Amazon India | SDE-1 | University Grad
Summary
I successfully interviewed for an SDE-1 position at Amazon India as a university graduate, navigating through multiple coding and behavioral rounds, and ultimately received an offer.
Full Experience
I applied for an SDE-1 position at Amazon India as a university graduate (2024 batch) after being referred on November 22nd. I have a strong competitive programming background with over 500 LeetCode problems solved.
My interview process began with an Online Assessment on November 28th, which consisted of two LeetCode Medium problems. I was able to solve both within 20 minutes and received a call from the recruiter on December 9th to proceed.
Round 1 (December 12th)
This round involved two coding questions. I was asked about the Longest Palindromic String and another problem involving Binary Search on the answer. While I struggled to complete the code for the Longest Palindromic String problem within the given time, I successfully completed the second question. I passed this round and received a call from the recruiter within 10 minutes of the interview.
Round 2 (December 13th)
The second round also focused on coding, and I was given a variation of the LRU Cache problem. I was able to write the complete code for this question. I successfully passed this round and received a call from the recruiter on January 7th for the next stage.
Round 3 (January 28th)
This round was rescheduled twice before finally taking place. It primarily focused on Amazon's Leadership Principles. The questions asked were:
- How do you handle feedback, and when was the last time you received negative feedback?
- The last time you learned something that wasn't required at your job, what was your way of learning, and how much time did it take?
- Describe a time you created a simple solution for a complex problem.
- Tell me about a time when you had to understand a customer’s needs deeply. How did you solve their problem?
Only Leadership Principles were assessed during this 1-hour round.
Ultimately, I was selected for the SDE-1 role.
Interview Questions (6)
Find the longest palindromic substring within a given input string.
A problem based on the design and implementation of a Least Recently Used (LRU) Cache, possibly with some specific modifications or constraints.
Describe how you handle feedback, and specifically provide an example of the last time you received negative feedback and how you responded to it.
Share an experience where you learned something that wasn't explicitly required for your job. Detail your learning process/way of learning and approximately how much time it took you.
Describe a time when you were faced with a complex problem and were able to devise or implement a simple, elegant solution for it.
Tell me about a time when you had to deeply understand a customer’s needs. Explain how you approached understanding their problem and what solution you provided.
Preparation Tips
For those preparing for Amazon interviews, I recommend:
- Preparing standard Data Structures and Algorithms questions.
- Ensuring proficiency in Object-Oriented Programming (OOPS) concepts, including the ability to write code using classes and objects (e.g., for systems like a Hotel management system or Social media platform).
- Thoroughly preparing for Leadership Principle questions, regardless of whether you are currently working or a student.