know, this online assessment is only used for internship and new graduate positions.

OA2: Coding questions (2 questions, 70mins)

The second online assessment (OA2), is a set of two data structure and algorithm questions. Each question needs to be solved within a certain amount of time (e.g. 30mins). And your code must compile for the two questions in order to move forward in the interview process.

You'll be able to compile your code as many times as you like before submitting a solution and you can use any one of the following eight languages: C#, C++, Java, C, Python, Ruby, Swift, and JavaScript.

It's important to note that efficiency and optimization, as opposed to brute force solutions, earn more points. Finally, Leetcode maintains a helpful thread of questions asked in this second online assessment.

Important note: this online assessment is used for internship, new graduate and also sometimes experienced positions. The more senior you are, the harder the questions you'll get.

OA3: Work simulation (~2h) and logical reasoning (24 questions, 35mins)

The third online assessment (OA3) is composed of two parts .

Part 1 is an interactive video simulation of a day in the life of a software development engineer (SDE) at Amazon. You will be presented with various scenarios and select options for how you would respond. This part takes about 2h to complete.

Part 2 is a set of 24 logical reasoning multiple choice questions which you need to work through in 35 minutes. These questions test your problem-solving skills. Speed of completion for each question is not a factor in your score. Complete as many as you can during the time allotted.

1.1.4 Technical phone screens

If you've passed the online assessments, or if you weren't asked to take them, you'll be invited to one or two technical phone screens .

This step is called the "phone screen", but most of the time it takes place over video chat using Amazon Chime which is the company's video conferencing product.

Each interview will last 45 to 60 minutes. You'll speak to a peer or a potential manager and they'll ask you a mix of technical and behavioral questions.

Technical questions

For the technical part of the interview, you can expect typical data structure and algorithm questions which you'll have to solve in an online collaborative text editor such as collabedit . The editor won't have syntax highlighting or autocomplete features which you'll need to get used to during your interview preparation.

Your recruiter will share a list of software development topics that Amazon asks about in interviews. As a note, it's very unlikely that you'll be asked system design questions during your phone screen.

Behavioral questions

For the behavioral part, you can expect questions like "Tell me about yourself," " Why Amazon? ", or "Tell me about a feature you developed from start to finish."

When answering even the most common interview questions, be sure to express your understanding of Amazon’s Leadership Principles (more on that below).

1.1.5 Onsite interviews

If you crack the phone screen, the next step is the "onsite" interviews. For this round, you'll have a day packed with four to six interviews, which may be done virtually or in-person at an Amazon office.

These interviews will last about 60mins and be a one-on-one with a mix of people from the team you’re applying to join, including peers, the hiring manager, and a senior executive.

Question types

Three or four of your interviews will include coding questions (i.e. data structure and algorithm questions) which you'll need to solve on a whiteboard. The other one or two interviews will cover system design questions. You'll be asked behavioral questions in all your interviews.

All candidates are expected to do extremely well in coding and behavioral questions. If you're relatively junior (SDE II or below) then the bar will be lower in your system design interviews than for mid-level or senior engineers (e.g. SDE III or above).

One common mistake candidates make is to under-prepare for behavioral questions. Each interviewer is usually assigned two or three Leadership Principles to focus on during your interview. These questions are much more important at Amazon than they are at other big tech companies like Google or Facebook .

Finally, one of your last interviews will be with what Amazon calls a “ Bar Raiser ”. These interviewers are not associated with the team you’re applying for, and focus more on overall candidate quality than specific team needs.

They get special training to make sure Amazon’s hiring standards stay high and don’t degrade over time, so they are a big barrier between you and the job offer.

1.2 What exactly is Amazon looking for

At the end of each interview your interviewer will grade your performance using a standardized feedback form that summarizes the attributes Amazon looks for in a candidate. That form is constantly evolving, but we have listed some of its main components below.

The interviewer will file the notes they took during the interview. This usually includes: the questions they asked, a summary of your answers and any additional impressions they had (e.g. communicated ABC well, weak knowledge of XYZ, etc.).

B) Technical competencies

Your interviewer will then grade you on technical competencies . They will be trying to determine whether you are "raising the bar" or not for each competency they have tested.

In other words, you'll need to convince them that you are at least as good as or better than the average current Amazon SDE at the level you're applying for (e.g. SDE III).

The exact technical competencies you'll be evaluated against vary by role. But here are some common ones for SDE roles:

Problem solving
Object oriented design
Data structures

C) Leadership Principles

Your interviewer will also grade you on Amazon's 16 Leadership Principles and assess whether you're "raising the bar" for those too. As mentioned above each interviewer is given two or three Leadership Principles to grill you on. Here are some of the most commonly tested principles for SDE roles:

Customer Obsession
Bias for Action
Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit

D) Overall recommendation

Finally, each interviewer will file an overall recommendation into the system. The different options are along the lines of: "Strong hire", "Hire", "No hire", "Strong no hire".

1.3 What happens behind the scenes

Your recruiter is leading the process and taking you from one stage to the next. Here's what happens at each of the stages described above:

After the phone screens , your recruiter decides to move you to the onsite or not, depending on how well you've done up to that point
After the onsite , each interviewer files their notes into the internal system, grades you and makes a hiring recommendation (i.e. "Strong hire", "Hire", "No hire", "Strong no hire")
The "Debrief" brings all your interviewers together and is led by the Bar Raiser , who is usually the most experienced interviewer and is also not part of the hiring team. The Bar Raiser will try to guide the group towards a hiring decision. It's rare, but they can also veto hiring even if all other interviewers want to hire you.
You get an offer. If everything goes well, the recruiter will then give you an offer, usually within a week of the onsite but it can sometimes take longer

It's also important to note that recruiters and people who refer you have little influence on the overall process. They can help you get an interview at the beginning, but that's about it.

2. Example questions

Here at IGotAnOffer, we believe in data-driven interview preparation and have used Glassdoor data to identify the types of questions that are most frequently asked at Amazon.

For coding interviews, we've broken down the questions you'll be asked into subcategories (e.g. Arrays / Strings , Graphs / Trees , etc.), so that you can prioritize the most common ones in your preparation.

In addition, we've also listed 10 system design and 40+ behavioral questions asked at Amazon below. Let's start with coding questions.

2.1 Coding questions

Amazon software development engineers solve some of the most difficult problems the company faces with code. It's therefore essential that they have strong problem-solving skills.

This is the part of the interview where you want to show that you think in a structured way and write code that's accurate, bug-free, and fast.

Here are the most common question types asked in Amazon coding interviews and their frequency. Please note the list below excludes system design and behavioral questions which we cover later in this article.

Graphs / Trees (46% of questions, most frequent)
Arrays / Strings (38%)
Linked lists (10%)
Search / Sort (2%)
Stacks & Queues (2%)
Hash tables (2% of questions, least frequent)

We've also listed common examples used at Amazon for these different question types below. For each example, we've modified the phrasing of the question to match the closest Leetcode problem and we've linked to a free solution on Leetcode.

Finally, we recommend reading our guide on how to answer coding interview questions to understand more about the step-by-step approach you should use to solve these questions, as well as our list of 49 recent Amazon coding interview questions for more practice.

Example coding questions asked by Amazon

1. Graphs / Trees (46% of questions, most frequent)

"Given preorder and inorder traversal of a tree, construct the binary tree." ( Solution )
"Given a non-empty binary tree, find the maximum path sum. For this problem, a path is defined as any sequence of nodes from some starting node to any node in the tree along the parent-child connections. The path must contain at least one node and does not need to go through the root." ( Solution )
"Design an algorithm to serialize and deserialize a binary tree. There is no restriction on how your serialization/deserialization algorithm should work. You just need to ensure that a binary tree can be serialized to a string and this string can be deserialized to the original tree structure." ( Solution )
"Given n nodes labeled from 0 to n-1 and a list of undirected edges (each edge is a pair of nodes), write a function to check whether these edges make up a valid tree." ( Solution )
"Given a list of airline tickets represented by pairs of departure and arrival airports [from, to] , reconstruct the itinerary in order. All of the tickets belong to a man who departs from JFK . Thus, the itinerary must begin with JFK ." ( Solution )
"Given a matrix of integers A with R rows and C columns, find the maximum score of a path starting at [0,0] and ending at [R-1,C-1] ." ( Solution )
"There are a total of n courses you have to take, labelled from 0 to n-1 . Some courses may have prerequisites , for example, if prerequisites[i] = [ai, bi] this means you must take the course bi before the course ai . Given the total number of courses numCourses and a list of the prerequisite pairs, return the ordering of courses you should take to finish all courses." ( Solution )

2. Arrays / Strings (38%)

"Given an array of integers nums and an integer target , return indices of the two numbers such that they add up to target . You may assume that each input would have exactly one solution , and you may not use the same element twice." ( Solution )
"Given an array nums of n integers, are there elements a , b , c in nums such that a + b + c = 0? Find all unique triplets in the array which gives the sum of zero." ( Solution )
"Say you have an array for which the i th element is the price of a given stock on day i . If you were only permitted to complete at most one transaction (i.e., buy one and sell one share of the stock), design an algorithm to find the maximum profit. Note that you cannot sell a stock before you buy one." ( Solution )
"Given a string s , find the longest palindromic substring in s . You may assume that the maximum length of s is 1000." ( Solution )
"Convert a non-negative integer to its english words representation. Given input is guaranteed to be less than 2 31 - 1." ( Solution )
"Given an array of strings products and a string searchWord . We want to design a system that suggests at most three product names from products after each character of searchWord is typed. Suggested products should have common prefix with the searchWord. If there are more than three products with a common prefix return the three lexicographically minimums products. Return list of lists of the suggested products after each character of searchWord is typed." ( Solution )
"Given a paragraph and a list of banned words, return the most frequent word that is not in the list of banned words. It is guaranteed there is at least one word that isn't banned, and that the answer is unique. Words in the list of banned words are given in lowercase, and free of punctuation. Words in the paragraph are not case sensitive. The answer is in lowercase." ( Solution )

3. Linked lists (10%)

"Given a linked list, reverse the nodes of a linked list k at a time and return its modified list. k is a positive integer and is less than or equal to the length of the linked list. If the number of nodes is not a multiple of k then left-out nodes in the end should remain as it is." ( Solution )
"Merge two sorted linked lists and return it as a new sorted list. The new list should be made by splicing together the nodes of the first two lists." ( Solution )
"You are given an array of k linked-lists lists, each linked-list is sorted in ascending order. Merge all the linked-lists into one sorted linked-list and return it." ( Solution )
"A linked list is given such that each node contains an additional random pointer which could point to any node in the list or null. Return a deep copy of the list." ( Solution )
"Given a node from a Circular Linked List which is sorted in ascending order, write a function to insert a value insertVal into the list such that it remains a sorted circular list. The given node can be a reference to any single node in the list, and may not be necessarily the smallest value in the circular list." ( Solution )

4. Search / Sort (2%)

"Given an array of integers nums , sort the array in ascending order." ( Solution )
"Given a 2d grid map of '1' s (land) and '0' s (water), count the number of islands. An island is surrounded by water and is formed by connecting adjacent lands horizontally or vertically. You may assume all four edges of the grid are all surrounded by water." ( Solution )
"Given an array of meeting time intervals consisting of start and end times [[s1,e1],[s2,e2],...] (s i < e i ), find the minimum number of conference rooms required." ( Solution )
"Write an efficient algorithm that searches for a value in an m x n matrix. This matrix has the following properties: [1] Integers in each row are sorted in ascending from left to right. [2] Integers in each column are sorted in ascending from top to bottom." ( Solution )

5. Stacks / Queues (2%)

"Design a stack that supports push, pop, top, and retrieving the minimum element in constant time." ( Solution )
"Given n non-negative integers representing an elevation map where the width of each bar is 1, compute how much water it is able to trap after raining." ( Solution )

6. Hash tables (2% of questions, least frequent)

"Given a non-empty 2D array grid of 0's and 1's, an island is a group of 1 's (representing land) connected 4-directionally (horizontal or vertical.) You may assume all four edges of the grid are surrounded by water. Count the number of distinct islands. An island is considered to be the same as another if and only if one island can be translated (and not rotated or reflected) to equal the other." ( Solution )
"Given a non-empty list of words, return the k most frequent elements. Your answer should be sorted by frequency from highest to lowest. If two words have the same frequency, then the word with the lower alphabetical order comes first." ( Solution )

2.2 System design questions

Amazon products have millions of monthly active users. Amazon's engineers therefore need to be able to design systems that are highly scalable.

The coding questions we've covered above usually have a single optimal solution. But the system design questions you'll be asked are typically more open-ended and feel more like a discussion.

This is the part of the interview where you want to show that you can both be creative and structured at the same time. In most cases, your interviewer will adapt the question to your background.

For instance, if you've worked on an API product they'll ask you to design an API. But that won't always be the case so you should be ready to design any type of product or system at a high level.

As mentioned previously, if you're a junior developer the expectations will be lower for you than if you're mid-level or senior. In addition, for certain roles (e.g. infrastructure, security, etc.) you will likely have several system design interviews instead of just one.

Below are the most common system design questions according to the Amazon interview reports which can be found on Glassdoor. For more information, we recommend watching the following Amazon video guide and using our list of 31 system design questions if you need more practice.

Example system design questions asked at Amazon

How would you design a warehouse system for Amazon.com
How would you design Amazon.com so it can handle 10x more traffic than today
How would you design Amazon.com's database (customers, orders, products, etc.)
How would you design TinyURL
How would you design Google's search autocomplete
How would you design Dropbox
How would you design a real time ranking system for Fortnite
How would you design a parking payment system
How would you design an electronic voting system
How would you design a distributed cache system

2.3 Behavioral questions

Amazon’s SDE interview process heavily focuses on assessing if you live and breathe the company’s 16 Leadership Principles . The main way Amazon tests this is with behavioral questions, which you'll be asked in every interview.

SDE interviews tend to primarily focus on the first four principles we have highlighted below, according to the Amazon ex-interviewers on our coaching team. The other twelve topics also come up but less frequently.

Amazon's Leadership Principles:

Invent and Simplify
Are Right, A Lot
Deliver Results
Hire and Develop the Best
Learn and Be Curious
Insist on the Highest Standards
Strive to be Earth's Best Employer
Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility

Below is a breakdown of each leadership principle and how you’ll be asked about them during your interview process with Amazon.

2.3.1 "Customer obsession" interview questions

Customer obsession — "Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.”

Customer obsession is about empathy. Interviewers want to see that you understand the consequences that every decision has on customer experience. You need to know who the customer is and their underlying needs, not just the tasks they want done.

This is by far the most important leadership principle used at Amazon. Therefore, it is the most critical one to prepare for.

Example "customer obsession" questions asked by Amazon

Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult customer
Tell me about a time you made something much simpler for customers
Which company has the best customer service and why?
Tell me about a time you said no to a customer request and why

2.3.2 "Ownership" interview questions

Ownership — "Leaders are owners. They think long term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job.”

Interviewers at Amazon want to avoid hiring people who think, “That’s not my job!” When answering ownership questions, you’ll want to prove that you take initiative, can make tough decisions, and take responsibility for your mistakes.

Example "ownership" questions asked by Amazon

Tell me about a time you did something at work that wasn't your responsibility / in your job description
Describe an instance where you had to make an important decision without approval from your boss
Tell me about a time you took ownership of a problem that was not the focus of your organization
When was the last time that you sacrificed a long term value to complete a short term task?

2.3.3 "Bias for action" interview questions

Bias for action — "Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.”

Since Amazon likes to ship quickly, they also prefer to learn from doing (while also measuring results) vs. performing user research and making projections. They want to see that you can take calculated risks and move things forward.

Example "bias for action" questions asked by Amazon

Tell me about a time you had to change your approach because you were going to miss a deadline
Tell me about a time you had to make a decision with incomplete information. How did you make it and what was the outcome?
Tell me about a time when you launched a feature with known risks
Tell me about a time you broke a complex problem into simple sub-parts

2.3.4 "Have backbone; disagree and commit" interview questions

Have backbone; disagree and commit — "Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.”

Any group of smart leaders will disagree at some point. Amazon wants to see that you know when to challenge ideas and escalate problems to senior leadership. At the same time, they want to know you can sense the right time to move forward regardless of your disagreement.

Example "have backbone; disagree and commit" questions asked by Amazon

Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a coworker or manager and how you approached it
Tell me about a time you disagreed with your team and convinced them to change their position
Tell me about a time you had a conflict with your team but decided to go ahead with their proposal
Tell me about a time your work was criticized

2.3.5 "Invent and simplify" interview questions

Invent and simplify — "Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here." Because we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.”

Amazon relies on a culture of innovation. Answering invent and simplify questions is an opportunity to show your ability to create solutions when there is no obvious answer. You’ll also want to show that you know how to execute big ideas as simply and cheaply as possible.

Example "invent and simplify" questions asked by Amazon

Tell me about a time you suggested a new approach
What is the most innovative idea you've ever had?
Tell me how you built a feature in an innovative way, give specific details

2.3.6 "Dive deep" interview questions

Dive deep — "Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.”

When something isn’t working, SDEs need to quickly find a solution. Interviewers want to see that you are excited to dive deep when problems arise.

Example "dive deep" questions asked by Amazon

Tell me about a project in which you had to deep dive into analysis
Tell me about the most complex problem you have worked on
Describe an instance when you used a lot of data in a short period of time

2.3.7 "Are right, a lot" interview questions

Are right, a lot — "Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgement and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.”

Amazon expects its Software Development Engineers to produce solutions as quickly as possible and to make a lot of decisions with little information. You’ll want to demonstrate skill in taking calculated risks and show that you're comfortable disproving your own opinions before moving ahead.

Example "are right, a lot" questions asked by Amazon

Describe a time you made a mistake
Tell me about a time you applied judgment to a decision when data was not available
Tell me about a time you had very little information about a project but still had to move forward

2.3.8 "Deliver results" interview questions

Deliver results — "Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.”

Amazon values action over perfection. When answering questions related to delivering results, you’ll want to indicate that you dislike slipped deadlines and failed goals.

Example "deliver results" questions asked by Amazon

Tell me about the most challenging project you ever worked on
How do you prioritize in your current role?
What do you think are the most difficult parts of software engineering?

2.3.9 "Think big" interview questions

Think big — "Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.”

Amazon is huge and its SDEs need to build products that reach significant scale to make a difference for the business. As a result, interviewers will want to see that you can develop and articulate a bold vision.

Example "think big" questions asked by Amazon

Describe a time you proposed a non-intuitive solution to a problem and how you identified that it required a different way of thinking
Give a specific example where you drove adoption for your vision and explain how you knew it had been adopted by others
Tell me about your most significant accomplishment. Why was it significant?

2.3.10 "Hire and develop the best" interview questions

Hire and develop the best — "Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent, and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.”

As mentioned above, Amazon wants new hires to “raise the bar.” Interviewers will want to see that you are not afraid of working with and hiring people smarter than you.

You should also show you enjoy coaching younger colleagues and know how to get the most out of top performers. You’ll notice the examples listed here are general interview questions, but they provide a perfect opportunity for you to address this principle.

This leadership principle is typically discussed in interviews for very senior engineering positions that involve people management or building a team (e.g. Software Development Manager, Director, etc.).

Example "hire and develop the best" questions asked by Amazon

Describe a time you stepped in to help a struggling teammate
Tell me about a time you helped boost your team morale
Tell me about a time you hired or worked with people smarter than you are
Why do you want to work at Amazon?

2.3.11 "Frugality" interview questions

Frugality — "Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.”

At every touchpoint, Amazon tries to provide customers with as much value for as little cost as possible. Interviewers will be looking for how you can support this idea while maintaining a constant drive for innovation.

Example "frugality" questions asked by Amazon

Tell me about a time you successfully delivered a project without a budget or resources
Describe the last time you figured out a way to keep an approach simple or to save on expenses

2.3.12 "Learn and be curious" interview questions

Learn and be curious — "Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.”

Amazon demands constant improvement in every part of their business. You’ll want to show that you are interested in learning new things and exploring new ideas.

Some examples listed here are general interview questions, but they provide a perfect opportunity for you to address this principle.

Example "learn and be curious" questions asked by Amazon

Explain something interesting you’ve learned recently
Tell me about a time you taught yourself a skill
Why Software Engineering?

2.3.13 "Insist on the highest standards" interview questions

Insist on the highest standards — "Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.”

Amazon takes the view that nothing is ever “good enough.” They’d like to see that you push for standards that are difficult to meet.

Example "insist on the highest standards" questions asked by Amazon

Describe a project that you wish you had done better and how you would do it differently today
Tell me about the most successful project you've done
How do you ensure standards are met when delivering projects?

2.3.14 "Earn trust" interview questions

Earn trust — "Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.”

The key part of that principle that candidates often miss is the “vocally self-critical” bit. Amazon wants SDEs who focus on fixing mistakes instead of figuring out who to blame.

You’ll want to show that you take action when something is wrong and acknowledge your own faults before blaming other people and teams.

Example "earn trust" questions asked by Amazon

How do you earn trust with a team?
Tell me a piece of difficult feedback you received and how you handled it
A co-worker constantly arrives late to a recurring meeting. What would you do?

2.3.15 "Strive to be Earth's best employer" interview questions

Strive to be Earth's best employer — " Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what's next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees' personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere. ”

Similar to the principle “hire and develop the best,” this principle is more likely to come up in interviews for senior and/or managerial positions. In this case, you’ll want to show that you’ll not only boost your team, but also create a safe, diverse, and just work environment.

Essentially, if “hire and develop the best” means picking and training a top team, being “Earth’s best employer” means keeping that team safe, enriched, and engaged once you’ve got them.

Example "strive to be Earth's best employer" questions asked by Amazon

Tell me about a time that you went above and beyond for an employee
Tell me about a time you saw an issue that would negatively impact your team. How did you deal with it?
How do you manage a low performer in the team? How do you identify a good performer in the team and help in their career growth?

2.3.16 "Success and scale bring broad responsibility" interview questions

Success and scale bring broad responsibility — "W e started in a garage, but we're not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them. ”

Amazon wants its employees to understand the responsibility of working for a vast, impactful company.

Show how you measure the impact of your decisions, both in your workspace and in the world around you (e.g. sustainability, justice, etc.). You must always be willing to improve.

Example "success and scale bring broad responsibility" questions asked by Amazon

Give me an example on when you made a decision which impacted the team or the company
Can you tell me a decision that you made about your work and you regret now?

3. How to prepare

Now that you know what questions to expect, let's focus on how to prepare. Here are the four preparation steps we recommend to help you get an offer as an Amazon (or Amazon Web Services) software development engineer.

3.1 Learn about Amazon's culture

Most candidates fail to do this. But before investing tons of time preparing for an interview at Amazon, you should take some time to make sure it's actually the right company for you.

Amazon is prestigious and it's tempting to assume that you should apply, without considering things more carefully. But, it's important to remember that the prestige of a job (by itself) won't make you happy in your day-to-day work. It's the type of work and the people you work with that will.

If you know engineers who work at Amazon or used to work there, talk to them to understand what the culture is like. The Leadership Principles we discussed above can give you a sense of what to expect, but there's no replacement for a conversation with an insider.

We would also recommend reading the following resources:

Amazon's technology culture video mix (by Amazon)
Amazon vision and mission analysis (by Panmore Institute)
Amazon strategy teardown (by CB Insights)

3.2 Practice by yourself

As mentioned above, you'll have to answer three types of questions at Amazon: coding, system design, and behavioral. The first step of your preparation should be to brush up on these different types of questions and to practice answering them by yourself.

3.2.1 Coding interview preparation

For coding interviews, we recommend getting used to the step-by-step approach hinted at by Amazon in the video below.

Here is a summary of the approach:

Ask clarification questions to remove ambiguity about the problem
Explore the edges of the problem
Discuss potential approaches you could take
Pick an approach and lay out the high level steps
Write clean code, not pseudocode
Comment on your code as you go
Start by testing with a simple example
Try breaking your code with edge and corner cases
Calculate time complexity
Discuss how you can optimize your solution

We recommend using our coding interview prep article as your one-stop-shop to guide you through this preparation process.

3.2.2 System design interview preparation

For system design interviews, we recommend getting used to the step-by-step approach hinted at by Amazon in the video below.

Understand the goal of the system (e.g. sell ebooks)
Establish the scope of the exercise (e.g. end-to-end experience, or just API?)
Gather scale and performance requirements (e.g. 500 transactions per second)
Mention any assumptions you're making out loud
Lay out the high level components (e.g. front-end, web servers, database)
Drill down and design each component (e.g. front-end first)
Start with the components you're most comfortable with (e.g. front-end if you're a front-end engineer)
Work with your interviewer to provide the right level of detail
Refer back to the requirements to make sure your approach meets them
Discuss any tradeoffs in the decisions you've made
Summarize how the system would work end-to-end

We'd also recommend studying our system design interview guide and learning how to answer system design interview questions . These guides cover a step-by-step method for answering system design questions, and they provide several example questions with solutions.

3.2.3 Behavioral interview preparation

For behavioral interviews, we recommend learning our step-by-step method . For Amazon, it's particularly important that you are able to demonstrate some of Amazon's Leadership Principles as you answer behavioral questions.

Finally, a great way to practice coding, system design, and behavioral questions, is to interview yourself out loud. This may sound strange, but it will significantly improve the way you communicate your answers during an interview.

Play the role of both the candidate and the interviewer, asking questions and answering them, just like two people would in an interview.

3.3 Practice with peers

Practicing by yourself will only take you so far. One of the main challenges of coding interviews is that you have to communicate what you are doing as you are doing it.

To get used to this kind of "thinking out loud" we strongly recommend practicing live coding interviews with a peer interviewing you.

If possible, a great place to start is to practice with friends. This can be especially helpful if your friend has experience with software engineer interviews, or is at least familiar with the process.

3.4 Practice with ex-interviewers

Finally, you should also try to practice software engineer mock interviews with expert ex-interviewers, as they’ll be able to give you much more accurate feedback than friends and peers.

If you know a software engineer who has experience running interviews at Amazon or another big tech company, then that's fantastic. But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can practice 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from leading tech companies like Amazon. Learn more and start scheduling sessions today .

Applying for other companies? Check out our other guides for Facebook , Google , Microsoft , LinkedIn , and Airbnb software engineer interviews.

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How to Prepare for Amazon Interview Questions?

Before we discuss in-depth preparation, let’s briefly touch on the interview process. If you understand the steps involved, then you’ll be more likely to feel prepared and confident.

Even the process might differ a bit depending on the role you applied for (a technical or non-technical role) and your qualifications but we’ll walk you through the Amazon interview process.

What are the 3 rounds of Amazon interview?

Phone Interview

First, you have an initial phone call with the HR manager to assess whether you fit the job requirements or not.

At the phone interview, the recruiter will mostly ask personal questions to get to know you so you need to be prepared for questions about yourself.

Asking about your experience, the motivation behind applying to Amazon, why you’re leaving your current job (if you have one), and your availability are some of the most common questions at this stage.

You might also be asked simple behavioral questions such as “How do you handle a difficult customer?” or “How do you handle a situation when you’re overwhelmed with work?”.

The point of these questions is to get an idea about your problem-solving skills and how you act under pressure.

If the recruiter believes that you have potential, you will move on to the next stage, which is the video interview

Video Interview

The video interview is the same as a phone interview but this time you will have to answer the questions through Amazon Chime, Amazon’s communication tool that is also used internally.

The difference between a phone interview and a video interview is, now you will talk with a hiring manager or senior-level engineer (if it’s a technical role). So you may expect to get different types of questions than in the phone interview.

The hiring manager will ask more likely ask behavioral questions to test your problem-solving skills and leadership skills and/or the senior-level engineer will ask coding-type questions about data structure or algorithms etc. Remember, Amazon has 16 “Leadership Principles” and asks questions related to those during the interviews. More info on that in the following sections.

So, when you pass the phone screen then you need to prepare for behavioral and technical questions.

After the video interview, if it seems like a mutually good fit, you move on to the next step which is almost always an on-site interview.

On-site Interview

First of all, Congratulations, you are one step away from your dream job. On-site interviews are usually conducted at the company’s headquarters or a nearby city (or via video as necessary).

During the on-site interview at Amazon, you will meet with 4-8 different people in 45-60 minute sessions and each interviewer will ask 4-5 questions.

You will talk with hiring managers, senior engineers, and product managers (also with a bar raiser). The questions asked in this stage are a mix of behavioral and technical questions (%70 behavioral and %30 Technical).

Amazon on-site interview questions are divided into three main categories:

Leadership principles questions
Behavioral questions
And technical skills questions

The behavioral questions assess your problem-solving skills, leadership skills, motivation, etc. while the technical questions test your coding skills (for software engineering roles) or knowledge about Amazon products (for non-technical roles).

This is the toughest stage of the interview process and you need to be fully prepared to make it through this round.

Furthermore, you will also receive questions related to leadership during your interview, so it is beneficial for you to learn and study Amazon’s leadership principles.

There are 16 leadership principles (They are really famous and you need to know all of them by heart):

We’re not going to cover them in this post to make sure this post doesn’t get too long but you can check them out at this link: Amazon Leadership Principles Explained by Former Amazonian .

So, to prepare for the on-site interview questions, you need to practice both behavioral and technical questions and Amazon leadership principles.

Keep in mind that the most important thing in this stage is to be confident and stay calm.

You will be asked many different types of questions such as;

“Give me an example of a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer?”,

“Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond your job duties?”, or

“What would you do if you found out one of your team members was not meeting their deadlines?”.

The easiest way to make a good impression on the hiring manager and other interviewers is by learning how to answer these questions. We’ll cover that topic in the next section.

Also read; Amazon Interview Preparation Guide in 2023

How to Answer the Updated Amazon Interview Questions

In this section, we’re going to show you how to answer the most popular Amazon interview questions. By doing this, you will increase your chances of getting hired by Amazon.

But before we start, there are a few things that you should keep in mind when you’re preparing for your interview at Amazon.

Don’t try to be someone that you’re not because the interviewers can see through that and it will only make you look bad.
Be confident. You need to believe in yourself and your abilities. Remember that you made it this far and you have the same chance as anyone else to get the job.
Be prepared. You need to know what you’re going to say before you go into the interview. This doesn’t mean that you need to memorize your answers but you should have a general idea of what you want to say.
Practice, practice, practice. The more you practice, the better you will be at answering the questions.

Ok, moving on to how to answer Amazon interview questions. The questions are divided into two parts, behavioral questions, and technical questions. You can use the STAR technique to answer both types of questions.

STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, and Result . This technique will help you structure your answers and make sure that you cover all the important points that the interviewer wants to hear.

Let’s take a look at some examples of Amazon interview questions and see how you can use the STAR technique to answer them.

These types of questions are designed to assess your problem-solving skills, leadership skills, motivation, etc.

Here are some examples of behavioral questions that you may be asked during your interview at Amazon and the sample answers designed with the STAR method:

Question: Describe a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer. How did you handle the situation?

Answer: Situation – I was working as a customer service representative for a large company.

Task – I had to deal with a difficult customer who was demanding and rude.

Action – I stayed calm and listened to what the customer was saying. I tried to understand their point of view and empathized with them. I explained the company’s policy in a way that the customer could understand.

Result – The customer calmed down and we were able to resolve the issue.

This question assesses your ability to deal with difficult situations, stay calm under pressure, and find creative solutions.

Question: Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond your job duties.

Answer: Situation – I was working as a sales associate in a retail store and it was during the holiday season.

Task – My manager was busy with other things and there were no other sales associates working, so I had to take care of the whole store by myself.

Action – I did my best to help the customers and answer their questions but it was really difficult because there were so many people.

Result – I managed to handle the situation and helped as many people as I could. The customers were happy and my manager was impressed with my work.

And this question is assessing your ability to take initiative and go above and beyond what is expected of you.

As you know, Amazon is a giant tech company so they will want to know that you have the necessary skills for the job that you’re applying for.

Question: What would you do if you found out one of your team members was not performing up to par?

Answer: Situation – I was a team leader in my previous role and I had a team of five people.

Task – One of my team members was not performing up to par and I had to talk to him.

Action – I sat down with him and we talked about his performance. I gave him some constructive criticism and told him what he needed to improve. I offered my help and support.

Result – The team member’s performance improved and he became one of the top performers on the team.

So, these types of questions assess your ability to solve problems, work in a team, and lead others.

Ok, now you know how to answer Amazon interview questions using the STAR technique. Just remember to practice, practice, practice before your interview and you will be sure to ace it!

20 More Updated Amazon Interview Questions

If you’re applying to work at Amazon, you can expect to be asked a lot of questions right? In the next section, we will provide you with four types of Amazon interview questions with corresponding answers.

Behavioral Questions
Leadership Questions
Technical and Skills Questions
Company Specific Questions

Each section will have 5 different questions with answers that candidates have used in their Amazon interviews.

By reading through these questions and answers, you will be able to get a better understanding of what Amazon is looking for in its candidates and how you can prepare for your own interview.

Updated Amazon Interview Questions – Behavioral

Behavioral questions are designed to assess your ability to handle different types of situations that you may encounter in the workplace.

Amazon interviewers will often ask behavioral questions in order to get a better understanding of how you have handled various challenges in the past and how you might handle them in the future.

When answering these questions, it is important, to be honest, and give specific examples of times when you have faced similar challenges. Also, don’t forget to use the STAR method as a framework for your answers.

Additionally, you should also avoid giving hypothetical answers as Amazon interviewers are more interested in hearing about actual experiences.

Here are five behavioral questions and sample answers that candidates have been asked in their Amazon interviews:

Amazon Interview Questions #6: Tell me about a time you failed at work. What did you learn from your experience?

Answer: I once worked on a project that was very complex and had a lot of moving parts. I was confident in my abilities and thought that I could handle it all without any help.

However, I quickly realized that I was in over my head and that the project was starting to fall apart. I had to admit defeat and ask for help from my team.

Though it was difficult to admit that I needed assistance, doing so saved the project. From this experience, I learned that it is important to ask for help when needed and not try to do everything on my own.

This question assesses your ability to handle failure and learn from your experiences. In your answer, it is important to show that you are able to take responsibility for your mistakes and that you have learned from them.

Amazon Interview Questions #7: Describe a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer or client. How did you handle the situation?

Answer: I once had a customer who was extremely unhappy with the product they had received. They were constantly calling and complaining and demanding to speak to a manager.

My task was to diffuse the situation and try to resolve the issue without escalating it.

I listened to the customer’s concerns and empathized with their situation. I assured them that we would do everything we could to make things right. I then worked with our team to come up with a resolution that satisfied the customer.

The customer ended up being happy with the resolution and did not escalate the issue any further.

So, in your answer, it is important to show that you are able to stay calm under pressure and that you have excellent problem-solving skills.

Amazon Interview Questions #8: Tell me about a challenge you faced. What was your role & the outcome?

Answer: I was leading a team of 5 engineers in developing a new feature for our product.

Halfway through the project, we realized that the specifications we were working off of were outdated and no longer accurate.

I took charge of the situation and gathered all of the relevant stakeholders to discuss the problem. After coming up with a plan, I updated the team on the new specs and timeline.

We were able to successfully complete the project on time and within budget and the new feature was well-received by our users.

It’s important to show your ability to handle change and adapt to different situations while answering this type of question. After all, change is a constant in the workplace and Amazon places a high value on adaptability.

Amazon Interview Questions #9: Can you give me an example of a time when you exceeded expectations?

Answer: In my previous role, I was working on a project that required me to lead a team of engineers and the project was ahead of schedule.

I knew that I had to do something different and innovative to make sure that the project would be successful.

I decided to work with a team of engineers from another department to develop a new feature that would add value to the project.

The project was completed successfully and received praise from our users which resulted in an increase in our customer retention rate.

When you answer this type of question, it is important to highlight not only what you did but also the result of your actions. This will show the interviewer that you are not only capable of taking charge and driving results but also that you have a track record of doing so.

Amazon Interview Questions #10: Think about a time you received negative feedback. How did you deal with that?

Answer: Receiving negative feedback can be tough, but L believes it can also be a valuable learning experience.

Once I was working on a client portal project that I received some negative feedback from my boss about the dashboard design I had worked on.

I was asked to change the design color and typography of the dashboard and make it more user-friendly.

So I started working on it and didn’t get defensive about the feedback. Instead, I took it as an opportunity to learn and improve my skills.

I went back to the drawing board and came up with a new design that was well-received by my boss and the client.

These types of questions always seem to catch candidates off guard but they are actually quite common in behavioral interviews.

The key to answering these types of questions is to not get defensive about the feedback you received but to instead focus on what you learned from the experience and how you applied that learning to improve yourself.

Also read; Top 33 Amazon Behavioral Questions and Answers

Updated Amazon Interview Questions – Leadership Interview Questions:

Leadership principles questions are also behavioral questions but they focus specifically on Amazon’s leadership principles.

Each of Amazon’s 16 leadership principles has its own set of behavioral questions that you could be asked in your interview.

Although many leadership principles may seem similar at a surface level, upon further examination, you’ll see that they differ in key ways. It can be difficult to understand which question is about a certain principle.

Here’s a tip: the interviewer will give you a hint.

When you’re asked a leadership principle question, the interviewer will tell you which principle they are looking for an example of.

For example, if you are asked about a time when you took initiative, the interviewer is looking for an example of how you demonstrated Amazon’s ownership principle.

In this section, we will go over some of the most common leadership principle questions that you are likely to encounter in your Amazon interview.

Amazon Interview Questions #11: Tell me about a time when you had to take a risk on a project and it paid off.

(Bias for action principle)

Answer: In my previous role as a product manager, I was working on our e-commerce website and we decided to change the UI for the checkout page.

It was risky because sales were at the season high and I was thinking that if we change the UI of that page, it could possibly impact the sales.

I took a data-driven approach and ran A/B tests to see how users would react to the new UI.

The results of the test showed that there was an increase in conversion rate when we implemented the new design. Our sales did not drop as I had feared and the new design ended up being a success.

The interviewer will ask this type of question to test whether you are willing to take risks when necessary. The key to answering this question is to demonstrate that you are willing to take risks when they are calculated and have a good chance of paying off.

Amazon Interview Questions #12: How would you employ a certain leadership principle at work?

There are many ways you could answer this question but the key is to align your example with Amazon’s leadership principles.

For example, if you are asked how you would employ Amazon’s customer obsession principle, you could talk about a time when you went above and beyond to satisfy a customer’s needs or solve their problem.

Answer: I always believe, customers should be the top priority for any organization and thier satisfaction is key to success.

In my previous role as a customer service representative, I had a customer who was not happy with the product they had received.

I went above and beyond to make sure that the customer was satisfied and contacted to my supervisor to see if there was anything else we could do to help the customer.

I gave a new product to the customer with a full refund and a discount on their next purchase.

The customer was delighted with the outcome, remained loyal and continued to do business with us.

Pro Tip: If you can’t think of an example from your previous work experience, you could always talk about a time when you employed a leadership principle in your personal life.

Amazon Interview Questions #13: Give me an example of when you have gone above and beyond what was expected.

(Deliver results principle)

Answer: While I was working in the administration department at my previous workplace, my team and I were preparing for a big event that the company was hosting.

I was in charge of organizing all the RSVPs and making sure that everyone who was supposed to be at the event was on the list.

A few days before the event, I realized that we had forgotten to send out invitations to some of the VIP guests.

I took it upon myself to contact these guests and personally invite them to the event. I also followed up with them to make sure they had received the invitation and that they would be attending.

Because of the extra measures I took, all of the event’s VIP guests ended up attending the event and it was considered a success.

Amazon Interview Questions #14: Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss or another leader at work.

(Thinking big principle)

Answer: When I was working as a marketing assistant, I was tasked with coming up with a social media campaign for our new product launch.

I came up with what I thought was a great idea but my boss didn’t agree with me and wanted to go in a different direction.

I voiced my opinion and explained why I thought my idea would be more successful but my boss didn’t budge.

In the end, we went with my boss’s idea but I made sure to keep an open mind and tried to see the campaign from their perspective.

Although it wasn’t the outcome I was hoping for, I learned that it’s important to be open-minded and to see things from other people’s perspectives.

Amazon Interview Questions #15: Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision at your workplace.

(Ownership principle)

Answer: I had to make a difficult decision when I was working as a wholesale manager. I was in charge of a team of five employees who were responsible for sales in our store.

Two of my employees were constantly arguing with each other and it was starting to affect their work performance. I had to decide whether to let them go or to try and help them work out their differences.

After careful consideration, I decided to sit down with both employees and talk to them about their conflict.

I explained to them how their arguing was affecting their work and the rest of the team. I helped them see things from the other person’s perspective and they were able to resolve their differences.

In the end, they were both able to stay on the team as good friends and their sales numbers improve by % 17 in the next months.

Ok, leadership questions are now complete.

The next section will focus on technical and skills questions which will test your abilities to do the job.

Amazon Interview Questions Amazon Interview Questions – Technical and Skills Questions:

I know, it’s a long article, and your eyes might be tired but bear with us because this section is important!

So, we just talked about how Amazon puts a lot of emphasis on leadership principles and behavioral questions in their interview process.

And we also talked about how these questions are meant to assess whether you have the skills and qualities that Amazon is looking for in its employees.

Now, it’s time to talk about the technical and skills questions that Amazon will ask you during your interview. These questions will be specific to your job role and they are meant to test your knowledge and abilities

Here are some examples of technical and skills questions that you might be asked during an Amazon interview:

Amazon Interview Questions #16: Tell me about a time when you had to use data to make a business decision.

Answer: When I was working as a marketing analyst, we were launching a new product and we needed to decide which channels to use for our marketing campaign.

I was tasked with coming up with a budget strategy based on previous campaigns and finding the best way to allocate our resources.

I gathered data from past campaigns and analyzed it to see which channels had the best ROI. Based on my findings, I recommended that we focus our efforts on social media and email marketing.

My recommendation was approved and we ended up seeing a %19 increase in sales compared to our previous launch.

Pro Tip: Amazon is a data-driven company so using real numbers from your success stories and the terms like ROI, sales, effective budget, etc. will make your answer more impressive.

Amazon Interview Questions #17: Tell me about a time when you had to use your analytical skills to solve a problem.

Answer: When I was working as a financial analyst, we were going through the budget for the upcoming year and I noticed that one of our departments was overspending.

I did some further analysis and found that the department in question was using more man-hours than necessary to complete their tasks.

I presented my findings to the department head and recommended ways to cut down on the amount of time they were spending.

Because of my comprehensive analysis, we were able to save the company over $50,000 that year and I was commended by my manager.

Amazon loves employees who can think analytically and find creative solutions to problems. So, if you have a story about how you used your analytical skills to solve a problem, make sure to share it!

Amazon Interview Questions #18: Tell me about a time when you had to use your coding skills to solve a problem.

Answer: I was working on a project that required me to create software that could track the inventory of a warehouse.

The client had specific requirements and I was struggling to find a way to code the software to meet all the criteria but I was eventually able to figure it out.

I ended up finding a workaround and was able to complete the project on time. I created a working prototype and presented it to the client.

The client was happy with the end result because the software ended up being more user-friendly and efficient than they had originally thought possible.

Even if this question is specific to roles that require coding skills and you are applying for a role that doesn’t require coding, you can replace this question with one that tests your knowledge of the specific tools and software that you will be using in the role.

Amazon Interview Questions #19: Give us an example of a time when you had to troubleshoot a problem.

Answer: In my previous role I was in charge of managing the company website. It was a huge e-commerce website and some pages were loading slowly which was causing customer frustration.

My task was to identify the problem as soon as possible otherwise the total sales for the day would be impacted.

After I noticed that the website was loading slowly and I started investigating the problem. I checked the code, plugins, hosting company, and servers and then found that the issue was at the servers.

I checked the server and saw that it was running low on storage. I contacted our IT department immediately and inform them about the problem. We were able to quickly fix the issue in short order and avoid any major problems.

These types of questions are designed for testing your ability to troubleshoot problems quickly and effectively. If you can share a specific example of a time when you did this, It will make your answer sound more professional.

Amazon Interview Questions #20: Can you tell me about a time when you had to figure out how to do something new?

Answer: While I was working as a back-end developer, I was working on a project that required me to use a new coding language that I had never used before.

Because I have knowledge of Javascript, C++, and PHP, I knew that I can learn the new programing language faster. I did some research and was able to find some helpful tutorials that walked me through the basics of the new framework.

Once I had a basic understanding of how the new framework worked, I was able to start coding the project. I ran into a few problems along the way, but I was eventually able to figure it out and complete the project on time.

These technical and skills questions will vary depending on the role you are applying for. If you are applying for a role that requires specific technical skills, make sure you brush up on your knowledge before the interview.

Updated Amazon Interview Questions – Company Specific Interview Questions:

Company-specific questions are designed to test your knowledge of Amazon’s history, culture, and the way they do business.

Amazon is a giant company with a lot of moving parts. It’s important that you do your research before the interview so that you can answer these questions confidently.

Knowing about Amazon’s customer-centric culture and its focus on innovation will go a long way in impressing your interviewer.

You’ll be asked questions about different Amazon services like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon Prime, and Amazon Kindle. You should be familiar with how these services work and be able to talk about them in detail.

You may also be asked questions about Amazon’s business model and how they make money. Make sure you are up-to-date on the latest news and developments at Amazon so that you can answer these questions confidently.

Here are some Amazon company-specific interview questions:

Amazon Interview Questions #21: What do you know about Amazon?

Answer: Amazon is one of the largest online retailers in the world. They sell everything from books and electronics to clothes and groceries. Amazon is also a leading provider of cloud computing services through its Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform.

In addition to being an e-commerce giant, Amazon is also a major player in the entertainment industry. They produce and distribute their own original TV shows and movies through their Amazon Prime Video service.

Amazon is constantly innovating and expanding its business. They are always coming up with new products and services to offer their customers. This makes them a very exciting company to work for.

Amazon Interview Questions #22: Can you tell us how will you fit in Amazon’s customer-centric culture?

Answer: Amazon’s customer-centric culture is one of the things that attracted me to the company. I strongly believe that the customer should always be the top priority.

I would fit in well with Amazon’s customer-centric culture because I share the same beliefs. I would always put the needs of the customer first and work tirelessly to meet their expectations.

In my previous role, I was responsible for managing a team of customer service representatives. I always made sure that my team was providing the best possible service to our customers.

I am confident that I can bring my customer-centric attitude to Amazon and contribute to their culture.

Amazon Interview Questions #23: What do you think is the most innovative thing Amazon has done?

Answer: I think the most innovative thing Amazon has done is their Amazon Prime service. Amazon Prime is a subscription service that gives members free two-day shipping on eligible items, as well as access to streaming TV shows and movies.

I love Amazon Prime because it is so convenient. I can order anything I need and have it delivered to my door in just two days. And if I’m ever in the mood to watch a movie or TV show, I can just log into Amazon Prime and start streaming.

I think Amazon Prime is a great example of how Amazon is always innovating and expanding their business. They are always finding new ways to make their customers’ lives easier.

Amazon Interview Questions #24: What Amazon leadership principles do you think are the most important to follow?

Answer: Amazon has 16 leadership principles that they expect all employees to follow.

The leadership principle that I identify most with is “Ownership.” This principle is all about taking responsibility for your work and making sure that it is of the highest quality.

I have always been a very detail-oriented person and I take a lot of pride in my work. I make sure that every task is completed to the best of my ability.

In my previous job, I was often tasked with quality control. It was my responsibility to make sure that all of the products we sold were up to our high standards.

I am confident that I can bring my attention to detail and commitment to quality to Amazon.

Amazon Interview Questions #25: What do you think sets Amazon apart from other companies?

Answer: I think one of the things that set Amazon apart from other companies is its customer-centric culture. As I mentioned before, Amazon always puts the needs of the customer first.

I believe that this customer-centricity is what has made Amazon so successful. They are always looking for new ways to improve the customer experience.

While I was working for my previous company we were following the same customer-centric philosophy. I think this is one of the things that sets Amazon apart from other companies.

And we implemented this philosophy after I became the head of the customer service which generated great results in terms of customer satisfaction and profitability.

Ok, we went through all the top 25 Amazon interview questions that Amazon asks its candidates. Do you think you are ready for your Amazon interview now?

Before you think you’re all set, there’s one more thing you should do to prepare for your interview…

Questions to Ask at The End of an Amazon Interview.

It’s always a good idea to ask questions at the end of your interview. Not only does it show that you’re interested in the position, but it also gives you an opportunity to learn more about the company.

Actually, the questions you ask, don’t change the interviewer’s opinion about you when it comes to deciding whether they hire you or not but if you don’t ask any questions it will give them a signal that you’re not interested enough in the position.

That’s why it’s important to ask questions at the end of your interview.

By asking these questions, you will not only show that you’re interested in Amazon, but you will also gain valuable insights that will help you prepare for your next interview.

To help you out, here are a few questions that you can ask at the end of your Amazon interview:

What do you enjoy most about working at Amazon?
What are the biggest challenges that you face when working at Amazon?
How would you describe the culture at Amazon?
What is the most important thing that Amazon looks for in its employees?
What advice would you give to someone who is interested in working at Amazon?
What are the company’s plans for future growth?
What do you think are the most important skills for this position?
What do you think sets Amazon apart from other companies?
Is there anything else you would like to know about me?
What do you think is the most innovative thing Amazon has done?

These are just a few examples of questions that you can ask at the end of your interview. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them.

Just remember, the goal is to show that you’re interested in Amazon and that you’re looking to gain more insights about the company.

Updated Amazon Interview Questions – Amazon Interview Tips

Based on what we discussed on this detailed article, here are a few Amazon interview tips that will help you prepare for your interview and increase your chances of getting hired:

1. Do your research: One of the best ways to prepare for your interview is to do your research. Not only should you research Amazon, but you should also research the specific role that you’re applying for.

This way, you will be able to familiarize yourself with Amazon’s business model and the specific skills that are required for the role.

2. Be customer-centric: As we mentioned before, Amazon is a very customer-centric company. This means that they always put the needs of the customer first.

You should keep this in mind when preparing for your interview and try to give examples of times when you’ve gone above and beyond to satisfy a customer.

3. Be prepared to answer behavioral questions: Behavioral questions are designed to assess your past behavior in order to predict your future behavior.

Therefore, it’s important that you’re prepared to answer these types of questions. We recommend that you use the STAR method when answering behavioral questions.

4. Use metrics when possible: Amazon loves data. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to use metrics when answering questions.

If you can, try to back up your claims with numbers and data. This will show the interviewer that you’re able to think critically and that you have a data-driven mindset.

5. Practice your answers: In order to ace your Amazon interview, we recommend that you practice your answers beforehand. You’ll find lots of valuable information about this on our blog.

You can do this by yourself or with a friend. If you’re unsure of how to answer a question, try to come up with a few potential answers and then practice delivering them in a clear and concise manner.

By following these tips, you will be well on your way to acing your Amazon interview and landing the job that you want

As a bonus, we’d like to share this Ted Talk video that we really like about Job Interviews:

We hope you enjoyed this article on the top 25 interview questions that Amazon asks its candidates. Preparing for your Amazon interview should be an enjoyable and exciting process.

Make sure to do your research on the company, and practice your answers to these questions until you feel confident.

Also, we recommend that you take a look at the Amazon Interview Cheat Sheet blog post to learn more about the process.

Our interview coaches have years of experience helping candidates prepare for their interviews, and they will be able to give you personalized feedback to help you improve your performance.

If you’re interested in learning more or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. We would be happy to chat with you about your upcoming interview!

We hope that you found this Amazon Interview Questions post useful!

Best of luck with your interviews!

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8 interview tips from Amazon Bar Raisers to help you clinch the job

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Some might call it unique . Others might call it peculiar . Indeed, Amazon’s thorough interview process is designed to help hiring managers identify candidates with the biggest potential to thrive and succeed at the company. And one particular member of every hiring team is especially integral to helping managers zero in on those top applicants: the Bar Raiser .

An image of Amazon employee Francisco Nino in a work vest at Amazon in Greenwood, Indiana.

A Bar Raiser—an interviewer who typically sits on another team—serves as an objective third party during the hiring process. As a steward of the company’s Leadership Principles , they capture a holistic picture of each candidate and aid in eliminating bias.

In concert with the hiring manager, the Bar Raiser helps drive the pivotal decision on whether a candidate should be hired. They also help ensure that every new hire has the potential to grow in their role and brings skills that are better than 50% of their would-be peers in similar roles.

In other words, Bar Raisers know full well what it takes to not only navigate Amazon’s interview process, but how to shine. Here, four Bar Raisers share essential tips on how to do just that.

Go beyond your resume.

It’s easy to become hyperfocused on the qualifications you put down on paper. But sometimes, what’s not on the page can be just as illuminating as what’s on it. Dawn Brun, director, Amazon Health Services Communications, appreciates it when a candidate “tells me something about themselves that I wouldn't learn from their resume . You can learn a lot about someone and the way they approach their work by who they are as a person outside of their professional experience.”

Familiarize yourself with Amazon’s Leadership Principles.

Every employee at Amazon is guided by 16 Leadership Principles : key tenets that serve as the backbone to how the company does business and approaches every decision—including job hires. “Prior to your interview, it will be valuable to look up the Leadership Principles and identify one or two work anecdotes that are relevant to each one,” noted Josh Hirschland, principal product manager, Amazon Community Impact. “Make sure you’re answering the question that is asked—but orienting your stories around the Leadership Principles can be helpful. As a candidate, you should have an idea in advance for what stories you want to tell.”

Understand the power of practice.

“Practice responding to questions on your own to familiarize yourself with the experience,” said Cedric Ross, senior manager, Amazon Tours. In the past, Ross has staged his own mock interviews in front of a mirror, as well as recorded himself on his phone “to help me understand how I am represented in an actual interview session.” An outside perspective also helps. “Find someone you trust to offer candid feedback and practice the interview with,” he added. “A different opinion may be helpful.”

Be self-critical and demonstrate how you learned from mistakes.

Everyone’s made their share of mistakes throughout their career. Instead of shying away from them, highlight how they’ve helped you grow. “We value when our team members are able to admit when things didn’t quite go to plan, critically evaluate both successes and failures, and learn from mistakes,” said Jess Turner, director of campaigns, International Consumer Communications. “Demonstrating what you’ve learned from a failure and how it changed the way you work can be an opportunity to really impress. My advice is to always be honest about your own mistakes, never be too quick to blame others, and demonstrate clear tangible actions you’ve taken based on the learnings.”

Show your value .

“Before responding to a question, keep in mind that this is your opportunity to demonstrate your value,” explained Ross. “Your examples should showcase your talent. No matter the role or responsibility, ask yourself if your example added value in some meaningful way.” Equally important, he said, is that you show how you added that value. “Don’t forget to end your response with a result,” he stressed—a reflection of Amazon’s data-driven focus.

Read more about the STAR interview method and how you can best use data points to highlight your successes.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

“We want every candidate who gets an Amazon job offer to accept that role and succeed in it,” said Hirschland, who encourages applicants to be curious and ask questions. “At its best, an interview will feel more like a conversation with a curious friend than an interrogation. That means that your interviewers will want to help you understand Amazon and the team that you’re interviewing for so that you can make an informed decision. So ask the questions that you actually want to know the answers to.”

An image of two men seated in chairs talking in an office setting.

Let your personality shine through, but always remain professional.

It’s key to be yourself during an interview, which “helps build a rapport with your interviewer and ensures you feel more comfortable,” said Turner. However, she advised, be mindful not to become overly familiar. “It might sound obvious, but refrain from swearing or oversharing negative details around past work experiences, managers, or colleagues,” she noted. “If an interviewee gets too comfortable, too quickly, or overshares personal or negative details, it can cause the interviewer to lose trust in the candidate.”

Be communicative about your needs during the interview.

If you have a virtual interview, keep your surroundings in mind—and don’t be afraid to say something if you need to take a moment to adjust. “Folks are at home, and that means that life is happening around them,” noted Brun. Maybe the Wi-Fi cut out. Or things got really loud around you. When conditions suddenly take a nosedive, don’t hesitate to speak up. Brun recalled one candidate who, mid-interview, suddenly found himself in the middle of an earthquake. “He said, ‘We can keep going,’ and I said, ‘You go and get yourself to a safe place—we'll just pick up the conversation tomorrow.’ And I think we actually ended up hiring that candidate.”

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By Mike Simpson

When candidates prepare for interviews, they usually focus on highlighting their leadership, communication, teamwork, and similar crucial soft skills . However, not everyone gets ready for problem-solving interview questions. And that can be a big mistake.

Problem-solving is relevant to nearly any job on the planet. Yes, it’s more prevalent in certain industries, but it’s helpful almost everywhere.

Regardless of the role you want to land, you may be asked to provide problem-solving examples or describe how you would deal with specific situations. That’s why being ready to showcase your problem-solving skills is so vital.

If you aren’t sure who to tackle problem-solving questions, don’t worry, we have your back. Come with us as we explore this exciting part of the interview process, as well as some problem-solving interview questions and example answers.

What Is Problem-Solving?

When you’re trying to land a position, there’s a good chance you’ll face some problem-solving interview questions. But what exactly is problem-solving? And why is it so important to hiring managers?

Well, the good folks at Merriam-Webster define problem-solving as “the process or act of finding a solution to a problem.” While that may seem like common sense, there’s a critical part to that definition that should catch your eye.

What part is that? The word “process.”

In the end, problem-solving is an activity. It’s your ability to take appropriate steps to find answers, determine how to proceed, or otherwise overcome the challenge.

Being great at it usually means having a range of helpful problem-solving skills and traits. Research, diligence, patience, attention-to-detail , collaboration… they can all play a role. So can analytical thinking , creativity, and open-mindedness.

But why do hiring managers worry about your problem-solving skills? Well, mainly, because every job comes with its fair share of problems.

While problem-solving is relevant to scientific, technical, legal, medical, and a whole slew of other careers. It helps you overcome challenges and deal with the unexpected. It plays a role in troubleshooting and innovation. That’s why it matters to hiring managers.

How to Answer Problem-Solving Interview Questions

Okay, before we get to our examples, let’s take a quick second to talk about strategy. Knowing how to answer problem-solving interview questions is crucial. Why? Because the hiring manager might ask you something that you don’t anticipate.

Problem-solving interview questions are all about seeing how you think. As a result, they can be a bit… unconventional.

These aren’t your run-of-the-mill job interview questions . Instead, they are tricky behavioral interview questions . After all, the goal is to find out how you approach problem-solving, so most are going to feature scenarios, brainteasers, or something similar.

So, having a great strategy means knowing how to deal with behavioral questions. Luckily, there are a couple of tools that can help.

First, when it comes to the classic approach to behavioral interview questions, look no further than the STAR Method . With the STAR method, you learn how to turn your answers into captivating stories. This makes your responses tons more engaging, ensuring you keep the hiring manager’s attention from beginning to end.

Now, should you stop with the STAR Method? Of course not. If you want to take your answers to the next level, spend some time with the Tailoring Method , too.

With the Tailoring Method, it’s all about relevance. So, if you get a chance to choose an example that demonstrates your problem-solving skills, this is really the way to go.

We also wanted to let you know that we created an amazing free cheat sheet that will give you word-for-word answers for some of the toughest interview questions you are going to face in your upcoming interview. After all, hiring managers will often ask you more generalized interview questions!

Click below to get your free PDF now:

Get Our Job Interview Questions & Answers Cheat Sheet!

FREE BONUS PDF CHEAT SHEET: Get our " Job Interview Questions & Answers PDF Cheat Sheet " that gives you " word-word sample answers to the most common job interview questions you'll face at your next interview .

CLICK HERE TO GET THE JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS CHEAT SHEET

1. Can you tell me about a time when you had to solve a challenging problem?

In the land of problem-solving questions, this one might be your best-case scenario. It lets you choose your own problem-solving examples to highlight, putting you in complete control.

When you choose an example, go with one that is relevant to what you’ll face in the role. The closer the match, the better the answer is in the eyes of the hiring manager.

EXAMPLE ANSWER:

“While working as a mobile telecom support specialist for a large organization, we had to transition our MDM service from one vendor to another within 45 days. This personally physically handling 500 devices within the agency. Devices had to be gathered from the headquarters and satellite offices, which were located all across the state, something that was challenging even without the tight deadline. I approached the situation by identifying the location assignment of all personnel within the organization, enabling me to estimate transit times for receiving the devices. Next, I timed out how many devices I could personally update in a day. Together, this allowed me to create a general timeline. After that, I coordinated with each location, both expressing the urgency of adhering to deadlines and scheduling bulk shipping options. While there were occasional bouts of resistance, I worked with location leaders to calm concerns and facilitate action. While performing all of the updates was daunting, my approach to organizing the event made it a success. Ultimately, the entire transition was finished five days before the deadline, exceeding the expectations of many.”

2. Describe a time where you made a mistake. What did you do to fix it?

While this might not look like it’s based on problem-solving on the surface, it actually is. When you make a mistake, it creates a challenge, one you have to work your way through. At a minimum, it’s an opportunity to highlight problem-solving skills, even if you don’t address the topic directly.

When you choose an example, you want to go with a situation where the end was positive. However, the issue still has to be significant, causing something negative to happen in the moment that you, ideally, overcame.

“When I first began in a supervisory role, I had trouble setting down my individual contributor hat. I tried to keep up with my past duties while also taking on the responsibilities of my new role. As a result, I began rushing and introduced an error into the code of the software my team was updating. The error led to a memory leak. We became aware of the issue when the performance was hindered, though we didn’t immediately know the cause. I dove back into the code, reviewing recent changes, and, ultimately, determined the issue was a mistake on my end. When I made that discovery, I took several steps. First, I let my team know that the error was mine and let them know its nature. Second, I worked with my team to correct the issue, resolving the memory leak. Finally, I took this as a lesson about delegation. I began assigning work to my team more effectively, a move that allowed me to excel as a manager and help them thrive as contributors. It was a crucial learning moment, one that I have valued every day since.”

3. If you identify a potential risk in a project, what steps do you take to prevent it?

Yes, this is also a problem-solving question. The difference is, with this one, it’s not about fixing an issue; it’s about stopping it from happening. Still, you use problem-solving skills along the way, so it falls in this question category.

If you can, use an example of a moment when you mitigated risk in the past. If you haven’t had that opportunity, approach it theoretically, discussing the steps you would take to prevent an issue from developing.

“If I identify a potential risk in a project, my first step is to assess the various factors that could lead to a poor outcome. Prevention requires analysis. Ensuring I fully understand what can trigger the undesired event creates the right foundation, allowing me to figure out how to reduce the likelihood of those events occurring. Once I have the right level of understanding, I come up with a mitigation plan. Exactly what this includes varies depending on the nature of the issue, though it usually involves various steps and checks designed to monitor the project as it progresses to spot paths that may make the problem more likely to happen. I find this approach effective as it combines knowledge and ongoing vigilance. That way, if the project begins to head into risky territory, I can correct its trajectory.”

17 More Problem-Solving-Based Interview Questions

In the world of problem-solving questions, some apply to a wide range of jobs, while others are more niche. For example, customer service reps and IT helpdesk professionals both encounter challenges, but not usually the same kind.

As a result, some of the questions in this list may be more relevant to certain careers than others. However, they all give you insights into what this kind of question looks like, making them worth reviewing.

Here are 17 more problem-solving interview questions you might face off against during your job search:

How would you describe your problem-solving skills?
Can you tell me about a time when you had to use creativity to deal with an obstacle?
Describe a time when you discovered an unmet customer need while assisting a customer and found a way to meet it.
If you were faced with an upset customer, how would you diffuse the situation?
Tell me about a time when you had to troubleshoot a complex issue.
Imagine you were overseeing a project and needed a particular item. You have two choices of vendors: one that can deliver on time but would be over budget, and one that’s under budget but would deliver one week later than you need it. How do you figure out which approach to use?
Your manager wants to upgrade a tool you regularly use for your job and wants your recommendation. How do you formulate one?
A supplier has said that an item you need for a project isn’t going to be delivered as scheduled, something that would cause your project to fall behind schedule. What do you do to try and keep the timeline on target?
Can you share an example of a moment where you encountered a unique problem you and your colleagues had never seen before? How did you figure out what to do?
Imagine you were scheduled to give a presentation with a colleague, and your colleague called in sick right before it was set to begin. What would you do?
If you are given two urgent tasks from different members of the leadership team, both with the same tight deadline, how do you choose which to tackle first?
Tell me about a time you and a colleague didn’t see eye-to-eye. How did you decide what to do?
Describe your troubleshooting process.
Tell me about a time where there was a problem that you weren’t able to solve. What happened?
In your opening, what skills or traits make a person an exceptional problem-solver?
When you face a problem that requires action, do you usually jump in or take a moment to carefully assess the situation?
When you encounter a new problem you’ve never seen before, what is the first step that you take?

Putting It All Together

At this point, you should have a solid idea of how to approach problem-solving interview questions. Use the tips above to your advantage. That way, you can thrive during your next interview.

FREE : Job Interview Questions & Answers PDF Cheat Sheet!

Download our " Job Interview Questions & Answers PDF Cheat Sheet " that gives you word-for-word sample answers to some of the most common interview questions including:

What Is Your Greatest Weakness?
What Is Your Greatest Strength?
Tell Me About Yourself
Why Should We Hire You?

Click Here To Get The Job Interview Questions & Answers Cheat Sheet

Co-Founder and CEO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Mike is a job interview and career expert and the head writer at TheInterviewGuys.com.

His advice and insights have been shared and featured by publications such as Forbes , Entrepreneur , CNBC and more as well as educational institutions such as the University of Michigan , Penn State , Northeastern and others.

Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

About The Author

Mike simpson.

Co-Founder and CEO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Mike is a job interview and career expert and the head writer at TheInterviewGuys.com. His advice and insights have been shared and featured by publications such as Forbes , Entrepreneur , CNBC and more as well as educational institutions such as the University of Michigan , Penn State , Northeastern and others. Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

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Amazon Problem Solving Interview Questions

Don't miss, how to prepare for a scrum master interview, how to introduce yourself in an interview, how to succeed in a virtual interview, client success manager interview questions, what is a good follow up email after an interview, what they ask in a job interview, employer rejection email after interview, what are some interview questions for medical assistants, tell me about a time that you dealt with a hostile customer.

When interviewers ask about a time you dealt with a hostile customer, they are looking to see how you handle difficult situations. They want to know if you can remain calm under pressure and whether you can think on your own. The best way to answer this question is to share an example of a time when you could successfully de-escalate the situation. You can talk about the steps you took to diffuse the situation and how you managed to keep the customer happy.

Why Does Amazon Use Case Study Interviews

Amazon uses case study interviews because your performance in a case study interview is a measure of how well you would do on the job. Amazon case interviews assess a variety of different capabilities and qualities needed to successfully complete job duties and responsibilities.

Amazons case study interviews primarily assess five things:

Logical, structured thinking : Can you structure complex problems in a clear, simple way?
Analytical problem solving : Can you read, interpret, and analyze data well?
Business acumen : Do you have sound business judgment and intuition?
Communication skills : Can you communicate clearly, concisely, and articulately?
Personality and cultural fit : Are you coachable and easy to work with?

Since all of these qualities can be assessed in just a 20- to 30-minute case, Amazon case study interviews are an effective way to assess a candidates capabilities.

In order to do well on the personality and cultural fit portion, you should familiarize yourself with before your interview. At a high level, these principles include:

Customer obsession : Leaders start with the customer and work backwards
Ownership : Leaders are owners and act on behalf of the entire company
Invent and simplify : Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify
Learn and be curious : Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves
Frugality : Accomplish more with less

Amazon Behavioral Questions: Think Big

Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.

Amazon is an enormous company, and its employees need to build products and structures that reach significant scale in order to make a difference for the business. As a result, interviewers will want to see that you can develop and articulate a bold vision.

Example behavioral questions asked at Amazon: Think big

Tell me about your most significant accomplishment. Why was it significant?
Tell me about a time you proposed a non-intuitive solution to a problem and how you identified that it required a different way of thinking
What was the largest project you’ve executed?

Recommended Reading: How To Interview At Amazon

Discuss The Most Difficult Problem You Have Ever Dealt With

This question is designed to assess your problem-solving skills and ability to think on your feet. The best way to answer this question is to discuss a problem you were passionate about solving. You should describe the problem in detail and explain how you approached it. Talk about the challenges you faced and how you overcame them. Be sure to highlight your accomplishments and what you learned from the experience.

Insist On The Highest Standards

Leaders have relentlessly high standards many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and drive their teams to deliver high quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

Practice questions on the highest standards:

As a manager, how do you handle tradeoffs?

Amazon expects their employees to always be striving to reach higher standards. They want to see employees who have pushed themselves to meet difficult goals and who will continue to do so in the future.

This is one of the things that makes Amazon such a great place to work. It is a company that is always looking to challenge its employees and help them grow. Employees at Amazon always feel like they are learning and growing, which helps to keep them motivated and engaged.

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Merge Two Sorted Linked Lists

Given two sorted linked lists, merge them so that the resulting linked list is also sorted. Consider two sorted linked lists and the merged list below them as an example.

Click here to view the solution in C++, Java, JavaScript, and Ruby.

Runtime Complexity: Linear, O where m and n are lengths of both linked lists

Memory Complexity: Constant, O O

Compare the value of the first two nodes and make the node with the smaller value the head node of the merged linked list. In this example, it is 4 from head1. Since its the first and only node in the merged list, it will also be the tail.Then move head1 one step forward.

Which Is More Important: Money Or Work

In my point of view work is more important to me. Once you achieve and overperform the target and help increase the company’s growth, then definitely money will follow.

These are a few Intermediate Level Amazon Interview Questions. Now, understand the Advanced Level Amazon Interview Questions.

Free Course: Programming Fundamentals

Also Check: How To Prepare System Design Interview

Copy Linked List With Arbitrary Pointer

Runtime Complexity: Linear,

This approach uses a map to track arbitrary nodes pointed by the original list. You will create a deep copy of the original linked list in two passes.

In the first pass, create a copy of the original linked list. While creating this copy, use the same values for data and arbitrary_pointer in the new list. Also, keep updating the map with entries where the key is the address to the old node and the value is the address of the new node.
Once the copy has been created, do another pass on the copied linked list and update arbitrary pointers to the new address using the map created in the first pass.

+ Amazon Behavioral Interview Questions

To help you prepare strategically for your job interview, we have used Glassdoor data to identify the real questions asked in different Amazon interviews. The questions weve chosen come from our research on five Amazon tech roles: PM , TPM , program manager , software development engineer , and data scientist .

Each category below tests a different leadership principle, and the frequency of questions testing certain principles will vary depending on the role. For instance, interviews for managerial roles will include a higher number of questions targeting the principles hire and develop the best or strive to be Earths best employer.

Note that we’ve edited the language in some of the questions for clarity or grammar. Now lets get into it.

Also Check: How To Interview For A Leadership Position

What Is Unique About Amazons Interview Process

For the most part, the is similar to other FAANG companies . However, they have a couple of key rounds and certain Amazon coding challenge questions that make the interview process unique.

The Loop is centered around Amazonâs 14 leadership principles:

Unlike most other companies, in the , the Loop is heavily centered around the companyâs 14 leadership principles. Recruiters evaluate you against these leadership principles directly or indirectly at any on-site interview stage.

The presence of a Bar Raiser:

Amazon also has a special âBar Raiserâ round, where specially trained employees gauge if youâre the right fit. The primary function of the Bar Raisers is to maintain the hiring bar high by seeking out only the best talent. They have a decisive say in the interviewâs outcome, so if you ace the core technical rounds and Amazon coding challenge questions, you must pass the bar raiser round to lock an offer.

To become a bar raiser, an interviewer should have done 100+ interviews. The bar raiser has to undergo special training and shadow other bar raisers. The bar raiser may not be from the team youâd be joining, but they may be under the same VP org. The bar raisers evaluate if the candidate is better than 50% of the existing employees.

With the two major unique factors discussed, let us now look at the Amazon interview process in more detail.

What Is A Behavioral Interview At Amazon

Amazon uses behavioral interviews to assess job candidates based on their past experiences. These questions typically start with Tell me about a time you and focus on soft skills such as: leadership, communication, teamwork, problem solving, etc. In Amazon’s case, there will be an emphasis on the 16 leadership principles , which we’ll dive into a bit later.

To round out your preparation, we’ve also included some resume, HR, and hypothetical questions such as “what are your strengths and weaknesses?” or “how would you…?” in this article. As these are real questions that have been reported by past candidates, we want to make sure you’re ready for anything.

These questions will appear at every step of the interview process at Amazon and at AWS, from the initial recruiter screen all the way through to the onsite interviews. They may even appear as icebreaker or transition questions during technical screens. The frequency and type of behavioral questions will vary per role, but be prepared to answer many.

For more information on the process for a specific role, consult one of our comprehensive interview guides below:

Now, what will your interviewers be looking out for? Lets take a look at those leadership principles.

Recommended Reading: How To Prepare For A Second Interview

Mathematical Problems For The Amazon Interview

Amazon sometimes asks problems around mathematics, where you have to code the solution to a mathematical problem. Below are some such sample Amazon coding interview questions:

Given: The first 2 terms A1 and A2 of an arithmetic series Task: Find the Nth term of the series
Given: The first term and common ratio X and R of a GP series Task: Find the nth term of the series
Given: Two non-zero integers N and M Task: Find the number closest to N and divisible by M. If there are more than one such number, then output the one having maximum absolute value
Given: A 3-digit number Task: Find whether it is an Armstrong number or not
Given: A number N
Task: Calculate the prime numbers up to N using Sieve of Eratosthenes
Given: A positive integer N Task: Find the sum of all prime numbers between 1 and N
Given: A string Task: Return the index of the first non-repeating character
Given: a 2-D array of integers, where a -ve number is land and +ve number is water Task : Count the number of islands.
Task: Find the minimum value in an unbalanced unsorted tree

Practice these Amazon coding interview questions and youâre well on your way to crack your Amazon interview!

Tell Me When You Had To Analyze Facts Quickly Define Key Issues And Respond Immediately To A Situation What Was The Outcome

Can You Solve Amazonâs Hanging Cable Interview Question? â Mind Your ...

In my previous job as a research analyst, I often had to analyze data quickly and draw conclusions. This was especially important when working on presentations for my team or clients. To be successful, I had to learn how to quickly define the key issues at hand and respond immediately to any situation or outcome. This involved being able to think on my feet and making decisions quickly. I improved my analytical abilities and became more efficient when working under pressure by practicing these skills. This was beneficial in my current role as a business analyst, where I often need to provide solutions to problems in a short amount of time.

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Do You Know Our Ceo How Do You Pronounce His Name

This question is asked to check whether you have researched this company well or not. Generally, people know about tech giants like Amazon and their CEOs, but this question is asked to check how the candidate pronounces the name. The CEO of Amazon is Jeff Bezos since 1996. It is pronounced as “Bay-zohs,” not “Bee-zos”.

Describe A Time When You Had To Manage A Budget Were You Able To Get More Out Of Less

The best way to answer this question is to give an example of when you had to be very strategic with your resources and make the most out of every penny. Perhaps you spearheaded a project where you had to work with a limited budget, or maybe you had to cut back on your spending to save money. When answering this question, focus on the steps you took to succeed rather than the outcome. For instance, if you could reduce costs without sacrificing quality, highlight that achievement.

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Amazon Behavioral Questions: Bias For Action

Bias for Action Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.

Amazon likes to learn by doing, with an eye on results over user projections and research. This is part of what helps them act quickly and ship their products to customers as fast as they do. So your interviewer will want to see that you can take calculated risks and move things forward.

Example behavioral questions asked at Amazon: Bias for action

Tell me about a time you had to change your approach because you were going to miss a deadline
Tell me about a time you had to make an urgent decision without data. What was the impact and would you do anything differently?
Tell me about a time when you launched a feature with known risks
Did you come across a scenario where the deadline given to you for a project was earlier than expected? How did you deal with it and what was the result?

How Should I Prepare To Answer Amazon Interview Questions

There is a reliable way to prepare how to answer behavioural interview questions at Amazon. First, you should understand in detail and prepare situations from your professional experience that map to these Leadership Principles. Second, you should structure these stories using the STAR Method. Third, you should practice answering these questions live – with partners or expert coaches .

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Good Questions To Ask Atthe End Of An Amazon Interview

As your Amazon interview starts to wrap up, youll get a chance to ask the hiring manager some questions. Being ready for this moment is critical, as it allows you to assert your interest and learn valuable tidbits that can help you decide if the job is right for you. If you dont know what to ask, here are a few questions that can work in nearly any situation:

What qualities do your most successful employees have in common?
Can you describe a typical day in this role?
What defines success in this position?
What is the biggest challenge Amazon is facing today? How does this role help solve it?
What do you enjoy most about working for Amazon?

If you want some more examples, check out our article: questions you can ask during your interview .

+ Amazon Behavioral Interview Questions To Practice

Below, you’ll find the short explanation of each leadership principle given by Amazon on their careers page . These principles will be present throughout the entire hiring process.

.Read each explanation thoroughly, as you’ll pick up clues as to how your answers to behavioral questions will be scored. When you’re ready, watch the expert mock interviews linked and then try your hand at a few sample behavioral interview questions compiled from past interviews

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What Is Meant By Selection Sort

Selection sort is an in-place sorting technique. It splits the data set into sub-lists known as sorted and unsorted. Then it selects the minimum element from the unsorted sub-list and places it into the sorted list. This iterates unless all the elements from the unsorted sub-list are consumed into a sorted sub-list.

Can You Tell Me When You Had To Make A Fast Customer Service Decision Without Any Guidance How Did You Decide What To Do

Amazon SDE 2 ð¤ð¤ takes Mock Interview ðð Problem solving ð¤ð¤ Data ...

This is a difficult question because it is hard to think of an example where you had to make a customer service decision without any guidance. One option is to describe when you had to handle a challenging customer service situation. You could explain how you remained calm and handled the situation in a way that was satisfactory for both the customer and the company.

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How to Nail your next Technical Interview

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Amazon SDE 2 Interview Questions to Practice Before Your Tech Interview

Last updated by Dipen Dadhaniya on Apr 16, 2024 at 02:48 PM | Reading time: 12 minutes

Amazon has one of the most challenging interview processes for software engineers among FAANG+ companies. The Amazon SDE 2 interview process primarily evaluates one’s problem-solving, analytical programming (object-oriented concepts), low-level design, and high-level design knowledge. With a less than 2% acceptance rate, even experienced programmers find it challenging to navigate the interview process. Knowing exactly what to expect at the interview and practicing a good number of Amazon SDE 2 interview questions is key to acing the interview.

If you’re a software development engineer preparing for Amazon’s SDE 2 interview, this list of Amazon SDE 2 interview questions that we’ve compiled will help you understand the type of questions asked so that you can accordingly plan your prep. We’ll cover Amazon SDE 2 interview questions on coding, low-level design, high-level design, and the company’s leadership principles.

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Let’s take a look at some common Amazon SDE 2 interview questions to help you prepare for your interview. We’ll briefly look at the interview process, followed by questions on coding, systems design, and Amazon’s leadership principles.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

Amazon SDE 2 Interview Process

Amazon SDE 2 Interview Questions

FAQs on Amazon SDE 2 Interview Questions

The Amazon SDE 2 interview Process

The Amazon SDE 2 interview process evaluates your coding, problem-solving, and systems design skills. The process typically consists of four main rounds.

The Online Assessment

The Online Assessment, or OA, is the first step in the process. Typically, recruiters from human resources will contact you before the OA to understand your interest in the role, expectations, and prior professional experience.

The Online Assessment is a remote coding interview that lasts about 1.5 hours. The hiring manager in this round will ask you to solve 1-2 coding problems in core data structures and algorithms. The interview typically takes place via Amazon Chime.

In this round, the hiring manager will watch your code live and ask you questions about your approach. You’re also evaluated on your ability to solve all edge and test cases.

You can also expect a question about Amazon’s core leadership principles .

Some tips to crack the Online Assessment -

Brush up on core concepts in the programming language of your choice
Get acclimated to solving core DSA problems - use power patterns to solve problems and
Think out your solution aloud
Familiarize yourself with Amazon's leadership principles

The Technical Phone Screen

The Technical Phone Screen round usually involves answering Amazon SDE 2 interview questions on systems design and coding. You can expect one question from each category. Design questions are low-level, while the coding problems are usually complicated problems from Leetcode. Brushing up on core design concepts and DSA concepts is crucial to getting past this round and being called for the On-site interview.

An important point to note is that the Technical Screen doesn’t happen all the time. If you’re already asked LLD (low-level design) questions, and coding problems in the Online Assessment and your performance is satisfactory, you’ll be directly invited to the On-site interviews without needing to appear for the TEchnical Screen.

The On-site Interview

The On-site is the last phase in the Amazon SDE 2 interview process. Also known as the Loop, it typically comprises 3-4 rounds where the Amazon SDE 2 interview questions that are asked evaluate your coding skills, design skills, and understanding of Amazon’s leadership principles.

The coding rounds - The On-site interview can have one or two coding interview rounds . These rounds last 30-45 minutes and evaluate your coding and problem-solving abilities. Depending on your role, you might be asked to code on a whiteboard.
The systems design rounds - System design rounds for Amazon SDE 2 engineers are typically of two types - Low-Level Design and High-Level Design. These interviews test your ability to build arbitrary systems with low latency. Brushing up on systems design concepts is key to answering Amazon SDE 2 interview questions in these rounds.
The behavioral and bar-raiser rounds - These rounds involve answering behavioral questions on Amazon’s 16 leadership principles. The bar-raiser round is conducted by recruiters who are specifically trained to keep the hiring bar high at Amazon. You can also expect many questions on challenging projects you’ve worked on in the past, your expectations from the role, and why you want to work at Amazon.

Take a look at the Amazon Software Development Engineer (SDE) Interview Process , questions, and prep tips.

Amazon SDE 2 interview questions typically evaluate three main areas:

Coding and problem solving
Design and scalable systems
Behavioral and leadership skills

Note that for the SDE 2 position at Amazon, coding questions asked are usually in the medium to hard difficulty range on Leetcode. There’s more emphasis on systems design concepts at SDE 2 interviews as applicants go through the low-level and high-level design rounds.

This section will look at Amazon SDE 2 interview questions in each of these categories.

Amazon SDE 2 interview Questions on Coding

Coding is an important component of the process. You’re asked Amazon SDE 2 interview questions on coding in the Online Assessment and On-site interviews.

To be able to answer Amazon SDE 2 interview questions on coding, you should be thorough with the following concepts.

Arrays , strings, and linked lists
Trees and graphs
Sorting algorithms — quicksort , merge sort , heap sort , etc.
Dynamic programming
Graph algorithms, including greedy algorithms

Questions asked in this round are typically in the medium-to-hard difficulty level on Leetcode.

Let’s look at some sample Amazon SDE 2 interview questions on coding to give you an idea about the type of questions to expect at your interview.

LRU cache Problem - Write a program to implement a Least Recently Used (LRU) cache and execute a given sequence of SET(key, value) and GET(key) operations. ( Click here for the solution )
Word Ladder Problem - Given two words which are - beginWord and endWord, and a dictionary word List, write a program to return the number of words in the shortest transformation sequence from one word to another, or 0 if no such sequence exists. ( Click here for solution )
3-Sum Problem - Given an integer array arr of size n , find all magic triplets in it. Magic triplet is a group of three numbers whose sum is zero. ( Click here for solution )
Gas Station Problem - There are “x” number of gas stations along a circular route, where the amount of gas at the nth station is gas[n]. Your car’s gas tank can accommodate an unlimited amount of gas, the cost of which is cost[n] to travel from the nth station to the (n+1)th station. You start your journey with an empty tank at one of the gas stations. For two integer arrays gas[] and cost[], return the starting gas station's index if you can travel around the circuit once in the clockwise direction; otherwise, return the value -1.
Island Problem - Calculate the size of the largest island in a given matrix m[] where 0 represents the sea, and 1 represents the land.

Check out the comprehensive list of Amazon Interview Questions here.

For more problems with solutions, check out our Problems Page

Amazon SDE 2 interview Questions on Systems Design

Amazon SDE 2 interview questions on systems design are mostly asked at the On-site interviews. SDE 2 applicants go through a high-level design round where hiring managers evaluate their ability to build arbitrary, scalable systems with low latency.

Systems design (low-level and high-level design) is a key area of evaluation at Amazon SDE 2 interviews. To prepare yourself for the interview, you should brush up on the following concepts:

Concurrency
API modeling
SQL and databases
Network systems
Sharding techniques
Caching and loading
Case studies

Let’s look at some sample Amazon SDE 2 interview questions on systems design and distributed systems.

How would you go about building a Chatbot for customers to engage with Amazon customer representatives?
What metrics will you use to monitor the performance of Amazon’s Prime Video application?
What important aspects should you consider to reduce system latency in the Cloud?
What security aspects will you consider while designing and integrating payment interfaces in the Amazon website and applications?
How will you design a snake and ladder game application? [Low-Level Design Question]
How will you design a parking lot that captures information on vehicles present, new vehicles entering, hourly rates, and available space in the lot? [Low-Level Design Question]
How will you go about designing an API rate limiter? [LLD problem]

Amazon Leadership and Behavioral Interview Questions

Amazon leadership principles interview questions are asked during the Online Assessment stage and On-site interviews. You can expect one or two questions at each stage of the interview. Questions in these rounds are based on Amazon’s 16 leadership principles . To give you a clearer idea, let’s look at the type of Amazon SDE 2 interview questions asked.

Tell us about a time when you disagreed with your superior on a project
Tell us about a time when a coworker wasn’t cooperating with you
Tell us about a time when you had to adapt to a new time that involved acquiring new skills
Tell us about a time when your work-life balance was hit due to a stressful project
Tell us about a time when you had to coordinate with multiple teams to complete a project

Check our pages on Amazon Leadership Principles Interview Questions and How to crack the Amazon Behavioral Interview to get a thorough idea of what to expect at these interviews.

Practice these above Amazon SDE 2 interview questions to get ahead with your prep and ready yourself for your upcoming interview.

FAQs on Amazon SDE 2 interview Questions

Q1. How many stages are there in the Amazon SDE 2 interview process ?

There are 3 main stages in the Amazon SDE 2 interview process . They are - i) The Online Assessment, ii) The Technical Phone Screen, and iv) The On-site Interview.

Q2. What type of interview questions are asked at Amazon SDE 2 interviews?

Amazon SDE 2 interview questions are mainly around coding and problem solving, distributed and scalable systems, and Amazon’s leadership principles.

Q3. What is the average salary offered to Amazon SDE II?

The average salary offered to Amazon Software Development Engineers is $129,000 per year.

Q4. What are the important coding concepts for the Amazon SDE 2 interview?

The essential coding concepts to prepare to answer Amazon SDE 2 interview questions are - strings, linked lists, arrays, trees, graphs, greedy algorithms, hash tables, recursion, and dynamic programming.

Q5. Should you be good at multiple programming languages to stand out at the Amazon SDE 2 interview?

Having a solid hold on any object-oriented programming language such as Java or Python is sufficient for the Amazon SDE 2 interview.

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20 Questions from the Amazon Business Intelligence Engineer (BIE) Interview

By Nick Singh

(Ex-Facebook & Best-Selling Data Science Author)

Currently, he’s the best-selling author of Ace the Data Science Interview, and Founder & CEO of DataLemur.

January 29, 2024

Don't underestimate the Amazon Business Intelligence Engineer (BIE) Interview – between the lengthy interview process, bar-raiser rounds, and high-stakes, this process can be trickier than you might expect.

In the article, we will learn the intricacies of the BIE role at Amazon, uncover the responsibilities that come with it, and unravel the rounds of the Amazon interview process. So let’s get started!

What does a Business Intelligence Engineer do at Amazon?

The role of a Business Intelligence Engineer (BIE) revolves around harnessing data to drive strategic decision-making. They play a crucial part in deciphering complex datasets, developing insightful analyses, and presenting actionable recommendations to key stakeholders.

Amazon relies on its BIEs to transform raw data into meaningful insights, contributing directly to the company's success by enhancing operational efficiency, optimizing processes, and providing a data-driven foundation for innovation.

Amazon sells over 353 million products across 173 countries. With such a gigantic scale of business, they need to rely on a team of BIEs to make timely decisions across the functions to thrive in a competitive environment.

Amazon BIE Job Responsibilities

Business intelligence engineers (BIEs) build out a variety of analytics. As a BIE, you’ll define key performance indicators (KPIs) , automate data pipelines, and create reports, dashboards, and visualizations. BIEs at Amazon are good at statistics, data processing, data visualization, and Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL). BIEs can translate between business needs and data so that no decision is taken without data-backed evidence.

Data Analysis and Interpretation : BIEs at Amazon are responsible for analyzing large datasets, identifying trends, and extracting valuable insights to inform business decisions.
Report Development and Visualization : BIEs create comprehensive reports and visually appealing dashboards, enabling teams to easily grasp and act upon critical information.
Business Process Optimization : These engineers work on optimizing business processes by utilizing data analytics to identify areas for improvement and streamline operations.
Forecasting and Predictive Modeling : BIEs leverage advanced statistical methods to develop forecasting models, aiding Amazon in anticipating future trends and market dynamics. BIEs design, develop and maintain data and machine learning pipelines to ensure continuous delivery of business intelligence.
Collaboration with Cross-functional Teams : BIEs collaborate with diverse teams, including data scientists, engineers, and business leaders, to ensure the alignment of data strategies with overarching business objectives.

Qualifications and Skills Required to be a Business Intelligence Engineer

To thrive as an Amazon Business Intelligence Engineer, candidates should possess a blend of technical proficiency and analytical prowess. Key qualifications and skills include:

Educational Background : A bachelor's or advanced degree in a relevant field such as Computer Science, Statistics, or Business Analytics.
Programming Skills : Proficiency in programming languages such as SQL, Python, or R is essential for manipulating and analyzing data. Familiarity with data structures, algorithms, machine learning, and analytical techniques
Data Warehousing : Familiarity with data warehousing concepts such as ETL and tools, as BIEs often work with large-scale data stored in Amazon Redshift or similar platforms.
Statistical Analysis : A strong foundation in statistical methods and the ability to apply them to solve complex business problems.
Data Visualization : Skills in data visualization tools like Tableau or Power BI to effectively communicate findings to diverse audiences.
Business Acumen : An understanding of business operations and the ability to translate business requirements into meaningful data solutions.

How to prepare for the Business Intelligence Engineer (BIE) Interview

The interview process for Amazon BIE can be divided into three main stages:

Application and Screening

The journey begins with the application and screening stage. Amazon is keen on candidates who showcase a strong foundation in data analytics and problem-solving. Be prepared for initial questions about your background, and experiences, and a brief overview of your technical skills.

Technical Screen

The Technical Screen is designed to assess your technical proficiency. Expect questions related to SQL, data manipulation, and basic problem-solving scenarios. Demonstrate your ability to navigate through datasets, write efficient queries, and solve analytical problems. Brush up on your coding skills, and practice solving problems under time constraints.

Behavioral/On-site Interviews

In the Behavioral/On-site Interviews, Amazon evaluates your soft skills, problem-solving approach, and cultural fit. Questions may delve into your past experiences, challenges faced, and your alignment with Amazon's leadership principles. Research Amazon's 16 leadership principles and tailor your answers accordingly. For more information about how to Ace your Amazon Behavioral Interview read this guide.

Bar Raiser Round

The Bar Raiser Round is a unique and challenging aspect of Amazon's behvarioal interview process. This round involves an additional interviewer, often from a different department, ensuring the candidate meets Amazon's high hiring bar. Expect a mix of technical and behavioral questions.

Amazon Business Intelligence Engineer (BIE) Interview Questions

To excel in the technical interview, start by reviewing and brushing up on the core concepts and tools commonly used in the field of business intelligence engineering.

Focus on topics such as SQL, Data Analytics, ETL tools, Data Visualization, Statistics, Python, and Tableau/Quicksight or other similar tools. Apart from this work on solving analytical problems under time constraints. Practice coding exercises, data manipulation challenges, and case studies to enhance your problem-solving abilities.

To read more Amazon interviews follow this resource and prepare for an interview with the best chance of success.

Let’s look at some sample questions to prepare for your Amazon BIE interview:

5 SQL Interview Questions for Amazon BIE

Write an SQL query to retrieve the top N products based on their total sales. Include the product name, sales amount, and any other relevant details. Assume you have a table named "Sales" with columns "ProductID," "ProductName," and "SalesAmount."
Query an order table to find the total revenue by country for a given year. Break down the results by month as well.
An order table contains customer IDs, order dates, product IDs, and quantities. Write a query to find the top 3 selling products overall.
Given invoice tables for multiple years, write a query to find the customers with the highest lifetime spend.
An inventory table has records for each product's warehouse location and quantity on hand. Write a query to identify which warehouses have less than a 1 month supply of any given product.

5 Python Interview Questions for Amazon BIE

Can you provide an example of how you would use Pandas to clean and preprocess a large dataset for analysis in Amazon's data ecosystem?
How would you handle missing data in a dataset using Python, and why is it important in the context of Business Intelligence?
Describe a situation where you had to optimize Python code for performance. What techniques did you use, and how would you apply them to Amazon's BI tasks?
Create a Python function that emulates the behavior of an SQL INNER JOIN between two lists of dictionaries. The lists represent tables, and the dictionaries represent rows.
Create a Python class that maintains a rolling average of the last N numbers added to it. The class should have methods to add a new number and retrieve the current rolling average.

5 Machine Learning Interview Questions for Amazon BIE

In machine learning, how would you define the bias-variance tradeoff, and why is it a critical concept when developing models for business intelligence applications at Amazon?
When faced with a business problem at Amazon that requires a machine learning solution, how do you decide which type of model (e.g., regression, classification, clustering) is most suitable, and what factors influence your choice?
In the context of business intelligence, how would you address the challenges posed by imbalanced datasets when developing a machine learning model, and what techniques could be employed to mitigate the impact of skewed class distributions?
Explain the importance of feature selection in machine learning models for business applications. Additionally, how do you ensure the interpretability of models, especially when dealing with complex algorithms like ensemble methods?
When assessing the performance of a machine learning model at Amazon, what evaluation metrics would you consider, and how do you ensure that the chosen metrics align with the business goals and requirements?

5 Statistics Interview Questions for Amazon BIE

What are the different types of statistical methods and their use cases?
How can statistics be used to improve business performance?
Can you describe a time when you used statistics to solve a challenging business problem?
What are your thoughts on the importance of experimental design in statistics?
How can statistics be used to communicate complex data findings to a variety of audiences?

Amazon BIE Salary Expectations

The average salary for an Amazon Business Intelligence Engineer in the United States is $130,000 annually. Salary levels, however, might differ based on some criteria, including area and experience.

Here’s an official Amazon job search portal to apply for your next BIE job.

BIE Career growth opportunities

Amazon provides several growth opportunities for Business Intelligence Engineers. They can move up the ladder and take on roles such as Senior Business Intelligence Engineer, Principal Business Intelligence Engineer, or even a Managerial position. Apart from vertical growth, Business Intelligence Engineers can also move horizontally and take up roles such as Data Scientist, Data Analyst, or Product Manager.

A career as a Business Intelligence Engineer at Amazon can be rewarding both financially and professionally. With the right skills and experience, one can expect to climb up the ladder and take on challenging roles within the company.

What Else Amazon Interviews Cover

BTW, Amazon goes HARD on technical interviews – it's not just behavioral interviews that are a must to prepare. Check out these interactive Amazon SQL & Python interview questions:

Highest Grossing Items
Average Review Ratings
Maximize Prime Inventory
User Shopping Sprees
Best Selling Product

You can practice more Amazon SQL interview questions here .

I'm a bit biased, but I also recommend the book Ace the Data Science Interview because it has multiple Amazon technical Interview questions with solutions in it.

Interview Questions

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Interview Experience at Amazon ML Intern Position 2025

Interview Experience at Amazon ML Intern Position

I recently had the opportunity to interview for the Machine Learning (ML) Intern position at Amazon, and the experience was both insightful and challenging. The interview process consisted of several rounds, each focused on assessing different aspects of machine learning knowledge, problem-solving abilities, and coding skills.

Round 1: Technical Screening

The first round was a technical screening where I was asked basic questions to gauge my understanding of machine learning concepts and algorithms. Some of the questions included:

Explain the difference between supervised and unsupervised learning.
Describe the bias-variance tradeoff in machine learning and how it impacts model performance.
Solve a coding problem involving data manipulation or basic algorithm implementation in Python or a similar language.

Round 2: Machine Learning Concepts

In the second round, I was presented with more in-depth questions related to machine learning algorithms and techniques. Some of the topics covered were:

Explain the working principles of popular machine learning algorithms such as linear regression, logistic regression, decision trees, and k-nearest neighbors (KNN).
Discuss the challenges and techniques for handling imbalanced datasets in classification tasks.
Describe the steps involved in training a neural network model using backpropagation.

Round 3: Coding and Problem Solving

The third round focused on coding skills and problem-solving abilities related to machine learning. I was asked to:

Implement a simple machine learning algorithm from scratch, such as linear regression or k-means clustering.
Solve coding problems that require knowledge of data structures and algorithms, such as array manipulation or string processing.
Write Python code to preprocess and analyze datasets using libraries like NumPy, Pandas, and scikit-learn.

Round 4: Machine Learning Projects

In this round, I was asked to discuss my previous machine learning projects and experiences in detail. I presented projects I had worked on, explaining the problem statements, methodologies used, challenges faced, and the outcomes achieved. The interviewer asked probing questions to assess my understanding of the projects and the underlying machine learning principles.

Round 5: Behavioral Interview

The final round was a behavioral interview where I had the opportunity to showcase my soft skills, teamwork abilities, and problem-solving approach. The interviewer asked questions about my past experiences, motivations for joining Amazon, and how I handle challenges and setbacks in a team environment.

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In the Behavioral/On-site Interviews, Amazon evaluates your soft skills, problem-solving approach, and cultural fit. Questions may delve into your past experiences, challenges faced, and your alignment with Amazon's leadership principles. Research Amazon's 16 leadership principles and tailor your answers accordingly. For more information about ...
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Round 5: Behavioral Interview. The final round was a behavioral interview where I had the opportunity to showcase my soft skills, teamwork abilities, and problem-solving approach. The interviewer asked questions about my past experiences, motivations for joining Amazon, and how I handle challenges and setbacks in a team environment.

Cracking the top Amazon coding interview questions

Amazon Leetcode Questions

Wrapping up and resources

45 common Amazon technical coding interview questions

2. Determine if the sum of two integers is equal to the given value

3. Merge two sorted linked lists

4. Copy linked list with arbitrary pointer

5. Level Order Traversal of Binary Tree

6. Determine if a binary tree is a binary search tree

7. String segmentation

8. Reverse Words in a Sentence

9. How many ways can you make change with coins and a total amount

10. Find Kth permutation

11. Find all subsets of a given set of integers

12. Print balanced brace combinations

13. Clone a Directed Graph

14. Find Low/High Index

15. Search Rotated Array

More common Amazon technical coding interview questions

Overview of the Amazon technical coding interview

Amazon’s 14 leadership principles

How to prepare for an Amazon coding interview

Updating your resume

Prepare for coding assessment

Prescreen with a recruiter

Online Coding Assessment

Tips to crack Amazon online coding assessment:

Phone Interviews

On-Site Interviews: The Loop

The Offer / No Offer

Amazon Software Engineer Interview

Continue reading about coding interview prep and interview tips

The Top 23 Amazon Interview Questions (With Sample Answers)

How to answer Amazon interview questions

Top 3 Amazon interview questions

What would you do if you found out your closest friend at work was stealing?

Describe your most difficult customer and how you handled it.

Tell me about a time you were 75 percent through a project and had to pivot quickly. How did you handle it?

20 more interview questions from Amazon

Behavioral questions

Leadership questions

Technical and skills questions

Company-specific questions

Questions to ask the interviewers

Conclusion

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Amazon Interview Questions: The Ultimate Preparation Guide

Chapter 1 - Amazon's Interview Process Fully Explained

The Recruiter Phone Screen

The Technical Phone Screen

The All-Day Final Interviews

The Hiring Manager Review

Chapter 2 - How to Thoroughly Prepare for Amazon's Behavioral and Technical Interview Questions

Preparing for the Behavioral Interview

Understand Amazon's Leadership Principles Cold

Craft Stories That Showcase Leadership Principles

Prepare for Classic Behavioral and Situational Questions

Practice Mock Interviews Extensively

Preparing for the Technical Interview

Fluency in Key Data Structures and Algorithms

Practice LeetCode, HackerRank, Etc

Brush Up on Core Object Oriented and System Design Concepts

Do Regular Mock Technical Interviews

Mastering Amazon's Leadership Principles

Know Examples That Demonstrate Each Principle

Reference the Principles in Your Responses

Ask Good Questions About Culture and Principles

Do Your Research

Evaluate Your Own Alignment

Chapter 3 - Examples of Common Amazon Interview Questions (With Detailed Answers)

Examples of Common Amazon Behavioral Interview Questions

Examples of Common Amazon Technical Interview Questions

Chapter 4 - How to Stand Out: 5 Techniques to Impress Amazon Interviewers

1. Demonstrate Deep Passion for Customer Obsession

2. Display Leadership Maturity Beyond Your Years

3. Balance Smarts with Humility

4. Ask Insightful Questions