Interview Experience: Amazon | Software Development Engineer (SDE-2) | L5

📌 Job Role: SDE 2
🎯 Job Level: L5
🔢 Number of Rounds: 6
📜 Offer Status: Offered
👤 Candidate Name: Not disclosing due to signed NDA

Preparation Strategy:

• Solved 250 Leetcode questions (Easy: 70, Medium: 150, Hard: 30)

• Focused on DS/Algo, System Design (HLD & LLD), and Behavioral questions

• Worked on good projects to enhance my resume

• Maintained confidence throughout the process

• Prepared for 3 months

Interview Process:

The process consisted of 5 technical rounds followed by an HR discussion:

Round 1: Face to Face Coding Interview

• Duration: 60 minutes

• Complexity: Medium

• Experience:

  • 3 questions: 2 on trees, 1 on stacks

  • The interviewer was not very receptive, making it feel like a stress interview

• Questions:

  1. Check if a given binary tree is a Partial BST.

  2. Convert a given binary tree into a Greater Tree.

  3. Check if a given string of brackets is balanced.

• Key Learnings:

  • Used inorder traversal for BST validation

  • Used reverse inorder traversal for the Greater Tree problem

  • Implemented stack-based approach for the balanced bracket problem but couldn't optimize to O(1) space

Round 2: Face to Face Coding Interview

• Duration: 60 minutes

• Complexity: Hard

• Experience: Two medium-hard difficulty coding questions

• Questions:

  1. Flatten a multi-level linked list into a singly linked list.

  2. Find the total amount of rainwater trapped between elevation bars.

• Key Learnings:

  • Used BFS with a queue for linked list flattening

  • Utilized two arrays to optimize rainwater trapping solution

Round 3: Face to Face System Design Interview

• Duration: 90 minutes

• Complexity: Medium

• Experience:

  • Had to lead the discussion as the interviewer seemed tired

  • Required to provide High-Level Design (HLD), Low-Level Design (LLD), and APIs

• Question: Design an online food ordering system like Swiggy/Zomato

• Key Learnings:

  • Ask clarifying questions to define the MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

  • Justify technology choices (e.g., NoSQL vs. SQL, microservices architecture)

  • Time management is crucial—system design rounds can go up to 4 hours but should be completed within 60-90 minutes

Round 4: Telephonic Hiring Manager Interview

• Duration: 60 minutes

• Complexity: Medium

• Experience:

  • Discussion on past projects, challenges faced, and leadership principles

  • Behavioral questions related to Amazon’s leadership principles

• Key Learnings:

  • Confidence is key; answers should align with Amazon’s leadership principles

  • STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method works well for behavioral responses

Round 5: Telephonic Bar Raiser Interview

• Duration: 60 minutes

• Complexity: Medium

• Experience:

  • Interviewer was very helpful

  • Covered coding, system design, and leadership principles

• Question: Design an ATM system

• Key Learnings:

  • Follow Object-Oriented Design principles

  • Define clear interfaces and entities

  • Knowledge of design patterns is beneficial

Final HR Round

• Duration: 30 minutes

• Complexity: Easy

• Experience: Discussion about offer details and job location

Overall Experience:

The process was comprehensive, testing coding skills, system design expertise, and behavioral aspects. While some interviewers were not very receptive, others were helpful. Time management and structured thinking were crucial to successfully clearing each round.